Confidentiality agreements aren’t just for boardrooms and business deals anymore. If you work inside a wealthy household, keeping house increasingly means keeping secrets.
According to reporting from *The New York Times*, nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) have become a standard condition of employment for many people who maintain the homes and private lives of the ultra-wealthy. Butlers, private chefs, tutors, nannies, house managers, and even landscape crews are being asked to sign contracts that tightly control what they can say—or even see—about their employers.
Demand Has Exploded
Joseph Maya, managing partner and co-founder of the law firm Maya Murphy and a longtime employment-law expert, told the *Times* that inquiries about household NDAs have “easily increased a hundredfold” over the past five years.
Why the surge? Maya points to two realities: more people have serious money, and more of them own large, complex homes packed with valuables. “They have more valuables, bigger art collections, more jewelry and cars, and they are concerned about their information being known,” he said. Thirty years ago, a careless comment stayed local. Today, the same comment can appear on TikTok, Instagram, or X within seconds.
One Landscape Designer’s Experience
One landscape designer who regularly works with high-net-worth clients was still surprised when a potential job for a household-name celebrity came with an unusually sweeping NDA. The agreement covered not only her but also her employees, subcontractors, crew members—and even the plant suppliers. It went further than most people would expect: one clause prohibited anyone from bringing Google Glass onto the property. (She asked to remain anonymous to protect her business relationships.)
From Short Paragraph to 15-Page Contract
Household NDAs used to be relatively narrow—mainly aimed at stopping gossip. That era is over.
Dara Yates, founder of Seaside Staffing in California, which places nannies and household staff with wealthy families, has worked in the industry for 43 years. She told the *Times* that agreements that once fit into a single paragraph can now run 15 pages.
Her colleague Luke Yates, an integrations engineer at the same firm, noted that employers are increasingly focused on protecting financial records, security details, medical information, and personal whereabouts. “It isn’t just a matter of not wanting your house manager to tell stories about your home life at dinner parties,” he said. “It’s keeping people from knowing your whereabouts and your assets.”
Elizabeth Pipkin, an attorney at the Silicon Valley firm McManis Faulkner, added that these agreements also help clients guard against extortion and reputation damage. Running multiple large households, she observed, often resembles operating a small company—complete with the corporate tools you’d expect, including confidentiality agreements.
The New Reality of Private Staff Work
For people who want to work in these rarefied environments, the message is clear: access to the private lives of the wealthy now comes with a formal promise of silence. What happens behind the gates is expected to stay there—not just out of politeness, but by contract.
Whether that shift feels reasonable or overly controlling depends on your perspective. What’s no longer in doubt is that the NDA has moved firmly from the corporate conference room into the private residence.