I am being made redundant and my employers have offered me money to go if I sign a compromise agreement. This includes agreeing not to bring a personal injury claim in the future. Do I have to sign as I have a bad back from work and now want to claim.
The question suggests the employee actually knows they have a potential claim so if they agreed to this clause in the contract they would lose the right to claim compensation.
So the straight advice is DO NOT SIGN.
If the independent solicitor who advises the employee is worth their salt then they should arrange for the clause to be taken out. As a belt and braces operation we would also insist upon the agreement being amended to specifically state that the claim relating to the bad back survives the ending of employment so the employee could continue with their claim.
This is generally easy to negotiate as the employer wants to jettison the employee and will know that they are insured in any event for any claim made for injuries. They will merely pass this on to their insurers.
The long and short of it then is under no circumstances sign away your rights to make a personal injury claim for an existing and known injury in a compromise agreement. Period! Have it removed before signing and make sure you get good early advice on moving the claim forward.
Remember you only have 3 years from the date of injury to start court proceedings and with such claims as a bad back this could have started years ago already.