The figures were disclosed as part of an Otago Daily Times investigation into the rise of secret end-of-employment payouts.
Confidential non-disclosure agreements (NDA) often form part of a “record of settlement”.
But for some employees with hard-nosed employers they can turn into a nightmare in which they are not given time to consult before signing, the investigation found.
Such an agreement can muzzle them from sharing the details of any payout and threaten legal action against them, with the stripping away of part of their compensation, if they do.
Like many employers, organisations across the South insert confidential clauses into any settlements.
The Dunedin City Council said confidentiality clauses protected all parties and the “privacy of individuals”, while the Otago Regional Council said confidentiality was standard practice.
The University of Otago said it “does not use the term non-disclosure in reference to records of settlement”.
It preferred instead to say: “Records of settlement may contain clauses under which the parties agree to keep specified information confidential.”
Documents released under the Local Government and Official Information Act show the three organisations paid out about $1.2m in compensation for 64 settlements in the most recent five years of data provided.
The city council paid compensation of $445,000 to 21 former employees and the regional council disbursed $413,000 to 22 staff members.
At the university, $353,000 was dispensed to 21 outgoing employees.
From the five years of data, most individual payouts were between $5000 and $30,000, but some were much larger, with a few between $40,000 and $70,000.
The ORC made the largest one-year payout, with $264,117 shared across five departing employees in 2022.
A report last year by consultants KPMG found the economic cost alone to employers of workplace bullying and harassment is “conservatively” more than $1.3billion a year.
“The analysis does not address the significant financial, mental and emotional costs to workers who experience bullying and harassment,” the report said.
Kate (not her real name) said she suffered flashbacks and panic attacks after her bosses at a South Island organisation effectively coerced her into signing a secret end-of-employment payout.
It was an ambush which left her feeling “dumped on the scrapheap”.
Kate said she wanted to warn people that Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) state-provided mediation could result in mental harm and trauma.
“The harm this causes is irreversible.”
Labour Party Mt Albert MP Helen White, a former employment lawyer, has drafted a Private Member’s Bill to overhaul the system and ensure a fairer way of dealing with workplace bullying.
“I have had sleepless nights worrying about this in situations where people have been sexually harassed or badly bullied.”
Anti-bullying advocate Allan Halse, of CultureShift NZ, said secret payouts were used widely across the public and private sectors.
“If you want to bully your employees and get away with it, New Zealand is a good place to do just that.”
