Government of Jersey Compromise Agreements (FOI)

Request

This is a request reagarding compromise agreements with the Government of Jersey.

A

Please provide the following information for staff who enter into litigation with the Government of Jersey, many with claims of unfair dismissal and so forth.  This is for the last ten years and in each case, please break down the amounts per department(s) involved in said litigation.

i) The total number of compromise agreements signed by staff during the course of each year.

ii) The total sum paid out to such people by way of 'out of court' settlements.

iii) The total sum paid out to such people by way of statutory rights as per their contracts.

B

Every year there are also a number of members of the public who enter into litigation with the Government of Jersey in various departments.  Please provide the following information for the last ten years and in each case please break down the amounts per the department(s) involved in said litigation.

i) The total number of compromise agreements signed by members of the public during the course of each year.

ii) The total sum paid out to such people by way of 'out of court' settlements.

C

For the last ten yyears, please also provide the following information:

i) The totals paid out each year to lawyers and others in order to fight these cases.

ii) The number of man hours which it has been necessary to allocate to this by way of Goverment of Jerey staff time and what is the toal cost? 

D

Whilst respecting that employment matters are private and therefore not asking for any particular information on an individual case, please provide how many staff have actually been actually, for their incompetence or dishonesty, by the Government of Jersey during the last five years with no pay off?

Response

A

Since 2014 all exit packages and the annual amounts paid by the Government of Jersey in severance payments to employees have been disclosed in the States of Jersey Annual Reports and Accounts which can be accessed via the links below. It is not possible to break these down by department and year as this may breach the privacy of individuals and it has been estimated that to undertake this work would be exceed the 12.5-hour timescale as prescribed in the Freedom of Information (Costs)(Jersey) Regulations 2014. Articles 16, 23 and 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 have therefore been applied. 

2022 Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je) p.183

2021 Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je) p.271

2020 Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je) p.326

2019 Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je) p.249

2018 Annual Report and Accounts. pdf (gov.je) p.164 

2017 Annual Report and Accounts .pdf (gov.je) p.179

2016 Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je) p.137

2015 Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je) p.151

2014 Annual Report and Accounts.pdf (gov.je) p.202

 Reasons for exit packages are detailed as:

• Compulsory or Voluntary Redundancy 
• Loss of Office 
  
• Outsourcing of Role 
• Other Reasons 
• Voluntary Early Retirement
• Negotiated settlement via the jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service

B and C

The Law Officers’ Department is not a Scheduled Public Authority under the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 and therefore does not have a duty to disclose any information in response to a request under the law. Without the records of the Law Officers’ Department, the Government of Jersey does not hold the information requested and Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

D

Fewer than ten employees were dismissed for capability or dishonesty during the last five years. Less than half of them received any special payments. It is not possible to provide a further breakdown as this may lead to the identification of individuals, Article 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

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 16 - A scheduled public authority may refuse to supply information if cost excessive

(1) A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. 

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.

Article 25 - Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

3)      In determining for the purposes of this Article whether the lawfulness principle in Article 8(1)(a) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 would be contravened by the disclosure of information, paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2 to that Law (legitimate interests) is to be read as if sub-paragraph (b) (which disapplies the provision where the controller is a public authority) were omitted.