Oregon Employee and Severance NDA
Draft an Oregon employee or severance NDA that follows the Workplace Fairness Act (ORS 659A.370), which voids clauses silencing discrimination or sexual assault.
Introduction
An Oregon 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 of claims, 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 Oregon, the Workplace Fairness Act (ORS 659A.370) makes it unlawful for an employer to impose, as a condition of employment, a nondisclosure or nondisparagement clause preventing a worker from disclosing prohibited discrimination or sexual assault; such a clause is void. A severance or settlement agreement may include that kind of term only where the employee, not the employer, requests it. DocDraft drafts an Oregon-compliant employee or severance NDA from your facts, with those protected-disclosure carve-outs built in, and attorney review is available before anyone signs.
Key Things to Know
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ORS 659A.370 targets condition-of-employment agreements. A nondisclosure or nondisparagement clause imposed as a condition of employment, promotion, compensation, or benefits cannot prevent a worker from disclosing discrimination or sexual assault.
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Such a clause is void. When a provision violates the Workplace Fairness Act by silencing that conduct as a condition, it is void and unenforceable, and requiring it is an unlawful employment practice.
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The employee-request exception is narrow. A severance or settlement agreement may include a confidentiality or nondisparagement term about that conduct only where the employee asks for it, not where the employer imposes it.
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The covered conduct is discrimination and sexual assault. The statute reaches conduct prohibited under Oregon's employment discrimination laws and sexual assault, broader than sexual harassment alone.
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It applies to both onboarding and separation. A day-one condition-of-employment NDA and a severance release are both covered, with the employee-request exception carved out for the separation side.
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No specific carve-out wording is mandated. Oregon voids the offending clause rather than requiring an exact sentence, but a clear written carve-out keeps the rest of the agreement enforceable.
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The federal floor still applies. The Speak Out Act, the Defend Trade Secrets Act immunity notice, and non-waivable EEOC, NLRB, and SEC reporting rights all apply on top of Oregon law.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Employee and Severance NDA in Oregon, 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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Oregon Requirements for Employee and Severance NDA
Draft an Oregon employee or severance NDA that follows the Workplace Fairness Act (ORS 659A.370), which voids clauses silencing discrimination or sexual assault.
Frequently Asked Questions
An employee NDA is a contract in which a worker agrees to keep the employer's confidential information private, usually signed at hire. A severance NDA is signed at separation, generally inside a release of claims, in exchange for severance pay, and it often keeps the exit terms private too. In Oregon both are governed by the Workplace Fairness Act, ORS 659A.370, which bars using either as a condition to silence a worker about discrimination or sexual assault.
ORS 659A.370 makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to enter into an agreement, as a condition of employment, continued employment, promotion, compensation, or benefits, that contains a nondisclosure or nondisparagement provision preventing the worker from disclosing or discussing conduct that is prohibited discrimination or sexual assault. A provision that does that as an imposed condition is void and unenforceable.
Not as a condition. Under ORS 659A.370, an employer cannot make employment, continued employment, promotion, compensation, or benefits contingent on signing a clause that prevents the worker from disclosing discrimination or sexual assault. If the employer imposes that as a condition, the clause is void, and requiring it is itself an unlawful employment practice.
Yes, through a narrow exception. Oregon allows a severance or settlement agreement to include a confidentiality or nondisparagement term about discrimination or sexual assault only where the employee is the one who requests it. The distinction is who asks: an employee may choose that confidentiality, but an employer cannot impose it as a condition of the deal.
It covers conduct that constitutes discrimination prohibited under Oregon's employment discrimination laws and sexual assault. That is broader than the federal Speak Out Act, which focuses on sexual assault and sexual harassment. An Oregon employee or severance NDA has to leave the worker free to disclose that full range of conduct rather than trying to restrict it.
No. Oregon does not mandate an exact sentence. It voids any nondisclosure or nondisparagement clause that violates ORS 659A.370. Even without a required wording, a well-drafted Oregon agreement states clearly that the worker may disclose discrimination and sexual assault, so a court is not left striking a clause the drafter could have carved out from the start.
Yes. The Workplace Fairness Act limits clauses that silence unlawful conduct, not the protection of legitimate confidential information. An Oregon employee or severance NDA can still protect trade secrets, client and pricing data, and other genuine proprietary information, and it should include the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act immunity notice like any well-drafted NDA.
Severance is usually offered in exchange for signing a separation and release agreement, so declining can mean forgoing the payment. You are not required to sign, and any confidentiality about discrimination or sexual assault has to be something you request, not a condition the employer imposes under ORS 659A.370. Reviewing the agreement with an attorney before signing is an option DocDraft makes available.