Consultation on NDA Rules to Protect Workers from Workplace Abuse

Press release

Victims of workplace abuse will no longer be silenced

Consultation on new rules to stop employers using NDAs to cover up workplace abuse

From: Department for Business and Trade and Kate Dearden MP Published 15 April 2026

• Government consults on new rules to stop NDAs being used to pressure workers and silence victims of harassment and discrimination at work
• Follows years of campaigning by advocates including Zelda Perkins, founder of Can’t Buy My Silence and former PA to Harvey Weinstein
• Changes part of the Employment Rights Act, which will benefit over 18 million workers across the UK and make work pay for everyone The Government has today [15th April] launched a consultation on new regulations to stop employers from using NDAs to cover up workplace harassment and discrimination – and is calling on the public to make their voices heard.

Research from the Young Women’s Trust has found that 1 in 4 young women would be reluctant to report sexual harassment at work for fear of losing their job.

As part of its commitment to protect workers who speak up about wrongdoing, the Government will also be consulting in the summer on changes to the legal framework around whistleblowing, to ensure it is operating effectively.

It comes as part of the government’s plan to build an economy based on fair competition between businesses, greater productivity in the workplace, job security for workers, and fair reward for hard work.

Employment Rights Minister, Kate Dearden said:

We are committed to ending a culture of silence and impunity and stand with all survivors of harassment and abuse in the workplace.

These changes will ensure no one has to suffer in silence and give workers confidence that inappropriate behaviour will be dealt with.”
The NDA consultation will seek views on the details underpinning new changes– including the conditions an NDA must meet to still be valid, and who workers should be free to speak to about their experience, regardless of what they have signed.

It will also ask for views on whether protections should, in the future, be extended to a wider group of people, including agency workers and the self-employed.

New changes to void exploitative NDAs will also mean that witnesses to this abhorrent behaviour are protected from being pressured into agreements that would stop them calling it out and publicly supporting victims.

Zelda Perkins, Co-Founder of Can’t Buy My Silence said:

This consultation is a decisive moment in the fight to end the silencing of victims. The government has made a positive commitment to deliver but to make sure this legislation achieves its purpose, those who have suffered must speak up, loudly and clearly. By engaging with this consultation, victims can help ensure the legislation is strong, enforceable, and impossible to sidestep.

This is the chance to create world-leading protections and finally stop the misuse of confidentiality agreements to hide wrongdoing.”

Notes to Editors

• NDAs is a catch-all term to describe any agreement containing confidentiality clauses including non-disparagement clauses. These contracts or clauses restrict what a signatory can say, or who they can tell, about something.
• The NDA consultation will be open for 12 weeks – from Wednesday 15th April closing on Wednesday 8th July, with changes to come into effect in 2027. It can be found here: [Make Work Pay: misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) - GOV.UK ]
• A 2019 survey from the Young Women’s Trust found that 1 in 4 young women would be reluctant to report sexual harassment at work for fear of losing their job (Young Women’s Trust survey)
• Sexual harassment at work is rarely a single incident, with a 2025 Unite survey finding out of those who had been sexually harassed at work, 48% experienced it more than twice.  (Unite survey on sexual harassment in UK workplaces)
• In the year ending March 2023, an estimated 1 in 10 people aged 16 years and over experienced harassment in the previous 12 months in England and Wales. Of the 75% of victims that experienced this in person, 18% reported it occurring in workplace environments. (Crime Survey for England and Wales)
• Over 18 million workers will benefit from the Employment Rights Act [Source: Employment Rights Act 2025: impact assessments - GOV.UK ]

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Published 15 April 2026