By Steve Doughty and Mario Ledwith for the Daily Mail
Published: 02:05 GMT, 9 February 2019 | Updated: 02:07 GMT, 9 February 2019
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Abuse of non-disclosure agreements to hide sexual harassment will be tackled by the Government – but ministers last night failed to set out a timetable for the plan.
Officials said the promised consultation on the use of such orders would be launched ‘in due course’.
Women and equalities minister Penny Mordaunt said: ‘Sexual harassment at work is illegal, yet this disgusting behaviour is something that many women still experience.
‘It is clearly unacceptable that non-disclosure orders have been used to hide workplace harassment or intimidate victims into silence and we will take the necessary steps to stop this.’
Officials added that the Government’s consultation would cover ‘how to ensure workers understand their rights when they have signed a non-disclosure agreement’.
Pictured: Sir Philip Green with his wife Tina, left, and daughter Chloe
In the wake of the Philip Green case, a string of MPs have called for changes to ensure that gagging orders – or NDAs – can no longer be used to silence allegations of sexual or racial abuse.
One senior MP said that any orders currently in place should now lose legal force if they were being used to stop workers going public with claims of serious misbehaviour.
Although the injunction covering the Sir Philip allegations was lifted yesterday, the tycoon said the five ex-employees who had signed NDAs were under an ‘obligation’ to honour them.
Yesterday, he faced calls to release his accusers from the controversial agreements, while MPs and lawyers demanded immediate reforms to the orders. Maria Miller, chairman of the influential Commons women and equalities committee, said: ‘NDAs cannot be used to cover up criminal wrongdoing.
‘We should not allow rich individuals to silence employees who have been victims of behaviour that breaks the law.
‘If that is how the law stands, then it is unacceptable. We have heard a mountain of
