22 April 2026
LGOIMA No. 8140018869
(Please quote this in any correspondence)
Ak Barossa
By Email:
[FYI request #34215 email]
Kia ora
Local Government Official Information And Meetings Act 1987
Employment Termination Payment Summary
Thank you for your information request dated 23 March 2026, regarding employment
termination and settlement payments. The specific details of your request and our
response is below.
For the two financial years ending 30 June 2024 and 30 June 2025, and
1 July 2025 to 23 March 2026.
I request the following information relating to payments made to employees (or former
employees) in connection with the termination of their employment, excluding ordinary
redundancy payments:
1. The total number of employment‑
related termination settlements or payments
made in each financial year.
2. The total dollar amount of all such payments made in each financial year.
3. The amount of the largest individual payment made in each financial year.
For the avoidance of doubt, this includes payments described as:
•
severance payments
•
ex gratia payments
•
confidentiality or settlement agreement payments
•
payments in lieu of notice
•
any other payment made to settle a personal grievance, employment dispute, or to
bring about the departure of an employee where the payment was not part of a
standard redundancy process
Information on the number and total value of severance payments (including ex gratia and
settlement agreement payments) is publicly available in Auckland Council’s
2023–2024 and
2024–2025 annual reports.
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
Information about local authority obligations to report on severance payments, as well as
confidentiality obligations, can be found on the Office of th
e Auditor‑General’s website.
These reported figures do not include payments in lieu of notice, as those relate to
contractual entitlements, such as redundancy.
If the council holds information that would allow the above to be broken down by the
nature of the payment (for example, distinguishing between payments made under a
formal settlement agreement versus other termination payments), I would be grateful
for that breakdown.
Providing this level of detail relating to the types of severance payments made would
require a manual review of two years’ employment relations case records. We estimate this
would require around 20 hours of staff time. As the information cannot be made available
without substantial collation or research, we refuse this part of your request under section
17(f) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).
We are open to exploring options with you, including refining the scope of your request or
applying a charge. For example, information about payments in lieu of notice made for all
employees that have ended their employment with Auckland Council, that information is
more readily retrievable.
In relation to the period 1 July 2025 to 30 March 2026, annual reporting for this timeframe
has not yet been completed. As the information is not readily available, this part of your
request is refused under section 17(f) of the LGOIMA. This information will be publicly
released in the next annual report.
Decisions regarding the information being released to you were made by Pauline
d’Unienville, General Manager People Services.
Should you believe Auckland Council has not responded appropriately to your request you
have the right to seek a review of the decision from the Ombudsman.
If you have any further queries please contact me on 09 301 0101, quoting LGOIMA No.
8140018869.
Ngā mihi
Jenny Hua
Senior Privacy & Official Information Business Partner
Customer Experience & Digital Services
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
