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The net is tightening on NDAs: new restrictions in force from 1st October 2025
Adrian Fryer
Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are legal contracts or provisions of legal contracts that place confidentiality requirements on another in respect of certain information, usually for something of value or payment. They are sometimes referred to as ‘gagging clauses’. In an employment context, they are often used to maintain the confidentiality of settlement terms (or the events leading up to such terms being agreed). The use of NDAs has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, with the #MeToo movement and high-profile examples (such as Mohamed Al Fayed and Harrods) of them being used to cover-up misconduct. With their use being restricted in new areas with effect from 1st October 2025, we summarise the current legal position regarding NDAs, and where it is headed.
The current position
Currently NDAs will be void if they seek to:
- prevent an individual from reporting a crime to the police
- prevent a worker from making certain protected disclosures under whistleblowing laws
- prevent a member of staff, student or visiting speaker in a higher-education setting from disclosing sexual abuse, sexual harassment or sexual misconduct, or any other bullying or harassment
Changes from 1st October 2025
On 1st October 2025, new restrictions on the use of confidentiality provisions under the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 came into force. These make clear in statute that non-disclosure agreements cannot be enforced insofar as they seek to prevent victims from reporting crime to the police. The changes also extend these protections to certain other disclosures, including those necessary for victims to access confidential advice and support needed to cope and recover from the impact of crime.
Disclosures to any of these extended categories of person will not be a ‘permitted disclosure’ if the primary purpose of the disclosure is for making the information public.
HR and legal teams need to make sure that their standard settlement wording is amended to carve out these additional disclosures.