Gagging Clauses In The Spotlight

Confidentiality and gagging clauses have been brought back into public view, with the recent disclosure by former United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust CEO, Gary Walker, on the BBC's Today Programme about an alleged gagging clause in his compromise agreement.   Whilst the debate rages on as to whether gagging clauses should be allowed in such circumstances, Peter Jones from our Employment Team considers the legal position.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) introduced a provision into employment law rendering any provision in an agreement between a worker and their employer as "void in so far as it purports to preclude the worker from making a protected disclosure." Protected disclosures (often referred to as whistleblowing) are, broadly speaking, disclosures of information made in good faith by a worker (or former worker) to their employer, a relevant regulator, lawyer or others (such as the police or media) raising concern about past, present or