Confidentiality clauses, often called non-disclosure agreements or NDAs, appear in almost every UK settlement agreement. For years they have been controversial when used to prevent employees speaking about harassment or discrimination. That era is now ending. A combination of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 and the Employment Rights Act 2025 will render void any clause that silences workers on these issues, with the main employment reforms expected to take effect in 2027 following a government consultation on the detail.
Key facts at a glance
- Since 1 October 2025, NDA clauses cannot prevent victims of crime from disclosing information to the police, lawyers, regulators, support services or close family (Victims and Prisoners Act 2024).
- Since 6 April 2026, a disclosure that sexual harassment has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur is expressly a protected disclosure under whistleblowing law.
- Under section 202A of the Employment Rights Act 2025, any clause preventing a worker from speaking about “relevant harassment or discrimination”, or about the employer's response to it, will be void.
- Limited exceptions will exist for “excepted agreements”, with the qualifying conditions currently under consultation; the restrictions are expected in force during 2027.
- NDAs protecting genuine trade secrets and commercially sensitive information remain lawful.
What exactly is changing?
The Employment Rights Act inserts a new provision, section 202A, which makes void any agreement between an employer and a worker to the extent that it prevents the worker from making an allegation or disclosure about “relevant harassment or discrimination”, or about how the employer responded to it. “Relevant” broadly means harassment or discrimination as defined under the Equality Act 2010, carried out by the employer or a colleague, or connected to the worker's employment.
Three points are worth stressing. First, the provision bites on any agreement, employment contracts and settlement agreements alike. Second, it protects disclosures about the employer's response to complaints, not just the underlying conduct, so a clause preventing an employee describing a botched grievance investigation would equally be void. Third, it is not a blanket ban on confidentiality: clauses covering the financial terms of a settlement, trade secrets or genuinely commercial information are untouched.
“Excepted agreements”: confidentiality at the worker's request
The Government accepts that some workers positively want confidentiality, for example, to draw a line under a distressing experience and move on privately. The Act therefore allows regulations to define “excepted agreements” in which an NDA covering harassment or discrimination remains enforceable if specific conditions are met. A consultation on those conditions ran during 2026, exploring safeguards such as the confidentiality being at the worker's request, independent legal advice on the clause, and carve-outs preserving disclosures to regulators, medical professionals and family.
Once in force, a standard-form confidentiality clause that overreaches will simply be unenforceable to that extent, and an agreement drafted around a void clause can unravel commercially. Employers should expect the “price” of any lawful confidentiality to rise, and employees should never assume a gagging clause presented to them is actually enforceable. This is precisely the kind of clause the independent solicitor advising on your settlement agreement should scrutinise line by line.
What is already law today
Even before section 202A commences, significant restrictions apply right now. Clauses attempting to prevent protected whistleblowing disclosures have long been void, and since April 2026 that expressly includes disclosures about sexual harassment. Since October 2025, the Victims and Prisoners Act prevents NDAs stopping victims of criminal conduct, which serious harassment can be, from speaking to the police, regulators, lawyers, victim support services and close family. Regulatory guidance from the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Equality and Human Rights Commission has also pushed practice in the same direction for several years.
Practical steps
For employees offered a settlement agreement
- Ask your adviser exactly what the confidentiality clause does and does not prevent you saying, and to whom.
- Check the agreement contains express carve-outs for protected disclosures, regulators, medical advisers and, where relevant, the police.
- If your complaint involves harassment or discrimination, understand that broad silence may soon not be purchasable at all, and negotiate accordingly.
For employers
- Audit template settlement agreements and contracts now; clauses drafted before 2026 are unlikely to survive contact with the new regime.
- Prepare compliant wording with proper carve-outs, and be ready to evidence that any confidentiality was genuinely at the worker's request where the excepted-agreement route is used.
- Invest in investigation and grievance processes, confidentiality can no longer be relied upon to contain systemic problems.
Frequently asked questions
Are NDAs in settlement agreements being banned completely?
No. The reforms target clauses that prevent workers speaking about harassment or discrimination, or about their employer's response to it. Confidentiality covering the financial terms of a settlement, trade secrets and commercially sensitive information remains lawful, and regulations will allow some 'excepted agreements' where confidentiality is retained subject to safeguards.
When do the NDA restrictions take effect?
Section 202A of the Employment Rights Act 2025 is expected to be brought into force during 2027, once the government has finalised regulations following its consultation on excepted agreements. Important restrictions already apply, however, including the Victims and Prisoners Act protections from October 2025 and whistleblowing protection for sexual harassment disclosures from April 2026.
I signed a settlement agreement with a strict NDA years ago. Can I now speak out?
It depends on what you want to disclose, to whom, and which protections apply to your situation - some of the new provisions are not retrospective, while whistleblowing protections have applied to protected disclosures for many years. This is a question to take to a solicitor before acting, and we can connect you with one.
Can an employer still ask for confidentiality about the settlement amount?
Yes. Clauses keeping the existence and financial terms of a settlement confidential are standard and remain enforceable, provided they do not stray into preventing disclosures the law protects.
Sources and further reading
About this article. This guide is provided by Frederick George for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Employment law changes frequently and the position described here reflects the law and published government implementation plans as at the date shown above. Frederick George is a legal referral service, not a law firm; for advice on your specific circumstances we will connect you with an SRA-regulated solicitor. Please contact us before relying on any information on this page.
