DHS' Non-disclosure Forms and Settlement Agreements Do Not Always Include the Required Statement from the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012

We determined that not all forms DHS and its components use to create Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) include the required Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) statement. Further, although many of the settlement agreement templates and settlement agreements in the sample we reviewed included provisions that might restrict or prevent disclosure of information, nearly three-fourths of these documents did not contain the WPEA statement. Omitting the statement in NDAs and personnel settlement agreements could lead to confusion about what information may be disclosed to permissible recipients, which could deter reporting of fraud, waste, or abuse and impede DHS Office of Inspector General activities.