Labour bans NDAs: Is this the end of cover-up culture in toxic workplaces?
The government is set to ban the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in the workplace, which have been used to prevent victims of sexual assault and discrimination from sharing their stories.
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In brief…
- The government is set to ban non-disclosure agreements, used to prevent victims of workplace misconduct and abuse, from speaking publicly about their experiences.
- Justin Madders, Labour’s under-secretary for employment rights, tells The News Agents the new law will stop companies silencing victims.
- Madders also believes a change in the law will force companies to get their “house in order” because they will no longer be able to rely on NDAs.
What’s the story?
RIP the NDA.
The UK government is to ban the use of non-disclosure agreements to stop victims of sexual misconduct and discrimination in the workplace from speaking out about their experiences.
The practice has been in the headlines since former Harvey Weinstein assistant Zelda Perkins broke her NDA to speak about her experiences working for the convicted sex offender. They were also used by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed to prevent female workers from disclosing claims of rape and abuse.
In May 2025, Perkins told The News Agents that the use of NDAs had become a “quiet pandemic” and were being used solely to hide the actions of predators.
An amendment to the Employment Right’s Bill is expected to be made law later this year.
End of covering up ‘unacceptable behaviour’ in workplaces
Justin Madders, under-secretary for employment rights, tells The News Agents he believes it will receive cross-party support when it comes before the House of Commons.
“It is really important for us to be sending a message about how we expect people to behave at work and how victims should be treated,” Madders says.
“What we want to be able to say, as a result of this, is that businesses are more willing to challenge unacceptable behaviour because they know, in future, they won't be able to cover it up.
“They won't be able to get victims silenced. They will actually have to tackle the perpetrators head on.”
Madders adds that he hopes a change in law will drive a change in workplace culture across the UK.
Victims had ‘no real choice’ in signing NDAs
But the real impact of the change is to protect the victims.
“We always had sympathy with the case Zelda Perkins – and many other campaigners and MPs – had been making,” Madders adds.
“It's very clear from what Zelda said, that people were just having these thrust upon them, whether they wanted to speak out or not, and there was no real free choice in this.
“Allowing victims to be able to speak out will put an awful lot more onus on employers to get their house in order to actually tackle the root cause of the problem, which is the unacceptable behaviour.”
There are some instances, he insists, in which some victims are willing to sign an NDA and “move on” from an abusive workplace.
What Zelda Perkins told The News Agents
When Perkins spoke with The News Agents in May, she said that the public were now "very aware" of NDAs and believed the integrity of law was being made a "mockery" of.
She also said that NDAs almost always succeeded in keeping victims silent because those gagged by them lacked the resources to make any legal challenge against their employers.
At the time she also criticised the Labour government for not making changes to the law, saying there was no "ethical, moral, legal reason" not to introduce protections for employees.
Following news of the impending ban, Perkins said she, and her fellow campaigners were in shock.
"This is such a huge victory, and is a win for all those who have bravely broken their NDAs and for all the incredible MPs, Peers, and allies that have helped us every step of the way," she said.