The Employment Rights Bill will ban employers from using non-disclosure agreements that silence workplace harassment and abuse
Employees who are subject to harassment or discrimination will no longer be silenced by controversial non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), as part of amendments to the Employment Rights Bill.
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Changes set to be introduced to the Bill, which is due to return to the Lords next week, will void NDAs used by employers against employees who have been subjected to harassment, including sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace – no longer forcing them to suffer in silence.
The move will also mean that witnesses to this abhorrent behaviour can call it out and publicly support victims without the threat of being sued.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said:
Employment Rights Minister Justin Madders said:
NDAs is a catch-all term to describe any agreement containing confidentiality or non-disparagement clauses or used to describe those clauses themselves. These contracts or clauses restrict what a signatory can say, or who they can tell, about something.
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Their original purpose was to protect intellectual property or other commercial or sensitive information, but reports have shown they have become commonly used to prevent people speaking out about horrific experiences in the workplace.
There have been many high-profile cases of NDAs being used to prevent victims from speaking about crimes, often forcing women and vulnerable individuals to feel stuck in unwanted situations, through fear or desperation.
If passed, these rules will mean that any confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements or other agreements that seek to prevent a worker speaking about an allegation of harassment or discrimination will be null and void. This will allow victims to speak freely about their experiences and their employer able to support them publicly.
Campaign group Can’t Buy My Silence, spearheaded by Zelda Perkins, former PA to Harvey Weinstein, has led the charge in calling for this change, alongside MPs such as Louise Haigh and Sarah Russell.
Zelda Perkins, Founder of the campaign Can’t Buy My Silence UK, said:
The amendments being tabled today will add to the measures already in place in the Employment Rights Bill - landmark legislation introduced as part of the government’s Plan for Change - ensuring workers’ rights are fair and fit for a modern economy, while tackling the low pay and poor working conditions still facing people up and down the country.
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