Confidential Information and Trade Secrets

Confidential Information
and Trade Secrets

Confidential information and Trade Secrets are important to a business. The security of them can be enhanced by including properly worded confidentiality clauses in the Contract of Employment.

An employer can also limit the activities of a departing employee by including ‘Restrictive Covenants’. Such clauses can prevent certain employees from soliciting customers or even setting up or working for a competitor.

Such restrictive covenants must however be limited in time and, where relevant, geographical distance. If the restriction is inappropriately or too widely worded, a Court may reject the entire clause, thereby depriving the employer of its protection. They need to be appropriate to the particular employee, and reasonable, to be enforceable in the future.