HMT updates public sector exit payments guidance on special severance payments
HM Treasury (HMT) has updated the guidance on ‘Public Sector Exit Payments: Use of Special Severance Payments’, first published in May 2021, as well as the Proforma for special severance business cases, which was first published in June 2021. A new ‘Reporting Template for Special Severance Payment Data Return’ has also been added to the guidance collection. Special severance payments are those payments paid to employees, officeholders, workers, contractors, and others outside of normal statutory or contractual requirements when leaving employment in public service whether they resign, are dismissed or reach an agreed termination of contract. HMT’s guidance details the criteria that public sector employers should consider before proposing a special severance payment and outlines the approval process required to authorise such a payment, as well as the requirements for annual reporting on special severance payments.