Nondisclosure agreements, or NDAs, which are increasingly common in employment contracts, suppress employee speech and chill creativity. The current revelations surfacing years of harassment in major organizations are merely the tip of the iceberg.
NDAs Are Out of Control. Here’s What Needs to Change
They’re often unethical, unenforceable, and unfair.
January 30, 2018
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Summary.
New data shows that over one-third of the U.S. workforce is bound by an NDA. These contracts have grown not only in number but also in breadth. They not only appear in settlements after a victim of sexual harassment has raised her voice but also are now routinely included in standard employment contracts upon hiring. NDAs chill competition through expansive definitions of what must remain confidential and proprietary, reducing the ability of a discontent employee or an employee working in a hostile work environment to go elsewhere. Policy makers should enact reforms to restrict the scope of NDAs in general — to help workers and to promote competition and economic dynamism. As it stands, countless workers are swallowing the whistle and forgoing new career opportunities because of the threat of litigation.