Employees who want to criticize their former companies should proceed with caution.
To talk or not to talk?
Photo: Etienne Boulanger
A recent decision from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regarding non-disparagement agreements has many US workers excited that they may now be free to publicly criticize their former employer or talk about the terms of severance agreements. And when a new memo issued by the board’s general counsel clarified that this decision could apply retroactively, it set off a series of headlines and commentary suggesting that all confidentiality clauses, at least in severance agreements, are now void.
But employees with an ax to grind should proceed with caution. According to legal experts, the decision doesn’t actually void all non-disparagement and non-disclosure clauses, nor does it prohibit the creation of new ones—and employees could still be held legally liable for the things they say. Before you go public with your complaints, they add, you should consult a lawyer about what’s still considered confidential.
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