Back

In an unexpected development, the latest set of amendments to the Employment Rights Bill added a whole new section on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), which bans NDAs relating to harassment or discrimination. Is this a bad move for both employers and employees?

With some fanfare, the Government has announced a “Ban on controversial NDAs silencing abuse”. Employment Rights Minister Justin Madders said, “The misuse of NDAs to silence victims of harassment or discrimination is an appalling practice that this government has been determined to end…these amendments will give millions of workers confidence that inappropriate behaviour in the workplace will be dealt with, not hidden, allowing them to get on with building a prosperous and successful career.” In this article, we refer to employees, though strictly the amendment refers to the wider category of “workers”.

A key problem with this proposal is that, if one takes the announcement at face value (though see below at “But…does the Government really mean what it says?”), the change would be bad news for employees, it would be bad news for employers and it would be likely to lead to delays and more pressure on already over-stretched Employment Tribunals.

So why is this such a problem?

What’s proposed?

The proposal is that any term in a contract banning an employee from making allegations or disclosing information relating to harassment or discrimination will be void. Although it applies to any contract, including an...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMifkFVX3lxTE9BeVJJN2dyUGE0Tmc3cW52eUxw...