When a settlement of an employment dispute in the Fair Work Commission or one of the other industrial tribunals is negotitated, it is customary for the terms of the settlement to be included in a contract which sets out the terms of the agreement, including its legal effect namely that the agreement is final and binding. These contracts are customarily referred to as “settlement deeds” or “settlement agreements”.
There appears to be a trend in the common law developing to the effect that the ambit of deeds of settlement between employers and former employees to settle for example unfair dismissal cases will be interpreted very strictly and against a generous interpretation particularly the ambit of what legal action can be pursued as not being covered by the deed; see Elisha v Vision Australia [2024] HCA 50