# The EMPOWER Act: What You Need to Know About Workplace Harassment Protections

This bill makes significant changes to how workplace harassment is handled, particularly by restricting what employers can require workers to keep quiet about. The core idea is to prevent employers from silencing victims of sexual harassment, assault, or discrimination through legal agreements that force secrecy or prevent people from speaking negatively about what happened to them.

The main restriction targets "nondisclosure" and "nondisparagement" clauses—legal language that employers often put in employment contracts saying workers can't talk about their experiences or can't say anything negative about the company. Under this bill, employers can no longer require employees or job applicants to sign these kinds of agreements as a condition of getting hired, getting promoted, or keeping their job. If an employer tries to enforce such a clause against someone who experienced workplace harassment, that becomes illegal. However, the bill does allow these clauses in settlement agreements when someone is resolving a harassment claim and both the employer and employee agree to the terms—but only if both sides actually benefit from the agreement, not just the employer.

Importantly, the bill protects workers' right to report harassment to government agencies like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, law enforcement, or state agencies, even if they've signed a confidentiality agreement. Workers can also still take their cases to court. The bill covers harassment based on sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), race, color, national origin, disability, age, religion, or genetic information, and it applies to regular employees, temporary workers, independent contractors, interns, and volunteers. The bill also includes changes to tax law so that settlement payments related to harassment and discrimination can't be deducted as business expenses, which removes a financial incentive for employers to quietly pay off victims.

EMPOWER Act

Frankel, Lois

Ending the Monopoly of Power Over Workplace Harassment through Education and Reporting Act or the EMPOWER Act This bill makes it an unlawful labor practice for an employer to enter into, or attempt to enforce, a contract with an employee or job applicant that contains a nondisparagement or nondisclosure clause that covers workplace or sexual harassment, including retaliation for participating in a workplace harassment proceeding. The bill exempts certain settlement or separation agreements from such prohibition. The bill also requires the Securities and Exchange Commission to promulgate a regulation that requires any issuer of securities to submit a report for the most recent five-year period with respect to workplace and sexual harassment. The commission must provide for the development and dissemination of training programs and information regarding workplace and sexual harassment. The bill denies a tax deduction for amounts related to judgments and expenses in connection with litigation related to workplace or sexual harassment. It also excludes from gross income, for income tax purposes, any amount received in connection with a claim or settlement related to workplace or sexual harassment, or other unlawful discrimination.