Back in February, the National Labor Relations Board issued decisions returning to its previously held standard for evaluating the legality of severance agreements, and this week, General Counsel for the the NLRB Jennifer Abruzzo followed up with some additional clarification to internal staff about how the new rule is to be enforced.

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Specifically, Abruzzo noted that the decision forbids any severance agreement provisions that inhibit an employee’s ability to file lawsuits or to interact with the NLRB in order to report on potential employment violations. Also, Abruzzo made it clear that these rules apply retroactively to any severance agreement provisions that may have been enacted prior to the issuance of this latest ruling.

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Employers, however, are still permitted to include non-disparagement provisions with severance packages that proscribe employees from making any statements about the company that meet the legal definition of defamation. 

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You can read more about this NLRB ruling and clarification here.