How to Discuss Confidential Company Documents
Every business has some confidential procedures or data that give it a competitive advantage over its competitors. This could be lists of customers that were created with a lot of effort and expense, special pricing formulas or designs for products codes or systems, as well as other inventions. The law protects businesses by making these processes or documents confidential so that competitors don’t have easy access to them.
In addition to these kinds of documents in addition, there are a lot of administrative documents that have to be kept private. They could include detailed desk layouts, seating plans and internal procedures. There could also be confidential data on customers, including sales numbers and confidential information from vendors. Then you could have personal information about employees, like tax forms and pay stubs.
A nondisclosure contract is the best way of protecting confidential documents of a company. It is essential to be extremely careful in delineating what information is confidential and when you draft your agreement. It is essential to be precise to prevent former or current employees from claiming that they didn’t understand that the information was protected under confidentiality policies.
Also, be very specific about the length of the nondisclosure agreement. It’s not legally binding in the event that the time period of protection is longer than what is necessary to protect the company’s legitimate or «protectable» interests. In general, courts look at the facts to determine what is reasonable. Consider offering a raise or a promotion in exchange for the signature of the employee if you are worried about their signature. This could be enough to overcome any claims of not knowing the document was confidential.
