Non-disclosure action

SIR – Non-disclosure agreements (NDAS) have got a black eye thanks to the likes of Harvey Weinstein (in the United States) and more recently Sir Philip Green (in Britain), both bullies who are overblown with their own self-importance.

From what I can find online, written submissions were made on March 28 2018 to the Women and Equalities Committee’s Inquiry into the misuse of non-disclosure agreements in cases of sexual assault and harassment.

Last October, Theresa May, the Prime Minister, was quoted as saying: “The Government is going to bring forward measures for consideration for consultation to seek to improve the regulation around non-disclosure agreements.”

Hogwash; it is time to do something about abusive NDAS, not study them to death with committees.

There is a simple, immediate solution to curtail the outrageous use of NDAS that does not require a time-consuming inquiry: amend the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 to make certain provisions of NDAS illegal and unenforceable.

Such amendments can be further revised in future, if necessary, to coordinate with subsequent whistleblowing and sexual harassment statutes.

The proposed legislation should have retroactive effect, which can be justified by the Respective Legislation Standard Note, SN/PC/06454, last updated June 14 2013, in the House of Commons Library.

This is not intended to apply to non-disparagement provisions that do not include the above matters. Richard Heagy

Deerfield Beach, Florida, United States