Termination advice letters and AI confidentiality: what advising an employer on a dismissal gives away in ChatGPT or Claude.

Advising an employer on a dismissal means holding two sets of secrets: the client’s plan, and a named worker’s personal details, often including his health and his union. The letter is long and has to get the entitlements right, so staff paste it into ChatGPT or Claude to check the arithmetic and tighten the risk section. This page marks every item in a termination advice letter that rule 9, privilege and the Privacy Act bear on, and shows how the same letter is drafted on Ermos inside the firm, from the file and the contract without any of it leaving the building.

The termination advice letter

Sent to the employer after an investigation and before it decides whether and how to dismiss, and relied on when the dismissal is later challenged.

An invented letter. Hover or tap any highlighted item for the analysis; the full list is below.

What leaves the firm

1. 1
   The client contact

   A named manager at a named company who is about to dismiss someone. Information confidential to the client under rule 9, and a fact the client does not want known before the worker is told. Rule 9 confidentiality guide.

2. 2
   The worker, his date of birth and his pay

   A named employee with a date of birth, a role, a start date and a salary. Personal information about an identifiable individual who has no idea his employer has instructed solicitors. Privacy Act guide.

3. 3
   The allegation and his admission

   An account of what the worker is said to have done, what he admits and what he says. Material gathered by the client for the purpose of obtaining advice, and an allegation about a named person. Legal privilege guide.

4. 4
   A workers compensation claim and an injury

   A claim, an injured shoulder and a treating physiotherapist. Health information is sensitive information under the Privacy Act, which applies to a law practice only if the practice is covered. Privacy Act guide.

5. 5
   Union membership

   That the worker is a union member and who attended his meeting. Membership of a trade union is also on the Privacy Act’s list of sensitive information. Privacy Act guide.

6. 6
   The notice rules

   The minimum notice table and the exceptions as the National Employment Standards state them. Public information that names no one.

7. 7
   The firm’s assessment of the risk

   Where the client is exposed and the firm’s view of how badly. The core of privileged advice, and what the worker’s lawyer would most like to read. Legal privilege guide.

8. 8
   The link to the client’s own litigation

   That the worker is a likely witness in a separate proceeding, and the concern that the dismissal could affect his cooperation. Two matters connected in one paragraph of strategy. Legal privilege guide.

9. 9
   The payment and the ceiling

   The notice payment for this worker, and the amounts the client may pay to end the dispute. The client’s negotiating position, written before any negotiation. Legal privilege guide.

10. 10
    The solicitors

    Ties the advice to practitioners bound by rule 9 and supervised by a partner. Supervising AI guide.

What happens in Frontier Models (ChatGPT, Claude)

• The whole document is transmitted to the provider’s servers. On personal plans the user cannot choose where it is stored or processed, and for the major providers that has generally meant outside Australia, under that country’s legal process. Some business plans offer storage in Australia, but the provider still receives the content.
• On consumer tiers, prompts can be retained and used to train future models.
• The provider’s staff and systems can reach the content under the provider’s own policies.
• Once sent, the firm no longer controls it. Retention and deletion happen on the provider’s terms.

The same document on Ermos

Part of AI data leakage in law firms. See how this works in practice: Legal research on Ermos.

Common questions