Staff bonuses

Summary

A request was made for details on staff bonuses, contracts, and authorization metrics at the Department for Enterprise, which was ultimately not upheld following an internal review regarding excessive redactions of non-personal data.

Key Facts

• The Department for Enterprise pays bonuses to 7 staff members under individual contracts designed to attract private-sector expertise.
• These contracts offer flexible terms outside the standard Public Services Commission framework and exclude pension contributions.
• Bonus payments are linked to divisional or agency plans rather than individual key performance indicators.
• The internal review was submitted by Leonard Trevor Cowin on 16 April 2025, arguing that redactions of roles and dates were unjustified.
• The final outcome of the case was 'Not upheld' on 25 April 2025.

Data Disclosed

• 7 members of staff
• 20% of salary per annum
• 2025-02-11
• 2025-04-25
• 16/04/2025
• 10 March 2025
• Data Protection Act 2018
• case_id: 4439481
• 79 pages
• 3 documents

Exemptions Cited

• Data Protection Act 2018
• applied GDPR
• right to privacy

Original Request

It was announced in a Manx Radio news report recently that the public authority has been paying bonuses to 7 members of its staff. The news report states - The department stated that these payments stem from individual contracts which were introduced to attract private-sector expertise by offering flexible terms outside the standard Public Services Commission framework. These contracts do not include pension contributions and have fewer benefits compared to standard civil service roles. Some of these contracts also include performance-related pay where bonuses are awarded based on specific targets. However the department declined to provide details on the exact metrics used citing data protection concerns. A spokesperson for the DfE said: 'Bonus payments are linked to divisional, or agency plans rather than individual key performance indicators. 'These plans are publicly available and outline the strategic objectives that guide our performance assessments.' The information that I require is - 1. Copies of the individual contracts referred to, appropriately redacted to remove personal data, showing the bonus and performance related pay arrangements ; and 2. The metrics used to determine the bonus payments; and 3. Copies of, or a hyperlink to the divisional or agency plans to which the bonus payments are linked; and 4. Who authorised the payment of the bonuses and performance related pay; 5. What authority did such person have to authorise such payments; and 6. Where did the monies come from to pay the bonuses and performance related pay? .

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Page 1 Isle of Man Government Freedom of Information Contact team Internal review

Freedom of Information review request Information request is related to Department for Enterprise FOI review request reference number 4439481 Full name Leonard Trevor Cowin Email address manxman150@hotmail.com Phone number Details of review request I'm requesting a review of the public authority's response because a number of redactions which it has made to the supporting documentation ought not to have been made because the information which has been redacted is not personal data .

Specifically, I'm referring to the redactions made to -

The role Start Date Continuous service date End Date Acceptance dates The dates of the contracts

I note that there is a fixed bonus potential of 20% of salary per annum.

About this request Issued by Isle of Man Government Freedom of Information Contact team c/o Central Team Bucks Road Douglas Isle of Man. IM1 3PN Status Submitted on 16/04/2025 11:55 Request reference 4596717

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator 1st Floor, St Georges Court Upper Church Street, Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EX

Telephone: (01624 686400) Website: https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/

Our ref: 4439481 10 March 2025

Dear ###,

We write further to your request, received 11 February 2025, which states:

"It was announced in a Manx Radio news report recently that the public authority has been paying bonuses to 7 members of its staff.

The news report states -

The department stated that these payments stem from individual contracts which were introduced to attract private-sector expertise by offering flexible terms outside the standard Public Services Commission framework.

These contracts do not include pension contributions and have fewer benefits compared to standard civil service roles.

Some of these contracts also include performance-related pay where bonuses are awarded based on specific targets.

However the department declined to provide details on the exact metrics used citing data protection concerns.

A spokesperson for the DfE said: 'Bonus payments are linked to divisional, or agency plans rather than individual key performance indicators.

‘These plans are publicly available and outline the strategic objectives that guide our performance assessments.'

