Public bodies have been told to ensure that the disclosure of employee information under freedom of information (FOI) requests is strictly necessary before it is released.

Latest guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) states while legitimate FOI requests should continue to be undertaken if disclosure is in the public interest, public sector bodies should look to protect certain employee details.

The information watchdog recommends public authorities should redact certain pieces of information if an employee’s rights are threatened by an FOI request - stating that legitimate public interest could still be met without the disclosure of every detail requested.

It remains important to achieve a balance between employee rights and freedoms against a case of legitimate public interest, the ICO affirmed.

The body said that the purpose of the Freedom of Information Act remained to maintain the general transparency of the policies, decisions and actions of public bodies.

However, the publication states it should be necessary to demonstrate that a specific social need will be met by the release of personal data. To achieve this, the ICO suggests that only data related to more senior members of staff be provided under FOI requests.

According to the ICO guidance, when disclosing details of salaries and bonuses, public authorities could provide data on general bands of pay, in this way accommodating the public interest in this area alongside privacy rights of the employee and the sector in which they work.

The ICO stated: ‘As data controllers under the DPA (Data Protection Act), public authorities have a duty to ensure that employee data is adequately protected, but they also have a duty to respond to requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Authorities should have a general policy on releasing employee information in response to FOIA requests.

‘Such a policy should be reasonably constructed, avoiding, for example, a simple cut-off point based solely on grade or seniority and should take account of the move towards greater transparency. While they must consider each request on its own terms, having a general policy will help employees to form a reasonable expectation of what information may be released about them.’