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Guidance

Civil Service settlement agreements, special severance payments and confidentiality clauses

Cabinet Office guidance explaining the principles and process to be followed when considering the use of settlement agreements when terminating employment.

Updates to this page

From:
Cabinet Office and Civil Service
Published:
15 January 2015
Last updated:
9 April 2025
Show all updates

  1. Replaced the following documents with updated versions: Cabinet Office Data Capture Proforma for Special Severance Payments and Confidentiality Clauses Confidentiality clauses: application for approval from Minister to the Cabinet Office

  2. 'Confidentiality clauses: application for approval from Minister to the Cabinet Office' attachment updated

  3. The first two attached documents on the page (guidance and data capture pro forma) have been changed. The third document is unchanged for the moment.

  4. Updated version of data capture pro forma for special severance payments published

  5. First published.

Documents

Cabinet Office Guidance on Settlement Agreements, Special Severance Payments on Termination of Employment and Confidentiality Clauses

PDF, 261 KB, 12 pages

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Cabinet Office Data Capture Proforma for Special Severance Payments and Confidentiality Clauses

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 21.5 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

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Confidentiality clauses: application for approval from Minister to the Cabinet Office

MS Word Document, 35.1 KB

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Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email accessible.formats@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

This guidance covers the use of settlement agreements (formerly known as compromise agreements) to terminate employment and the associated use of confidentiality clauses and special severance payments.

This guidance applies to all Civil Service organisations and their Arms Length Bodies (ALBs), and includes all cases where public money is being spent on civil servants or non-civil employed by government departments or ALBS.

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