Maryland Employee and Severance NDA
Draft a Maryland employee or severance NDA that complies with Labor & Employment 3-715, which voids waivers of future sexual harassment and retaliation claims.
Introduction
A Maryland employee NDA is a confidentiality agreement between a company and a worker that protects the employer's trade secrets and confidential business information. A severance NDA is the version signed at separation, usually inside a release agreement, and it often keeps the terms of the exit private. What separates it from a commercial NDA between two businesses is who signs it: a worker cannot be forced to stay silent about unlawful conduct. In Maryland, Labor and Employment section 3-715 makes null and void any provision waiving a substantive or procedural right or remedy to a future sexual harassment claim, or to retaliation for reporting one. Its focus is sexual harassment and related retaliation, not discrimination generally, and an employer cannot retaliate against a worker for refusing to sign such a waiver. DocDraft drafts a Maryland employee or severance NDA from your facts, with that carve-out built in, and attorney review is available before anyone signs.
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Key Things to Know
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Maryland's rule is Labor and Employment section 3-715. It voids any provision that waives a substantive or procedural right or remedy to a future sexual harassment claim.
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The focus is sexual harassment, not all discrimination. Unlike the broader laws in some states, section 3-715 targets sexual harassment and retaliation for reporting it, not discrimination in general.
- 3
It reaches future claims. The statute voids waivers of rights or remedies for a sexual harassment claim that accrues in the future, so a pre-dispute NDA cannot foreclose one.
- 4
Retaliation is covered too. A waiver of the right or remedy for retaliation tied to reporting or asserting a sexual harassment claim is equally null and void.
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You cannot be punished for refusing. An employer may not retaliate against a worker for declining to sign a waiver that section 3-715 prohibits.
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The employer-size limits are gone. A 2022 amendment removed the earlier size thresholds, so the protection now applies broadly regardless of how many people the employer has.
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Trade secrets remain protectable. The statute limits waivers of sexual harassment rights, not the confidentiality of legitimate business information, which a Maryland NDA can still cover.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Employee and Severance NDA in Maryland, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Employee and Severance NDA guide walks through them.
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Maryland Requirements for Employee and Severance NDA
Maryland Labor & Employment Section 3-715
Draft a Maryland employee or severance NDA that complies with Labor & Employment 3-715, which voids waivers of future sexual harassment and retaliation claims.