Employee Confidentiality Agreement is legal document, drawn between the company and the employee stating duties and responsibilities of the employee in maintaining the trade secret of company, which may be or may not be a tangible property. Such agreements are mainly written and offered to the employee of the company to safeguard and non disclosure of company secrets, inventions ownerships, trade secrets, intellectual property rights, secret formulas, person’s identity and various other legal matters. Through such agreements, the employee is forbidden to share company secrets with business rival or any other third person.
Employee Confidentiality Agreement consists of the name of the company and the employee and is one of other HR forms offered to the new employee during employment. This form stipulates the conditions for the employee, that has to be followed by him working with the company and, if any employee is reluctant signing this form then, he may be removed from the service of the company. This form is also legally binding agreement and binding on both employer and employee. The employee is liable for any penalties, stipulated in the form in case of any breach of the confidentiality contract.
The basic difference between Employee Confidentiality Agreement and Non Disclosure Agreement is the nature of penalty for the breach of contract. In the case of breach of confidentiality contracts, the penalty provision for the employee in the Form is more severe as compared to non disclosure agreement. The breach of agreement may demand court actions of the strong punitive damages.
Any company can get the Employee Confidentiality Agreement form from Internet, but the drafting or writing of the form should be carried out with the attorney, as the agreement deals with the secret and property intellectual right of the company. The effective duties and condition of employee and fierce penalties should be included in proper manner to safeguard the interest of the company. The attorneys are expert in such legal matters and can make the form more strictly binding to the employee.
Below given, Employee Confidentiality Agreement form template can help you in making your own confidentiality contract with the new employee:
EMPLOYEE NON-DISCLOSURE AND
CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT
FOR GOOD AND VALUABLE CONSIDERATION, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged by ___________________________(Company), the undersigned employee hereby agrees and
acknowledges:
That during the course of my employ there may be disclosed to me certain of Company’s trade secrets consisting but not limited to: technical information including methods, processes, formulae, compositions, systems, techniques, inventions, machines, computer programs and research projects, and business information including customer lists, pricing data, sources of supply, financial data and marketing, production, or merchandising systems or plans.
I agree that I shall not during, or at any time after the termination of my employment with the Company, disclose or divulge to others including future employers, any trade secrets, confidential information, or any other proprietary data of the Company in violation of this agreement.
That upon the termination of my employment from the Company: I shall return to the Company all documents and property of the Company, including but not necessarily limited to: drawings, blueprints, reports, manuals, correspondence, customer lists, computer programs, and all other materials and all copies thereof relating in any way to the Company’s business, or in any way obtained by me during the course of employ.
I further agree that I shall not retain copies, notes or abstracts of the foregoing.
The Company may notify any future or prospective employer or third party of the existence of this agreement, and shall be entitled to full injunctive relief, and any other legal remedies available for any breach.
This agreement shall be binding upon me and my personal representatives and successors in interest, and shall inure to the benefit of the Company, its successors and assigns.
Signed this _____ day of ____________________, 19____
Company Employee______________________________
_______________________________