The California Silenced No More Act, enacted as Senate Bill 331 and effective January 1, 2022, bars employers from using confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses to prevent workers from speaking about harassment, discrimination, or retaliation on the job. It applies to settlement agreements, severance packages, and ordinary employment contracts, and it covers every category of unlawful workplace conduct recognized under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.
What the Law Bans in Settlement Agreements
If you settle a workplace harassment, discrimination, or retaliation claim in California, your employer cannot require you to keep quiet about what happened. Any provision in the settlement that conceals the factual information underlying the claim is void as a matter of law and against public policy.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1001 Courts cannot enter orders — even by stipulation of the parties — that restrict disclosure in a way that conflicts with the rule.
Two things can still be kept confidential. The settlement amount itself can be shielded; Code of Civil Procedure Section 1001 expressly allows a clause preventing disclosure of the money paid. And you, as the person bringing the claim, can request that your identity and any facts that would reveal it be kept confidential, including in court filings. That identity shield only works at your request, not the employer’s, and it does not apply when a government agency or public official is a party to the settlement.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1001
What the Law Bans in Severance and Employment Agreements
The Act reaches beyond litigated cases. Government Code Section 12964.5 makes it an unlawful employment practice for a California employer to include, in any separation agreement, a provision prohibiting an employee from disclosing information about unlawful acts in the workplace.2California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12964.5 Any such provision is unenforceable.
The restrictions also reach ongoing employment. An employer cannot condition a raise, a bonus, or continued employment on your signing away the right to talk about unlawful workplace acts. A non-disparagement clause tucked into a promotion letter, offer letter, or annual bonus agreement is invalid if it has the purpose or effect of keeping you from disclosing harassment or discrimination.2California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12964.5
General releases and waivers of claims can still appear in separation agreements as long as they are otherwise lawful. Employers can also protect legitimate trade secrets and proprietary business information. What they cannot do is use those provisions as cover for silencing employees about misconduct.
The Notice Language Your Agreement Must Contain
Any non-disparagement clause or other contractual provision that restricts an employee’s ability to discuss workplace conditions has to include specific notice language. The statute requires the agreement to state, in substantial form: “Nothing in this agreement prevents you from discussing or disclosing information about unlawful acts in the workplace, such as harassment or discrimination or any other conduct that you have reason to believe is unlawful.”2California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12964.5 The language applies to both employment agreements and separation agreements. An agreement that restricts workplace disclosure without including it is unenforceable.
For separation agreements specifically, the employer also has to tell you that you have the right to consult an attorney, and give you at least five business days to review the agreement before signing. You can sign sooner if you choose, but the employer must offer that window.2California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12964.5
Which Claims and Which Workers Are Covered
The Act’s protections reach any claim of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation based on a characteristic protected under FEHA — race, religion, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, reproductive health decisionmaking, and veteran or military status, among others.3California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12940 Retaliation for reporting or opposing unlawful conduct is included. The settlement rules under CCP Section 1001 go still broader, covering sexual assault, sexual harassment outside the employment context, and housing-related harassment or discrimination.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1001
One boundary worth knowing if you are a freelancer or gig worker. The two halves of the law use different language about who they protect. The settlement rules speak of a “person” who files a claim, so independent contractors, applicants, and others bringing civil or administrative actions are covered.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1001 The severance and employment agreement rules specifically reference an “employee.”2California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12964.5 So if you settle a harassment claim as a contractor, the confidentiality restrictions on that settlement apply; the separation-agreement protections may not.
If an Employer Uses a Non-Compliant Clause
A clause that violates the Act is void. The employer cannot hold you to it, and you can speak freely about the underlying conduct.2California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12964.5 Because a violation of the severance and employment agreement provisions is classified as an unlawful employment practice under FEHA, it can be enforced through the California Civil Rights Department or a private lawsuit, with remedies that may include compensatory damages, attorney’s fees, and civil penalties. On the settlement side, a confidentiality provision that conflicts with CCP Section 1001 is void and against public policy regardless of what the parties signed.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1001
Federal Rules That Stack on Top
Two federal rules sit alongside the California statute and cut in the same direction.
The first is a tax rule. Under 26 U.S.C. § 162(q), a business cannot deduct settlement payments or related attorney’s fees if the settlement involves sexual harassment or sexual abuse and is subject to a nondisclosure agreement.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 162 – Trade or Business Expenses The federal rule is narrower than SB 331, because it only reaches sexual harassment and abuse claims, but where it applies it creates a tax penalty on top of the state-law restrictions.
The second is a labor rule. In its 2023 McLaren Macomb decision, the National Labor Relations Board held that simply offering a severance agreement containing broad non-disparagement or confidentiality clauses violates the National Labor Relations Act, because those clauses tend to discourage workers from exercising their Section 7 rights to discuss wages, working conditions, and other protected activities.5National Labor Relations Board. Board Rules That Employers May Not Offer Severance Agreements Requiring Employees to Broadly Waive Labor Law Rights Section 7 guarantees employees the right to organize, bargain collectively, and engage in concerted activities for mutual aid or protection.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 157 – Right of Employees as to Organization, Collective Bargaining, Etc. In Valley Radiology (March 2026), an administrative law judge applied that framework and found specific non-disparagement and agreement-confidentiality clauses violated the NLRA because they had a reasonable tendency to interfere with protected activity. For California employees, the federal rule reinforces SB 331 and extends beyond it: even non-FEHA workplace conversations, like discussions of pay or union organizing, can be grounds to challenge a broad severance confidentiality clause.