Settlement Agreements

Summary

The requester asked for statistics and templates regarding employment settlement agreements issued by the Department of Infrastructure since September 2021. The authority disclosed that two such agreements were issued to non-PSC employees but withheld specific details and templates due to data protection exemptions and lack of internal records.

Key Facts

• The Department of Infrastructure issued settlement agreements to two non-PSC employees between September 2021 and January 2025.
• Information regarding PSC employees is held by the Public Services Commission, not the Department of Infrastructure.
• Specific breakdowns of reasons and monetary compensation were withheld to prevent the identification of individuals.
• The Department does not hold a blank template for settlement agreements as they are advised by OHR on such matters.
• The request was partially exempt under section 25 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.

Data Disclosed

• September 2021
• 2024-12-31
• 2025-01-29
• two
• 4339700
• 4339579

Exemptions Cited

• Section 25 of the Act (absolutely exempt personal information)
• Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018, Article 5
• Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018, Article 6

Original Request

Dear Sir, Please may you provide me with the total number of Settlement Agreements that have been issued by the Department of Infrastructure between September 2021 and current. Please may this be broken down into a table which categorises the reason for the Settlement Agreement (e.g. disciplinary etc.) and also the monetary compensation figure associated with each respective Settlement Agreement. Lastly, please may you provide me with a blank copy of the Settlement Agreement that is currently on file that would be used as a template to fill in the blanks as per se. Clarification received 02/01/2025: Please may this dataset relate to employment settlement agreements.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Response Team Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: dpo-doi@gov.im

Our ref: 4339700 28 January 2025

Dear ###

We write further to your request, received 31 December 2024, which states:

"Dear Sir,

Please may you provide me with the total number of Settlement Agreements that have been issued by the Department of Infrastructure between September 2021 and current.

Please may this be broken down into a table which categorises the reason for the Settlement Agreement (e.g. disciplinary etc.) and also the monetary compensation figure associated with each respective Settlement Agreement.

Lastly, please may you provide me with a blank copy of the Settlement Agreement that is currently on file that would be used as a template to fill in the blanks as per se.

Clarification received 02/01/2025:

Please may this dataset relate to employment settlement agreements."

Our response to your request is as follows: Partially held, some exempt

The Department of Infrastructure does not hold the information requested in relation to PSC employees and information regarding them can be found in the Public Services Commission’s response to this request (reference 4339579).

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because it is absolutely exempt under section 25 of the Act (absolutely exempt personal information). The reasons why that exemption applies are that: • The Department of Infrastructure is satisfied that the information amounts to personal data of which you are not the data subject; and • The Department of Infrastructure is satisfied that disclosure of the information would contravene one of the data protection principles as set out at Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation as it applies in the Isle of Man pursuant to the Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018, namely that the Department of Infrastructure can only disclose the information where it would

be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions for lawful processing in Article 6 and in this case, none of those conditions have been met.

The Department of Infrastructure has issued settlement agreements to two non-PSC employees within the timeframe stated within your requests.

Due to the small number of settlement agreements, the Department cannot supply information broken down or the monetary compensation as it would potentially identify individuals.

The Department does not hold a blank or template document for Settlement Agreements as we are advised by OHR in such matters.

Please quote the reference number 4339700 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.