Employment contracts can help your company protect itself from the unethical behaviors of current and former staff members by placing specific limits and rules on what they do with information that they learn while working at your company.
Nondisclosure agreements are among the most common inclusions in employment contracts, especially for positions where a worker has access to proprietary company information, such as recipes or client lists that could benefit a competitor or that worker if they choose to start their own business.
Understanding how a nondisclosure agreement could protect your company can help you make a more informed decision about whether or not to include one of these documents in your employment contract.
Nondisclosure agreements protect your company secrets
Your company’s trade secrets, developmental projects and intellectual property are critical to its ongoing success.
Whether there’s a recipe for a sauce that you don’t want anyone else to have or particular chemical processes used in the creation of your products that make them stronger or more effective than offerings by your competitors, you don’t want that information winding up in someone else’s hands.
Nondisclosure agreements can help make your company’s trade secrets safer by preventing your staff members from sharing that information with others.
Nondisclosure agreements give you an opportunity to hold someone accountable
Simply having someone’s signature on a form won’t prevent them from doing something unethical that damages your business. However, a nondisclosure agreement can provide your company with legal actions when someone violates their employment contract in a way that could damage your business.
