What this means
Start with the exact decision in front of you.
Ending employment does not necessarily end an investigation, remove a referral duty or determine what a reference may say. Settlement language should be read alongside statutory reporting, safeguarding and professional disclosure obligations.
Immediate priorities
Organise the position before responding.
Identify clauses about references, confidentiality and cooperation
Check whether any investigation or referral continues after exit
Record which notifications cannot lawfully be restricted
Detailed guidance
The procedure, evidence and possible route from here.
01
Audit the proposed exit before negotiating the figure
List what the agreement would end and what remains outside it. Check the termination date, notice or payment in lieu, accrued pay, compensation, tax allocation, benefits, property, post-termination restrictions and contribution to advice costs. A statutory settlement agreement must satisfy legal conditions, including written identification of the claims and advice from an eligible independent adviser. General wording that employment ends “in full and final settlement” should not be assumed to waive every possible claim without examining the agreement and the governing statute.
Record the status of any disciplinary, grievance, appeal or capability process and what the employer proposes to do with it after termination. Leaving can change the practical workplace remedy, but it does not retrospectively decide the allegations. If the agreement says an investigation will cease, compare that promise with any legal reporting duty and with the employer's ability to answer a later regulator request. Secure advice before accepting a short deadline, because negotiation does not automatically protect an employment tribunal time limit.
- Check every payment, date and continuing obligation
- Identify the statutory claims said to be settled
- Record what happens to unfinished internal procedures
02
Make the reference and confidentiality wording accurate
Where a reference is agreed, attach the exact text and identify who may issue it, to whom and for how long. Check any response to supplementary questions and whether the employer must update wording after a later finding. An employer is not generally required to provide a reference, but one it gives should be fair, accurate and consistent. Wording that omits an unresolved investigation can still create dispute if a regulated employer later owes a candid sector-specific disclosure.
Define confidential information and the permitted recipients rather than relying on a sweeping non-disclosure label. Acas guidance states that confidentiality clauses cannot prevent protected whistleblowing or reports of crime; from April 2026, sexual-harassment disclosures can fall within whistleblowing protection when the statutory requirements are met. Preserve access to legal, tax, medical and therapeutic advisers as appropriate. A clause governing public comment should also allow truthful compliance with a court order, regulator request, safeguarding duty and enforcement of the agreement itself.
- Attach the agreed reference and supplementary-answer terms
- List each permitted confidential disclosure expressly
- Preserve protected reports and compulsory cooperation
03
Deal expressly with regulators and safeguarding after departure
Resignation does not necessarily remove a professional self-reporting rule or the employer's power or duty to refer. The agreement should say who will make any known notification, what documents may be supplied and whether the former employee will receive a copy where lawful. It cannot bind a regulator to close a case or accept agreed workplace language. Avoid a warranty that no referral will ever occur if the employer must respond to future information or a lawful request.
For regulated activity, DBS guidance includes circumstances in which the person resigned, retired or was redeployed and the organisation would otherwise have removed them because the statutory conditions were met. Settlement must not be used to evade that analysis. Ask for a clear record of the safeguarding decision and whether the employment investigation will be completed after exit. Coordinate any criminal report separately: a private agreement cannot prevent reporting a crime, determine a police investigation or grant immunity from prosecution.
- Allocate known regulator notifications and document access
- Do not promise an outcome outside the parties' control
- Test DBS and criminal reporting independently of settlement
Key questions
Keep the analysis tied to this stage.
What the agreement can validly regulate
Whether external duties remain
How the agreed reference describes unresolved matters
Advice is provided only by the regulated firm that accepts a matter.
Common questions
Clarifying the route without assuming the outcome.
Can a settlement agreement guarantee that no regulator referral will be made?
It should not purport to defeat a statutory or professional duty or bind the regulator. The agreement can record the current position and how known communications will be handled, subject to lawful obligations.
Can confidentiality wording stop me reporting wrongdoing or a crime?
No clause can validly prevent a protected whistleblowing disclosure, and Acas guidance says it cannot stop reporting a crime to the police. The exact exception wording should still be checked before signature.
Connected guidance
Continue through the topic map.
Use the hub for the full sequence or choose the connected route that matches the notice.
Official sources
Check the material for this question.
Sources checked 19 September 2026. Rules change, so compare the current notice and linked official material and tell the operator if a citation or summary needs correction.