A “restrictive covenant” is a clause in a contract of employment. It is inserted by an employer with the aim of restricting the actions of an employee, usually once the period of employment has ended.

Most of us want to make the best use of our time away from work, but it is often difficult to work out how much time we are due and the pay we are entitled to. And with redundancies increasing, more people want to know if they should be paid for un-used holiday at the end of their employment.

This article is in response to a question on our “Suggest a Topic” page by D Humphreys, December 2008.

A Compromise Agreement is a type of settlement made between an aggrieved employee and his or her employer. In a Compromise Agreement, the employee agrees not to take a claim to an Employment Tribunal. The boss makes an offer in exchange (a sum of money).

Redundancy is something we all dread and in most circumstances is an employee’s worst nightmare. However, the reality is that many of us are made redundant each year and, with a recession imminent (if not already upon us) the number of redundancies is increasing.