How Agree it in writing works, step by step

What it is

Agree it in writing is a private, shared place where an employee and an employer agree the details of a departure: the last day, notice, holiday, final pay, any extra payment, the reference and so on. Each of you writes in your own words, point by point, in your own time.

It's free to start and to agree. Once everything is agreed, the finished documents cost £49.99, normally paid by the employer, or they're included in Full access.

Agree it in writing records what you agree. It isn't legal advice, and it doesn't settle legal claims by itself: that needs a settlement agreement, after independent legal advice, or a COT3 recorded by Acas.

Want to see the end result first? The Agree it in writing page has a full made-up example you can download: the free history, and the finished documents.

1. Start the agreement

Either side can start. On the Agree it in writing page:

1. Choose whether you're the employee or the employer, and the situation, for example leaving by agreement or through redundancy.
2. Answer whether there's a live grievance, disciplinary, whistleblowing concern or claim. If there is, keep the formal process going alongside, and keep this to practical points.
3. Choose the kind of discussion. An open record is for practical arrangements either of you can rely on later, such as after a resignation. A protected discussion is for agreeing to end employment on terms. If you choose protected, say whether there's already a dispute: that decides how everything is labelled.
4. Pick the points to agree and write what you're proposing for each. Tap a suggestion to start from it. Keep it to dates, amounts and arrangements.
5. Add both names and both email addresses. Each person needs their own email address.
6. Tick to confirm you'll keep it factual and respectful, then choose Start the agreement, free.

2. Keep your own private link

Your agreement opens from a private link. The link holds the key that keeps the agreement private, so we never see it and can't send it to you. Straight after starting:

• choose Email it to myself, so you have a copy in your inbox
• on the same phone or computer, the Agree it in writing page lists it under Your agreements on this device
• inside the agreement, Email my link to myself sends it again whenever you need it on another device

If you opened a link from WhatsApp or another app, it may have opened in that app's own browser, which keeps its memory separate. Choose Open in Safari (or your usual browser) first.

3. Invite the other person

You send the invitation yourself, so the key never passes through us. Choose Write the invitation email to open your own email with their private link already in it, or Copy the invitation to send it by message. Let them know it's coming, so it doesn't arrive out of the blue.

When they open their link, they see what's proposed and choose Join, free.

4. Confirm your email

We send each of you one email asking you to confirm it's your address: the person who starts when they start, and the other person when they join. Click the link in it. Until you do, we won't email you when there's news, so check back on the agreement page.

If you get one of these emails and didn't start or join an agreement, ignore it, or use the link in it to make sure we never send you another.

5. Agree each point

For each point, the person who didn't make the latest proposal can:

• choose Agree, if it works for them
• choose Suggest a change, and write what they'd propose instead
• add a note, for example to explain why

Either of you can add a point the other didn't think of. It's worth checking the common ones: bonus and commission, expenses, pension and benefits, restrictions after leaving, and confidentiality. Anything nobody covers is listed as Not addressed in the documents, so no one assumes the record covers more than it does.

In a protected discussion with money on the table, there's a reply-by date of at least 10 days, as the Acas Code suggests. If points keep going back and forth or things go quiet, mediation is suggested.

At any time, Download history in Records and access gives you the full record: every proposal, change, note and agreement, with times. It's free, and both of your copies show the same record fingerprint.

6. Choose how to finish

Once every point is agreed, choose how you'll finish. You can change your minds:

• Between ourselves: a confirmation letter for the employer to sign, with a slip for the employee. For practical arrangements, with no legal claims being given up. In a protected discussion, you both need to agree first that the terms can be confirmed openly.
• Through solicitors: heads of terms, marked subject to contract, for the advisers to turn into a settlement agreement. Used when there's a payment on top of what's owed, or either side wants claims settled.
• Through Acas: the proposed terms to give an Acas conciliator. If you settle through Acas, the conciliator records the terms in a COT3.

Add any details for the documents, such as the employer's address or the early conciliation reference, and fill in the payment schedule: each payment's gross amount, when it's paid, and the tax treatment you both expect, for payroll to confirm.

7. Unlock and download

Choose Unlock the documents to pay £49.99 once. It covers both of you and all the documents for the route you chose. With Full access, they unlock without paying. Then download the agreed terms, the documents for your route, and a read-me with what happens next.

If something goes wrong

• Lost your link: look under Your agreements on this device on the phone or computer you used, or search your email for the one you sent yourself. Otherwise the other person can make you a new one in Records and access; your old link stops working.
• Couldn't start: each person needs a different email address, and one connection can start a few agreements an hour.
• Not getting emails: check you've confirmed your address, and look in your junk folder.