Settlement agreement for a remote employee

A remote employee's exit happens over video and email: the conversation, the offer, the advice, the signing, the handover of equipment and data, and the announcement to a team that has never been in a room together. Each step works at a distance if it is done properly, and the agreement has to provide for the practical parts (the courier for the laptop, the deletion of data the employer cannot inspect, the electronic signature, the certificate) and for the complication that arises when the employee has been working from another country. The fixed fee is £795 for the agreement and the note on the conversation, delivered in three working days, or £995 where I also conduct the negotiation with the employee's adviser.

Who this is for

Employers in England and Wales with remote or hybrid staff whose exit will be conducted entirely at a distance, and employers whose remote employee has turned out to be living somewhere else.

What matters in a remote employee's settlement agreement

The conversation at a distance and the protection that still applies

A protected conversation under section 111A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 or a without prejudice discussion can be held by video or telephone with the same protection as in person, provided the employer states the basis at the outset, keeps the conversation to the proposal, avoids improper behaviour and follows the Acas Code (a written offer, a reasonable time to consider, the right to be accompanied as good practice, which on video means a companion joining the call); the employer should arrange the call at a time the employee can take it privately, should not record it without saying so, and should send the written offer immediately afterwards, because a remote conversation with no written follow-up is the one the employee remembers differently.

Signing, advice and the certificate without a meeting

The agreement can be signed electronically and in counterparts, the employee's adviser can advise by telephone or video and sign the certificate electronically, and the agreement should say so and provide for the exchange of signed copies by email; the statutory conditions under section 203 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and section 147 of the Equality Act 2010 are unaffected by the method of signing, and the employer's contribution to the adviser's fees under section 413A of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 is paid against the adviser's invoice as usual; the note sets out the sequence of emails so that the agreement is complete before the payments are made.

Equipment, data and the handover from a home the employer cannot visit

The agreement should require the employee to return the employer's equipment by a stated date using the courier and packaging the employer provides, to hand over credentials and documents, to allow remote wiping of work data from any device and to confirm in writing that no work data remains on personal devices or accounts (which the employer cannot check and therefore takes on warranty, with repayment on breach), to complete a handover document in a stated form, and to attend video handover sessions during garden leave; the employer should remove the employee's access at the point the agreement provides, which for a remote employee is the practical termination.

The employee who is abroad and the law that applies

A remote employee who has been working from another country may have acquired rights under that country's employment law (mandatory rules on termination, notice and compensation that apply regardless of the English contract), may have created tax and social security obligations for the employer there, and may be able to challenge the settlement under local law; the agreement should state English law and jurisdiction, should record where the employee has been working and for how long, should contain the employee's warranty about their location, and should be checked against local law where the period abroad is significant, because a settlement that is valid in England and void where the employee lives has settled half the dispute; the note flags when local advice is needed.

The announcement to a team that never met in a room

The agreement should attach the announcement to the team (made by video or message at a stated time, after the employee has signed, in agreed words), the external line for clients the employee dealt with remotely, the position on the employee's profile and the employer's directory and systems, and the employee's farewell message where there is one; remote teams learn of departures from a status change or a deleted channel, and the agreement should fix the order so that the announcement comes before the signs.

The payments, the timing and the last day for someone with no office to leave

The agreement sets the termination date, the garden leave or notice (with post-employment notice pay taxed as earnings under section 402B of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003), the compensation within the thirty thousand pound exemption under section 403, the homeworking allowance to the termination date, the return of equipment as a condition of the final payment, and the timing of each payment; it contains the waiver, the reference, confidentiality within the limits the law sets (disclosures protected by section 43J of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Employment Rights Act 2025 provisions voiding non-disclosure terms about harassment and discrimination, on the timetable the regulations set) and the covenants where the role justifies them; for a remote employee the last day is the day access ends, and the agreement should say when that is.

What it costs

Settlement agreement, £795. Drafted for your situation, with a note on how to have the conversation. Three working days.

Settlement agreement including reasonable negotiation with the employee's adviser, £995. The agreement in three working days. The negotiation then runs until the agreement is signed or it becomes clear it will not settle. Reasonable negotiation means what, in my experience, amounts to the standard back and forth on a settlement agreement. If the employee or their adviser is being unreasonable, for example by conducting themselves unprofessionally or requiring a substantial rewrite that needs material further legal advice to you, I will flag it and we will discuss how best to proceed, which may involve further fixed-fee work. That would be unusual.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the settlement agreements for employers page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke settlement agreement drafted for the exit you are dealing with
• Proper waiver of the relevant statutory claims, so the agreement does what you are paying for
• Advice on the tax treatment, including the £30,000 exemption and what falls outside it
• Confidentiality, non-derogatory statements and an agreed reference
• Reaffirmation or replacement of restrictive covenants, which is often the real value
• A short note on how to open the conversation and keep it without prejudice or protected
• One round of amendments after the employee's adviser responds

What is not included

• Advising the employee, which their own adviser must do independently for the agreement to be valid
• Tribunal representation if the matter does not settle
• Payroll processing of the settlement sums
• Handling the settlement payment, since I do not hold client money

Questions I am often asked

Can we have the settlement conversation over video?

A video conversation carries the same protection as in person, provided the basis is stated, the conversation stays on the proposal and the written offer follows immediately. The note sets out how to run it.

Can the agreement be signed electronically?

Electronic signature works, by both parties and by the adviser on the certificate, in counterparts exchanged by email. The statutory conditions are unaffected by the method of signing.

Our remote employee has been living in Portugal for a year. Does that matter?

It may: local employment law can apply to termination regardless of the English contract, and the employer may have tax obligations there. The agreement records the position and the note flags when local advice is needed.

Related guidance and services

• Settlement agreements for employers, £795, the service this page describes
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• Shareholders agreement, £995
• Employment contract for a remote worker
• Settlement agreement for a small business making its first settlement

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.