Industrial Injury - compromise agreement to leave

[telnkate]

Hi

my husband works for a large company and in 2010 was in a car accident while in work time, in his work van.

He suffered mild whiplash and usual symptoms HOWEVER, a pre-existing but healed nerve damage was flaired up and has seen his life radically altered for the worse (too many details to list here).

After much time off over the last two years, we are in another bout of time off and i don't think he can return to the same capacity of work - his job is a manual job and he just can't carry out the tasks without suffering pain - which builds up, and he grits his teeth and gets on with it until he can't.

He's been off since December.

We have union involvement who have informed us that there is a 'package' to be offered to him. similar to redundancy packages that lots of managers in the organisation are currently experiencing. We don't know what this is but it didn't sound very good based on length of service etc.

This injury was deemed by the DWP as an industrial injury and one which we will be starting to make a financial claim on.

An independent orthopaedic consultant has stated that his pre-exisiting condition, that had healed at time off accident, was undoubtedly flaired up by accident but that he would have probably started to see symptoms of it 5-10 years later, effectively bringing something unavoidable forward. As mentioned earlier, there are other numerous problems associated with the pain he is in brought about by the accident - too many to mention here.

While my husband is happy to enter discussion about leaving the company as he can't see how he can return to the same job in the same capacity - what kind of negotiation in terms of remuneration can we expect to enter into? I don't think the redundancy figures quite pay any respect to the fact that this was caused during their and was deemed not my husband's fault or negligence and he is now in constant pain with a bleak employment future.

Can anybody help me with what we should be looking at pursuing/expecting so I know how far to go with this please?

 

Many thanks

Kate

[BankFodder]

This is complicated and possibly beyond the scope of the advice which might be offered on this forum.

 

I think that it would be a good idea to find out all of the details of the package and then find a personal injury lawyer - a specialist - and not merely a claims management company or a solicitor in general practice. Show him/her the package and ask if it can be improved upon. Simply getting this kind of opinion does not mean that you are tied to the lawyer in respect of bringing a claim but I think that it would be prudent to make sure that you are fully informed with competent independent advice before making any decisions.

[telnkate]

We also have, currently still being worked through, a personal injury claim against the third party insurer (involved in the accident) - hopefully this can include some of the losses we may be losing in time.

but has been and continues to be separate to the work issue (as it's against the third party in the accident, not the employer) that has gradually been coming about in the fullness of time - so, as we get free legal help via the union, would they be the best legal help in this respect?

[bonnygirl]

If he negotiating a CA deal with his employer then he should also ask them to pay for his legal fee for drawing up this CA. I think this is normal to ask for this when a CA is proposed.

I am sure someone will be along to confirm this.

[Yorkyclaims]

CA's have to be signed by a solicitor confirming they have told you the implications / benefits of signing the agreement. The union solicitor should be very experienced in this sort of field, and with them dealing with the RTA they will know better about your situation.