'Huge milestone' | HR experts react to ban on NDAs in cases of workplace 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.

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.   

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.