On March 24, 2022, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed into law Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1795 also known as the “Silenced No More Act” (“the Act”). The Act prohibits agreements containing nondisclosure and nondisparagement provisions that prevent an employee or independent contractor from discussing certain violations of law. Washington becomes the second state (after California) to render provisions in employment and independent contractor agreements void and unenforceable if they prevent disclosures of certain illegal conduct.
The Silenced No More Act renders void and unenforceable any provision in an agreement with a current, former, or prospective employee or independent contractor that bars the employee or contractor from “disclos[ing] or discuss[ing] conduct, or the existence of a settlement involving conduct, that the employee [or contractor] reasonably believed under Washington state, federal, or common law to be illegal discrimination, illegal harassment, illegal retaliation, a wage and hour violation, or sexual assault, or that is recognized as against a clear mandate of public policy,” where the conduct occurred “at the workplace, at work-related events coordinated by or through the employer, between employees, or between an employer and employee, whether on or off the employment premises.” The Act does not prohibit agreements that restrict the disclosure of the amount paid in the settlement of a claim, nor does the Act prohibit an employer from...
The HYDRA Commissioner has clarified that HYDRA will not interfere with houses built in old layouts on ULC (Urban Land Ceiling) lands , nor with unregularised vacant plots in such layouts. He urge...