Manx Care chiefs have told a committee that non-disclosure agreements have never been used to prevent staff from making protected disclosures.
Chief Executive Teresa Cope told the whistleblowing committee that NDAs have only been used in limited circumstances and never in connection with whistleblowing cases.
“When there has been an agreed exit of an individual, they haven’t been linked to whistleblowing, but there has been cases where we have agreed mutual exit of individuals, but those individuals have not.
“There has been no whistleblowing case attached to those,” Ms Cope said.
Legal Advice
The committee heard that legal advice on settlement agreements is obtained from the Attorney General’s chambers and the Office of Human Resources, with a legal adviser seconded to Manx Care for employment matters.
Ms Cope said the organisation had checked its records: “Having checked the full list of 16, either those that have been directed to other processes or those that have a whistleblowing investigation has proceeded, I don’t believe any of those individuals have left the organisation under NDA.”
Committee member Gary Cluett MLC noted that regardless of any agreement, employees retain the right to make protected disclosures under employment legislation.
“Unfortunately, sometimes ex employees who’ve signed them don’t really understand the full impact of those,” Mr Cluett said. “You can always talk about a protected disclosure.”
The committee is examining whether whistleblowing policies across Manx government are operating effectively following legislative changes.