Committee publication · Correspondence · 15 April 2026
Correspondence from Secretary of State for Dept. for Business and Trade & President of the Board of Trade re, non-disclosure agreements, dated 20.03.2026
Summary
Secretary of State Peter Kyle responds to the Women and Equalities Committee on non-disclosure agreement (NDA) misuse. The government confirms measures in the Employment Rights Act 2025 to void NDAs that silence victims of harassment or discrimination, and references the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 which prevents NDAs blocking crime reporting. A consultation on NDA conditions and potential extension to freelancers is forthcoming.
Key findings
- Employment Rights Act 2025 voids NDA provisions preventing workers from speaking about relevant harassment or discrimination; consultation planned on 'excepted agreements' and individuals workers can speak to
- Consultation will explore whether NDA protections should extend to self-employed and freelancers, who currently do not meet the standard definition of worker
- Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (Section 17) effective from 1 October 2025 makes clear NDAs cannot prevent crime reporting to police or disclosure to support professionals
- Government proposes further amendment through Victims and Courts Bill to void NDAs preventing victims or witnesses disclosing criminal conduct to anyone for any purpose, without limiting recipients or purposes
- Government reiterates commitment to tackling Violence Against Women and Girls through workplace protections and early intervention measures
Tone
SupportiveTopics
employment-rightsnon-disclosure-agreementsworkplace-harassmentdiscriminationviolence-against-women-and-girls
Key actors
Peter Kyle MP, Sarah Owen MP, Women and Equalities Committee, Department for Business and Trade
Notable line
“NDAs should not be misused to silence victims of discrimination, harassment or other misconduct.”
Key Quotes
“The Government strongly believes that NDAs should not be misused to silence victims of discrimination, harassment or other misconduct.”
“The measure will void any provision in any agreement, such as NDAs, between a worker and their employer that prevents a worker from speaking out about relevant harassment or discrimination.”
“We want to ensure that it protects workers against the misuse of NDAs where employers are using them to cover up relevant harassment and discrimination, and to enable workers to have a greater say in whether they want confidentiality and, if they do, a better understanding of what they are agreeing to.”
“NDAs cannot validly prevent a victim of crime from reporting a crime to the police; and ii) ensure that NDAs cannot validly prevent a victim of crime from disclosing information to certain bodies and professionals to get confidential advice or support to cope or recover from crime.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