Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
April 4, 2016

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner - Release of Salary Details of Public Body Employees Under ATIPPA, 2015

Information and Privacy Commissioner Ed Ring wishes to issue the following commentary regarding the public release of salary details of employees of public bodies in response to access to information requests:

During the 2014 Statutory Review of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (ATIPPA), the Review Committee, Chaired by former Chief Justice and former Premier Clyde Wells, considered the issue of disclosing salary and other forms of remuneration of public body employees. After weighing all of the pros and cons, the Committee recommended in favour enacting a provision in the law which would allow for the disclosure of salary and other forms of remuneration by name. The Wells Committee considered the privacy issues associated with this and decided as follows:

           “The privacy of public employees needs to be balanced against the public’s right to know how their tax dollars are spent.
            Contemporary values of transparency and accountability for public funds tip the balance in favour of disclosure.” (p. 191)

On June 1, 2015 the ATIPPA, 2015 was enacted by government. This new law followed all of the recommendations of the Review Committee, including a specific provision which states that disclosure of information about the position, functions and remuneration (including salary) of an identifiable individual who is an officer, employee or member of a public body is NOT an unreasonable invasion of privacy, and therefore cannot be withheld by a public body. It is the interpretation of this Office that this means that names of public body employees and their salaries are to be disclosed to an access to information applicant upon request.

This type of disclosure is not unusual in Canada, and for example, has been done for many years under different legislation in Ontario. A number of public bodies in this Province have already released such information in response to an access request. We understand that there are some public bodies which have been uncertain in their interpretation of the law, and have notified affected employees of their intention to disclose the information, prior to actual disclosure. It is our view that such a disclosure is in compliance with the law.

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Media contact:

Ed Ring
Information and Privacy Commissioner
709-729-6309
ering@oipc.nl.ca

2016 04 04                              3:05 p.m.