header-logo header-logo

NDA ban a double-edged sword

09 July 2025
Issue: 8124 / Categories: Legal News , Non disclosure agreements , Employment , Harassment , Abuse
printer mail-detail
The government is banning employers from using non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to silence victims of harassment and abuse

The change will be introduced through an amendment to the Employment Rights Bill.

However, Nikola Southern, partner at Kingsley Napley, warned the ban could have ‘unintended consequences’ by deterring victims from raising complaints and employers from settling claims.

‘Many victims of harassment and discrimination (including of sexual harassment) rely on NDAs to protect their own interests and identity as confidentiality can—and often does—work both ways in settlement agreements,’ Southern said.

‘Victims will have less control over what information about them and their experience makes it into the public domain.’ She said employers might be more inclined to defend the claim to protect their reputation as they may feel the information is likely to come out.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Firm strengthens international funds capability with senior hire

Gilson Gray—Jeremy Davy

Gilson Gray—Jeremy Davy

Partner appointed as head of residential conveyancing for England

DR Solicitors—Paul Edels

DR Solicitors—Paul Edels

Specialist firm enhances corporate healthcare practice with partner appointment

NEWS
In this week's issue, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist and former district judge, surveys another eclectic fortnight in procedure. With humour and humanity, he reminds readers that beneath the procedural dust, the law still changes lives
Generative AI isn’t the villain of the courtroom—it’s the misunderstanding of it that’s dangerous, argues Dr Alan Ma of Birmingham City University and the Birmingham Law Society in this week's NLJ
James Naylor of Naylor Solicitors dissects the government’s plan to outlaw upward-only rent review (UORR) clauses in new commercial leases under Schedule 31 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, in this week's NLJ. The reform, he explains, marks a seismic shift in landlord-tenant power dynamics: rents will no longer rise inexorably, and tenants gain statutory caps and procedural rights
Writing in NLJ this week, James Harrison and Jenna Coad of Penningtons Manches Cooper chart the Privy Council’s demolition of the long-standing ‘shareholder rule’ in Jardine Strategic v Oasis Investments
Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School and the Frenkel Topping Group—AKA The insider—crowns Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP as his case of 2025 in his latest column for NLJ. The High Court’s decision—that non-authorised employees cannot conduct litigation, even under supervision—has sent shockwaves through the profession. Regan calls it the year’s defining moment for civil practitioners and reproduces a ‘cut-out-and-keep’ summary of key rulings from Mr Justice Sheldon
back-to-top-scroll