The information that I require is -

1. Copies of the individual contracts referred to, appropriately redacted to remove personal data, showing the bonus and performance related pay arrangements ; and

2. The metrics used to determine the bonus payments; and

3. Copies of, or a hyperlink to the divisional or agency plans to which the bonus payments are linked; and 2 | P a g e

4. Who authorised the payment of the bonuses and performance related pay;

5. What authority did such person have to authorise such payments; and

6. Where did the monies come from to pay the bonuses and performance related pay?

Our response

“1. Copies of the individual contracts referred to, appropriately redacted to remove personal data, showing the bonus and performance related pay arrangements;”

In considering the release of information that would be considered personal data under the definitions of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the applied GDPR, the Department must consider whether the release of the requested information would infringe upon the right to privacy of the individuals concerned, compromise data protection obligations, and unduly expose personal information without sufficient justification.

In considering whether the release of the requested information can be achieved, without breaching the privacy of the individuals to whom the documents requested refer, the Department has considered how it may redact the information sufficiently to prevent the identification, or re-identification of the individual contract holders.

The Department has therefore considered to what extent it is possible to anonymise the information, through redaction, but also retain the relevance of the anonymised information to the requestor. Anonymised information is information that cannot, by any means, be associated with specific individuals and therefore will not be governed by the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the applied GDPR.

If the Department considers that it cannot truly anonymise the data, it will then consider whether the data is pseudonymised sufficiently to mitigate the potential risk of reidentification of individuals from that data and if not, consider the application of an Exemption under Section 25 of the Act.

Whilst the Department holds some of the information requested, it no longer holds information relating to those individuals who have left employment, only those who remain in employment and as such is not able to provide all of the information requested.

The Department, after suitable redaction, considers that the documents provided are suitably anonymised and other than this anonymisation will not be applying any further exemptions.

“2. The metrics used to determine the bonus payments;”

For all these agreements, the level of bonus paid in any one year is based on an assessment of performance set against goals within the individual’s performance development programme.
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This assessment will be determined by the individual’s line manager, or a remuneration committee of the individual Agency, any recommendation will then be subject to further approval for payment by the Department’s Chief Officer.

For the majority of cases, this is a singular process to determine an overall potential award, however, in particular cases sub allocations have been used in order to calculate the potential bonus.

These were:

40% Delivery
40% Economic
20% People

“3. Copies of, or a hyperlink to the divisional or agency plans to which the bonus payments are linked;”

Links are provided for the following documents, which identify the Department’s or divisional plans against which bonus payments are linked, as noted above, bonus payments may not be contained directly within any specific plan and may be purely based on personal delivery targets as set out in personal development plans.

If any of the following hyperlinks do not work, the page can be accessed by pasting or copying the link into your browser of choice.

https://www.gov.im/media/1382984/web-digital-iom-programme- 2024_compressed.pdf

https://www.gov.im/media/1382985/visit-2024-programme_compressed.pdf

https://www.gov.im/media/1382983/finance-isle-of-man-2024- programme_compressed.pdf

https://www.gov.im/media/1383993/final-department-plan-2024_compressed.pdf

https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/media/2ktbpllj/2022-gd-0037_compressed.pdf

https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/media/xb4jc53v/finance-isle-of-man-2023- programme.pdf

https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/media/b2uc0de5/diom-programme_final.pdf

https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/media/0a5kee2p/visit-2024-programme.pdf

https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/media/2mzhw0ee/updated-dfe-key-achievements- 2016- 2021_compressed.pdf

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“4. Who authorised the payment of the bonuses and performance related pay;”

The final authorisation for payment is provided by the Department’s Chief Officer (Accounting Officer).

“5. What authority did such person have to authorise such payments;”

In certain circumstances this is clearly set out in the terms and conditions that apply to that individual, where this is not specifically identified, the Chief Officer as the Accountable Officer and overall Budget Holder for the Department, under Financial Regulations has the authority to authorise all financial transactions within and on behalf of the Department as delegated to the Chief Officer under section 3(2) of, and paragraph 4(1) of Schedule 1 to, the Government Department Act.

