The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that laid-off workers cannot be required to sign agreements that contain confidentiality clauses and other provisions that could deter them from exercising their rights under federal labor law in exchange for receiving severance, Reuters reported. The board in a 3-1 decision on Tuesday overturned a pair of Trump-era rulings that said severance agreements only violate federal labor law when employers engage in other unlawful conduct when asking workers to sign them. The NLRB's Democratic majority said those rulings were misguided and "granted employers carte blanche to offer employees severance agreements that include unlawful provisions." The case involves a Michigan hospital operator, McLaren Macomb, that furloughed 11 employees when the surgery center where they worked was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The board said it was illegal for the company to offer the workers severance agreements that included confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions because they could be discouraged from filing complaints with the NLRB or publicizing labor disputes.
