Protecting Confidential Information and Business Interests: Express Confidentiality Clauses and Best Practice Tips
Published on: 14/07/2022
Issues Covered:
Article Authors The main content of this article was provided by the following authors.
Leeanne Armstrong Managing Associate, Lewis Silkin (NI) LLP
Leeanne Armstrong Managing Associate, Lewis Silkin (NI) LLP
Leeanne Armstrong 1 CROP

Leeanne has extensive experience advising a range of regional, national, and international employer clients on various contentious and non-contentious employment law issues. She is dual qualified and practises in both Northern Ireland and England & Wales.

She assists HR, management, and in-house legal teams with a range of day-to-day employee relations issues, such as poor performance, ill health, disciplinary matters, and grievances. She also provides advice and guidance to clients on redundancy exercises, contract and policy reviews, senior employee exits, and the transfer of employees under TUPE.

This month we continue to look at the subject of protecting confidential information, and business interests, through the operation of the employment contract, as well as summarising some of the other non- contractual day to day practises employers can operate to keep commercially sensitive and confidential information safe and secure.

Drafting confidentiality clauses/agreements

In our last article, focusing on the use of post termination restrictive covenants, we referred to the general implied duty of confidentiality on employees, and its limitations, particularly after the employment relationship ends.

There have been conflicting case authorities on the extent to which an express duty of confidentiality can cover anything short of a trade secret of termination of employment.  However, if properly and precisely

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Disclaimer The information in this article is provided as part of Legal Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article. This article is correct at 14/07/2022