As per Freedom of Information response 4446657, you have separately requested copies of this authorisation which has been provided.

“6. Where did the monies come from to pay the bonuses and performance related pay?”

Any payments made are directly from the Department’s annual budget as approved by Tynwald and contained within the Pink Book.

The Pink Books for the periods the Department has had staff eligible for receiving bonus payments have been published and can be found at the links provided below, it should be noted that whilst bonus payments may have been available, they have not necessarily been paid in each financial year.

If any of the following hyperlinks do not work, the page can be accessed by pasting or copying the link into your browser of choice.

https://www.gov.im/media/1378953/pink-book-2023-24-v14-for-website.pdf

https://www.gov.im/media/1375698/pink-book-2022.pdf

https://www.gov.im/media/1371889/gd2021004-budget-2021-22.pdf

https://www.gov.im/media/1368490/pink-book-2020-final-website.pdf

https://www.gov.im/media/1364400/2019-20-pink-book.pdf

https://www.gov.im/media/1360554/pink-book-final-2018.pdf

https://www.gov.im/media/1368531/2017-18-pink-book.pdf

https://www.gov.im/media/1368530/pink-book-2016.pdf

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Please quote the reference number 4439481 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.

This response took three hours to complete.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Co-Ordinator

Isle of Man Government – Department for Enterprise Statement of Written Particulars of Terms and Conditions of Appointment
This document sets out your principal terms and conditions of appointment. It incorporates the Written Particulars required by the Employment Act 2006.
It should be noted that the Department for Enterprise retains the right to amend the terms and conditions of employment at any time and put in place such terms as it sees fit. Such a change will be made in accordance with the requirements of the Employment Act 2006.
Name

The Role
This role is

on the staff of the Department for Enterprise. Your duties are as outlined in your Job Description for this post.
Place of Work
Your normal place of work will be St George’s Court but in the interest of the service you may be relocated elsewhere on the Isle of Man.
Start Date
Your start date in this role will be

.
Continuous Service
As an existing PSC civil servant your period of continuous service commenced on 1st October 2018.
End Date
This appointment will be for a term of 4 years from the date of commencement. Your last day of service will be .
Please note you will not receive any further written notification of your end date unless your end date is to be changed.
Salary
The salary for this post, based upon 37 hours per week, is per annum.

Your salary would be paid monthly by Bankers Automated Clearing System (BACS) on the 25th day of each month, or the nearest working day prior to the 25th if this falls on a weekend/public holiday.

The role will be subject to an annual review, first annual review being

with an expected uplift subsequent to any PSC agreements during the period.

Bonus
Your bonus potential is to be set at 20% per Annum. This will be approved following discussion with your board (or Sub-Committee of them) and will be based on the sub- committee’s assessment of the delivery of the “Programme” of work agreed by the

on an ongoing basis.
The calculation of your bonus will agreed between the Remuneration Committee, Chair and yourself, and reviewed on a regular basis during each year.
First Bonus to be paid in respect of the financial year end .
Hours of Work
You would work 37 hours spread over the normal working week of Monday to Friday.
Overtime is not available for this role however due to the nature of the role, ability and willingness to work outside normal conditioned hours may be required.
Annual Leave
Your personal annual leave allowance will be 25 days per annum rising to 27 days per annum after 8 years continuous service. In addition, you will receive a number of holidays in respect of Public and Privilege days.
Sick Leave
• During the first year of service – one month full pay and one month half pay - during the second and third year of service – two months full pay and two months half pay

• After completing three years of service – three months full pay and three months half pay in any 12 month period

• Sick pay will be limited to a maximum of six month pay in the four year period preceding the date of commencement of the absence.
Smoking Policy
You will be expected to comply with the Isle of Man Government Smoking Policy, and for the policy within the building in which you are appointed, in accordance with the Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2006.
Outside Employment
Any employment outside of the Department for Enterprise will be subject to the approval of the Accounting Officer in your Department.
Notice Period
When an appointment is terminated, unless the member of staff is dismissed on disciplinary grounds or retires on reaching the minimum retirement

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