The recent revelation that Gary Walker of United Lincolnshire Hospitals was paid £500 000 in exchange for a vow of silence raises important HR questions on so called ‘gagging orders’. We live in an age where we have vast quantities of information and increasingly in an age where we expect information to be transparent, especially in public services, since it could be argued that we ‘own’ the data.
What do HR professionals think about this vexed question? Legally, practicaly and ethically?