Settlement Offer Checker
See how your offer compares to real tribunal awards in similar cases.
CaseIntel provides benchmarking data — not legal advice.
CaseIntel is a benchmarking service based on publicly available Employment Tribunal decisions published on GOV.UK. We provide evidence and context — not advice. Results show how comparable cases have resolved and where your situation sits relative to real tribunal outcomes. Always consult a qualified employment solicitor before making any decision about your case.
Is my settlement offer fair?
There is no universal figure that makes a settlement offer "fair". A reasonable settlement offer depends on your salary, length of service, the strength of your legal claims, the evidence you can rely on, and how much litigation risk your employer is willing to carry. Two employees in apparently similar situations can receive very different offers because tribunal outcomes themselves vary.
National averages and online rules of thumb rarely reflect what an individual claim is actually worth. Benchmarking your offer against comparable Employment Tribunal decisions — cases with similar claim types, industries and financial losses — provides a far more reliable indication of what "fair" looks like for your circumstances. Our settlement agreements guide explains how to interpret an offer in context.
How are settlement offers calculated?
Most settlement offers combine several components rather than a single lump sum:
- Notice pay — either worked or paid in lieu, based on your contract.
- Holiday pay — accrued but untaken statutory and contractual leave.
- Statutory or enhanced redundancy pay — where a genuine redundancy situation applies.
- Ex gratia payment — the negotiated element that reflects legal risk and goodwill.
- Legal risk uplift — larger where unfair dismissal, discrimination or whistleblowing claims are credible.
Employers price this legal risk against what a tribunal is likely to award, plus the cost and disruption of defending a claim. That is why a well-evidenced discrimination or whistleblowing case often attracts a materially higher ex gratia payment than a straightforward exit. Our Employment Tribunal compensation statistics show how these values are distributed across thousands of published decisions.
Should you accept the first settlement offer?
Opening offers are almost always negotiable. Employers frequently expect a counter-offer and leave headroom in the initial figure. Before deciding whether to accept, we recommend three steps:
- Understand exactly what the offer includes — and what claims you would be waiving.
- Compare the figure against comparable Employment Tribunal outcomes for cases with similar characteristics.
- Take independent legal advice before signing, which is a legal requirement for the agreement to be binding.
Why settlement offers can vary so much
Two employees with apparently similar roles and length of service can be offered dramatically different amounts. The variation is usually driven by:
- The quality of documentary evidence supporting each claim.
- Whether discrimination, whistleblowing or automatic unfair dismissal is in play.
- Financial losses, mitigation and the ability to find comparable work.
- The employer's appetite for litigation and reputational exposure.
- How effectively the employee (or their solicitor) negotiates.
Because national averages combine thousands of very different cases, they rarely predict an individual outcome. Benchmarking against genuinely comparable tribunal decisions remains the most meaningful reference point.
Why tribunal data matters
CaseIntel's settlement offer checker draws on a structured analysis of tens of thousands of real Employment Tribunal decisions. Rather than relying on anecdotal guidance, internet averages or negotiation folklore, the tool matches your circumstances against comparable published outcomes.
That evidence base is the foundation of our flagship Employment Tribunal Statistics 2026 report and informs every benchmark we produce.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about settlement offers, settlement agreements and how to decide whether to accept, negotiate or reject.