Major companies like Salesforce are loosening NDA policies for employees

If interviewing for and eventually accepting a job is like a knight’s heroic journey to a remote castle nestled on a hillside, signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) might be like finally crossing the snake-laden moat in front of the castle doors.

NDAs are used by many companies for various reasons, from safeguarding intellectual property to preventing ex-workers from speaking about their conditions of employment. Once an agreement is signed, they’re often difficult to get out of, meaning a worker “cannot discuss any information protected by the agreement with any non-authorized party,” according to Thomson Reuters.

NDAs have “more than doubled,” over the last several decades, Adam Froman, CEO of research technology company Delvinia, told CNBC in February. But two major tech companies—Salesforce and Google—have recently loosened their previous NDA policies, following pressure from advocacy groups and the passage of the Silenced No More Act in California and Washington state.

NDA TBD? Last October, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB-331—aka the Silenced No More Act—expanding previous restrictions on NDAs in the state to include a broader scope of workplace harassment and discrimination claims.

California’s new law, which went into effect in January, applies to “all forms of harassment or discrimination,” a press release from the office of the law’s co-sponsor, state Senator Connie M. Leyva, reads. Washington state passed a bill in March that goes a bit further, barring “confidentiality clauses in workplace agreements related to illegal acts,” Law360 reported.

The long game. One group that's been working toward this is the Transparency in Employment Agreements Coalition. Ifeoma Ozoma is a leading advocate for the group and broke her Pinterest NDA to speak out about allegations of gender and sexual discrimination after leaving the company in 2020. She has been heavily involved in the effort to get the California legislation passed.

The group’s longball strategy involves getting more Big Tech firms to soften their NDA policies. Speaking of the Salesforce news, Ozoma told Protocol: “From the beginning, my goal in assembling the coalition was for us to get these protections to as many workers in as many jurisdictions as possible, and this certainly marks a massive achievement of that goal.”

Salesforce and Google (and Apple?) Two major tech companies with global headquarters in California are complying with the law beyond the borders of the Golden State. Salesforce announced last week that it would apply the provisions of Silenced No More to all US employees, whereas Google wedged the same policy into an SEC filing, Protocol reported in April.

In January, Apple released a proxy statement, noting that “employees are permitted to speak openly about unlawful acts in the workplace, including harassment and discrimination,” Engadget reported. The company then urged shareholders to reject a proposal requiring Apple to compile a public report based on its “past use of concealment clauses,” an SEC filing said. But shareholders approved that proposal in March. The SEC has reportedly been investigating allegations made by a whistleblower that Apple misled the agency and investors about its past use of NDAs.—SB

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