The UK government is moving to ban non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that prevent employees from speaking out about alleged workplace harassment or discrimination, under newly published amendments to the Employment Rights Bill (ERB).
The change, announced on 7 July 2025, means that any clause in a contract or settlement agreement that attempts to silence an employee from disclosing or alleging harassment or discrimination will be legally void, unless the agreement falls under a narrow, as-yet undefined, exception.
The amendment marks a major shift in employment law, with serious implications for HR teams, legal advisers and employers who routinely rely on confidentiality clauses as part of workplace settlement agreements.
“When your life, as well as your family’s, has literally been ruined it results in a substantial claim,” said William Clift, Senior Associate at Winckworth Sherwood LLP, writing on the legal update.
The proposed ban will apply to any employment agreement — including employment contracts, settlement agreements, or exit packages — that seeks to restrict workers from making:
• Allegations of harassment or discrimination, or
• Disclosures of information about harassment, discrimination, or the employer’s response to it.
The provisions will apply even in cases where no specific details of the alleged conduct are provided. For example, a vague statement such as “I was harassed by my manager” may still be protected under the new rules.
Significantly, the ban applies to:
• All protected characteristics under the Equality Act, including age, sex, race, disability, religion, sexual orientation and gender reassignment.
• Allegations involving fellow employees, including disclosures about the treatment of colleagues.
• Employer responses to such allegations — for example, failure to investigate, retaliation, or attempts to silence a complainant.
Notably, victimisation claims and failures to make reasonable adjustments are not explicitly covered, and it remains unclear whether this is an oversight or intentional.
It’s also uncertain whether an employer’s offer of a settlement agreement itself could be viewed as part of the “response” to discrimination — and thus made subject to the disclosure protections.
The legislation leaves the door open for certain NDAs to remain valid if they meet the definition of an “excepted agreement”. However, the Secretary of State has not yet defined what these will include. Until secondary regulations clarify the criteria, all NDAs that restrict disclosures about harassment or discrimination risk being unenforceable.
These proposals build on a growing legislative and regulatory crackdown on NDAs used to conceal wrongdoing. Additional measures taking effect later this year include:
• 1 August 2025: NDAs that silence victims of misconduct in higher education will be banned.
• 1 October 2025: NDAs preventing disclosure of criminal conduct to legal or law enforcement bodies will also be rendered void.
Currently, many employers include ‘carve-outs’ in NDAs that allow workers to report criminal offences or cooperate with investigations. These remain essential, as failing to do so could breach Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) guidelines and render clauses invalid under whistleblowing protections.
However, the new ERB amendments go further by rendering void any NDA that prevents workers from repeating allegations of harassment or discrimination to anyone, regardless of whether a financial settlement has been agreed.
This presents a challenge for employers who rely on NDAs to resolve disputes quickly and discreetly. Some may become less inclined to offer settlement agreements, particularly in cases where reputational risk is high, and employees may prefer to resolve matters privately.
As Clift notes, “if some employers become unwilling to agree a settlement as a result of this ban, employees’ only recourse may be to bring an Employment Tribunal claim — a process that is lengthy, public, and costly.”
While employers may see increased litigation risk, many in the legal and HR community view the change as an overdue rebalancing of power in the workplace, following years of high-profile cases in which NDAs were misused to silence victims of harassment and discrimination.
These reforms align the UK more closely with growing international efforts to protect whistleblowers, victims of misconduct, and promote transparency in employment practices.
