Government of Jersey Compromise and Non-Disclosure Agreements (FOI)

​​Request

A

How many people have left Government of Jersey employment via a compromise agreement in each of the last ten years? What is the total paid out as part of compromise agreements in each of the last ten years? 

B

How many Government of Jersey employees have been required to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) when leaving Government employment in each of the last ten years?

Response

​A 

Since 2014 all exit packages and the annual amounts paid by the Government of Jersey in severance payments to employees, which would include Compromise Agreements, have been disclosed in the States of Jersey Annual Reports and Accounts.

The link to the Annual Report and Accounts for 2023 is below, and the relevant information is detailed on page 166:

States of Jersey Group 2023 Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je)

In addition, information for 2014 to 2022 is publicly available in a response to a previous Freedom of Information request, which can be accessed via the link below. 

Government of Jersey Compromise Agreements (FOI)​

Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has therefore been applied. 

B

Confidentiality agreements or non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) may be signed for several different reasons, including:

• prior to, or as part of, a commercial arrangement at or for the benefit of the organisation
• arrangements with external investigators
• due to certain staff members undertaking certain sensitive work; and  
• in settlement arrangements.

There is no central record held of all Non-Disclosure Agreements signed by the Government of Jersey, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.   

A link to a previous response on the subject can be accessed below: 

Non-disclosure agreements issued in 2022 and 2023 (FOI)​

Articles applied 

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Article 23 - Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.