Seven public companies will pay a total of $3 million in fines for requiring employees to sign agreements containing provisions that impeded their ability to report misconduct to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC announced the fines Monday, alleging that the firms used “employment, separation, and other agreements that violated rules prohibiting actions to impede whistleblowers from reporting potential misconduct to the SEC.”

Aaron Nicodemus is the Editor-in-Chief of Compliance Week. He previously worked as a reporter for Bloomberg Law and as business editor at the Telegram & Gazette in Worcester, Mass. Email: aaron.nicodemus@complianceweek.com LinkedIn:...