Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

Hi folks, Please, please, please put pieces of this discussion that are important to you on the transparency practices page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Transparency/Practices There are a lot of ideas floating around and its important to have them in one place. Thanks all! Edward On Mon,

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

Luis, The original announcement of your departure[1], posted on Feb. 8, said, Quote: "Later this month, Luis will transition out of his current position with the Wikimedia Foundation to pursue other opportunities. He will remain in a consulting role with the Foundation over the next few months,

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

I should narrow the scope of my statement a bit. I understand a need for, and support, carefully crafted NDAs that protect information like credit card numbers and personally identifiable information. I am skeptical of overly broad or vague NDAs, as well as non-disparagement clauses. I am

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

Well, Pete, I certainly interpreted Nathan's question as being specific enough to require that a number be given. On 14 March 2016 at 14:28, Pete Forsyth wrote: > On Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 11:00 AM, Risker wrote: > > > There's a difference between

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

On Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 11:00 AM, Risker wrote: > There's a difference between "does the WMF generally include > non-disparagement and non-disclosure clauses in separation agreements" and > "how many separation agreements include non-disparagement and > non-disclosure

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

I'm looking at this issue from a few angles. 1. If an initial employment contract has a provision that employees who voluntarily resign and provide X amount of notice will be paid out something like their accrued vacation time (I believe that some jurisdictions require this) and a certain amount

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

There's a difference between "does the WMF generally include non-disparagement and non-disclosure clauses in separation agreements" and "how many separation agreements include non-disparagement and non-disclosure clauses". One is general, and the other is specific; the first can likely be

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

We need to distinguish between the personal and private details of individuals and the policies of the WMF around management of employees. It should be clear to everyone that employee satisfaction, retention, dispute management and other issues of personnel management are central to the

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

Actually, no, you probably can't ask that question either - because the names of the individuals who have departed are pretty much all publicly known. (There's even a timeline in which all their names are mentioned, linked from news articles and other "external" locations.) In many jurisdictions,

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

It's an easy question to ask in a non-specific way: In the last six months, has the WMF approved severance agreements with departing employees with language that, in effect, prevented them from publicly criticizing the WMF, its management or the Board on matters of public interest?

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

On 14 March 2016 at 09:40, Risker wrote: > I think it is probably best that human resources issues (including the > reasons for people leaving the organization) are not included in this list, > unless expressly disclosed by the individuals. > And, in particular, wild

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

I think it is probably best that human resources issues (including the reasons for people leaving the organization) are not included in this list, unless expressly disclosed by the individuals. Risker On 14 March 2016 at 12:14, Pine W wrote: > Um. Luis, if you were offered

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

On 3/14/2016 9:14 AM, Pine W wrote: Um. Luis, if you were offered a severance agreement that included a financial payment from WMF, that would be... very interesting. And potentially very problematic. Or it could be a relatively routine business practice. For example, in many cases an employer

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

Um. Luis, if you were offered a severance agreement that included a financial payment from WMF, that would be... very interesting. And potentially very problematic. Pine On Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 7:25 AM, Luis Villa wrote: > On Sun, Mar 13, 2016 at 5:44 PM Oliver Keyes

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

On Sun, Mar 13, 2016 at 5:44 PM Oliver Keyes wrote: > On Sun, Mar 13, 2016 at 4:14 PM, Luis Villa wrote: > > On Sun, Mar 13, 2016 at 1:08 PM Antoine Musso > wrote: > > > >> > >> To the best of my knowledge such agreements are not public, but

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

Hi Andreas, Thanks for your email. A few wmf staff have worked on a page on meta to invite anyone to post their thoughts about transparency at https://meta.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Transparency/Practices. Would you be able to post your idea there? I'd be happy to post it there for you if you have

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

As another data point, I joined the WMF last April and there was no non-disparagement clause in my employment agreement. I suspect that at some point someone realized it wasn't much good and dropped it from the standard agreement, but older employees like Oliver were never given an updated

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

On Sun, Mar 13, 2016 at 3:14 PM, Luis Villa wrote: > > In mid-2013, the legal team put the standard employee NDA clauses, and a > couple others, on-wiki at: > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Non-disclosure_agreements#Wikimedia_Foundation.27s_non-disclosure_agreements > > Luis

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

On 13 March 2016 at 20:07, Antoine Musso wrote: > Volunteers (ie neither staff or contractors) might have to sign a NDA > whenever they get privileged access. The process is on: > https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_NDA > > What I suspect is granting public read

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

On Sun, Mar 13, 2016 at 1:08 PM Antoine Musso wrote: > > To the best of my knowledge such agreements are not public, but honestly > there is no conspiracy behind that. There are public clues though: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Access_to_nonpublic_information_policy

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

Le 13/03/2016 03:09, Andreas Kolbe a écrit : > things like standard boilerplate language to be signed by >> > all employees doesn't strike me as something in and of itself to be kept >> > private - there is a valid interest in showing that our policies are >> > fair and humane for employees,

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

Hm.. in my experience, legal departments focus above all on managing risk on behalf of their clients and using the legal system to the maximal benefit of the organization of which they are a part. In my view, putting Transparency in Legal is a recipe for minimal disclosure, not maximal. The

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

Guys...gals...some perspective? The important thing (as Andreas initially said) is that informal commitments from Trustees, to seek transparency in specific areas, not continue to get lost. The questions about what department it belongs in, the speed at which they get addressed, etc. are all

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

"Requests for transparency" is highly inaccurate; what you are requesting is information. The two are not synonymous. I have moved the page to the more correct name. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Requests_for_information On 12 March 2016 at 22:18, SarahSV wrote: >

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

Ummwhat the NDA says is very much a part of employment standards. The NDA is an employer-employee agreement. It is not subject to the wishes of the Wikimedia community, except in a very indirect way. NDAs are used to control people's behaviours - if they're employees, they get disciplined

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

On Sat, Mar 12, 2016 at 8:11 PM, Andreas Kolbe wrote: > As Sarah says, a dedicated transparency officer within the community > engagement department would be a great idea, because this is a > community-facing issue. I'd be interested in hearing Maggie's views on > that. > ​

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

Anne, This is not a question of employment standards – it's not about what these NDAs etc. should or shouldn't say. We are talking about publication of existing boilerplate agreements that are in routine use. It's a question of transparency. When volunteers talk to staff, it's useful for them to

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

On 12 March 2016 at 22:02, SarahSV wrote: > On Sat, Mar 12, 2016 at 7:09 PM, Andreas Kolbe wrote: > > > > > This seems to be a recurring (and daunting) pattern. People call for > > transparency about a particular issue. Eventually, someone in a >

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

On Sat, Mar 12, 2016 at 7:09 PM, Andreas Kolbe wrote: > > This seems to be a recurring (and daunting) pattern. People call for > transparency about a particular issue. Eventually, someone in a leadership > position responds that yes, demands for transparency about this issue

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses

Really, Andreas? You're complaining that the resigning ED didn't do this and the one appointed less than 36 hours ago hasn't got around to it? This is not Maggie's responsibility - she is not responsible for employment standards or expectations. That would be the VP Human Resources...who has