Non-Disparagement Clauses Are Retroactively Voided, NLRB’s Top Cop Clarifies
canopic jug writes:
The National Labor Relations Board has clarified that non-disparagement clauses attached to severance packages are null and void. Companies will not be able to stifle criticism by ex-employees through clauses asking them to waive their inherent rights.
The general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board issued a clarifying memo on Wednesday regarding the "scope" of a February ruling by the federal agency's board that said employers cannot include blanket non-disparagement clauses in their severance packages, nor demand laid-off employees keep secret the terms of their exit agreements.
Such provisions have become increasingly common in recent years, muzzling employees and otherwise stopping them from speaking up about working conditions by dangling a few weeks or months of pay in front of them at the exact moment they are losing their job.
This is a follow up to last month's statment and could prove significant for some employers with a high rate of turn over and decades of in-house dirt. *cough*m$*cough*
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