Latest news with #workplaceMisconduct
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Non-disclosure agreements gagging workers to be banned
Employers will be banned from using non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to silence victims of workplace sexual misconduct or discrimination, the government has said. An amendment to the Employment Rights Bill, which is expected to become law later this year, will void any confidentiality agreements seeking to prevent workers from speaking about allegations of harassment or discrimination. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said it was "time we stamped this practice out". The use of NDAs to cover up criminality has been in the headlines ever since Zelda Perkins, a former assistant to Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood mogul and now convicted sex offender, broke her agreement to accuse him of abuse. More recently, the now deceased Mohamed Al Fayed, who used to own Harrods, was accused of deploying confidentiality clauses to silence women who accused him of rape and abuse. An NDA is a legally binding document that protects confidential information between two parties. They can be used to protect intellectual property or other commercially sensitive information but over the years their uses have spread. Ms Perkins began campaigning for a change in the law more than seven years ago when she spoke out against Weinstein. She now runs the campaign group Can't Buy My Silence UK and said the amendment marked a ''huge milestone'' and that it showed the government had ''listened and understood the abuse of power taking place". Though she told the BBC's Today Programme: "Let's see what comes out in the actual details". She said "the real horror" of NDAs was that "the law protected the powerful person in the room, not the victims of a sexual crime". Ms Perkins said many of these agreements designed to silence victims would be unenforceable in court but they work because many victims do not know that. "Because of the nature of an NDA, no-one gets to see it. So they can say anything to make the victim afraid to speak," she said. The change in the law would bring the UK in line with Ireland, the US, and some provinces in Canada, which have banned such agreements from being used to prevent the disclosure of sexual harassment and discrimination. Employment rights minister Justin Madders said there was "misuse of NDAs to silence victims", which he called "an appalling practice". "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," he added. Peers will debate the amendments when the Employment Rights Bill returns to the House of Lords on 14 July and, if passed, will need to be approved by MPs as well.
Bloomberg
08-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
UK Moves to Ban NDAs Used to Silence Victims of Workplace Abuse
The UK is moving to ban employers from using non-disclosure agreements to muzzle workers who have been the victims of misconduct on the job. The provision is set to be added to the broader employee-rights legislation being advanced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government. It would void existing NDAs used by businesses to silence employees who were subject to sexual harassment or discrimination and allow witnesses to speak out without risk of being sued, the government said in a statement.
Bloomberg
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
UK Is Moving to Ban NDAs to Hide Misconduct, Guardian Reports
The UK government is moving to ban employers deploying nondisclosure agreements to muzzle workers who have been victims of misconduct on the job, the Guardian reported on Monday. Under the reforms being prepared as part of broader employee rights legislation by Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government, any NDA that tried to head off complaints of workplace discrimination or harassment would be unenforceable, the newspaper reported.
BBC News
07-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Workplace misconduct and discrimination NDAs to be banned
Employers will be banned from using non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to silence victims of workplace sexual misconduct or discrimination, the government has amendment to the Employment Rights Bill, which is expected to become law later this year, will void any confidentiality agreements seeking to prevent workers from speaking about allegations of harassment or Prime Minister Angela Rayner said it was "time we stamped this practice out".The use of NDAs to cover up criminality has been in the headlines ever since Zelda Perkins, the former assistant to Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, broke her NDA in 2017 to accuse him of sexual abuse. More recently, the now deceased Mohamed Al Fayed, who used to own Harrods, was accused of deploying confidentiality clauses to silence women who accused him of rape and NDA is a legally binding document that protects confidential information between two parties. They can be used to protect intellectual property or other commercially sensitive information but over the years their uses have Perkins began campaigning for a change in the law more than seven years ago. She now runs the campaign group Can't Buy My Silence UK and said the amendment marked a ''huge milestone'' and that it showed the government had ''listened and understood the abuse of power taking place".But she said the victory ''belongs to the people who broke their NDAs, who risked everything to speak the truth when they were told they couldn't". The change in the law would bring the UK in line with Ireland, the United States, and some provinces in Canada, which have banned such agreements from being used to prevent the disclosure of sexual harassment and Perkins said that while the law was welcome, it was vital "to ensure the regulations are watertight and no one can be forced into silence again".Employment rights minister Justin Madders said there was "misuse of NDAs to silence victims", which he called "an appalling practice"."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," he will debate the amendments when the Employment Rights Bill returns to the House of Lords on 14 July and, if passed, will need to be approved by MPs as well.
Bloomberg
27-06-2025
- Bloomberg
NDAs Are Problematic. That Doesn't Mean We Should Ban Them.
When Harvey Weinstein's retrial on sexual assault charges was playing out in a Manhattan courtroom earlier this month, events were closely followed 3,000 miles away where British lawmakers were mulling a change to their own laws on workplace misconduct. As the catalyst for the #MeToo movement when his serial abuse of women first emerged in 2017, Weinstein has also sparked a debate around the use of nondisclosure agreements in jurisdictions across the western world. These are contracts between an employer and a departing employee originally designed to protect trade secrets, but which are increasingly used to cover up wrongdoing including discrimination, sexual harassment and even assault.
