Use our Employee NDA to prevent an employee from sharing confidential business information.
Updated September 27, 2023
Written by Ioana Gagiuc | Reviewed by Brooke Davis
An Employee Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is a common contract in business that specifies the type of information that cannot be disclosed, allowing employees to understand better the information they should not share.
The agreement typically requires employees with advanced knowledge of confidential information to sign, and some companies make it standard for all employees.
Overall, an employee NDA is a contractual agreement between an employee and an employer that details the employee’s obligation not to disclose the company’s sensitive information without permission.
Both employee NDAs and non-compete agreements are contracts between an employer and an employee, but they have different purposes. The purpose of an employee NDA is to legally bind the employee to the secrecy of a company’s confidential information or trade secrets.
While a non-compete agreement sets out a period when the employee cannot work for a competing company, typically after terminating an employment contract.
Your Employee NDA should include the following information:
It is important to note that courts are reluctant to enforce broad non-compete clauses in employment contracts. To increase the likelihood that it can be enforced, your non-compete clause should be very narrow and as specific as possible regarding position, industry, and region.
An employee confidentiality agreement protects your interests while laying out the type of privacy your company information needs. These are becoming increasingly standard in business, and many employees sign them as a term of employment. However, employees should still ask themselves if they should sign an NDA.
The consequences of not having an employee NDA can vary. It often depends on the type of industry and business model. It was once standard that businesses expected their employees to behave ethically. Believing in someone’s good nature might be more congenial in your personal life, but it’s not an effective strategy to protect your business.
Suppose an employee is not bound by an employee NDA. In that case, they can use the information they’ve learned through your company in various ways that can damage your reputation or impair your ability to compete in the marketplace.
Some consequences might include the following:
1. Using Proprietary Knowledge to Gain Employment Elsewhere: Many employees change jobs frequently. Without an NDA, your employee can use proprietary knowledge of your company to secure employment with a competitor. This also means your competition will have inside knowledge of your company.
2. Opening Their Enterprise Using Your Information: Employees could open their own business, taking customers and connections they’ve met through your business with them. They may even hire away some of your employees.
3. Using Client Information: Employees could use client information, such as mailing lists, in their future ventures. This might put you at risk legally or damage your relationship with clients.
4. Making Public Information That Damages Your Ability to Compete: An employee could make intimate knowledge of your company public through interviews or social media—although you should try to cover this in your social media policy. This might include information that would damage your marketing position.
To write an Employee NDA, you should follow the below steps:
Start with the date the agreement is being entered into and the name of the employer and employee. Then, include the position of the employee.
Next, you need to detail the information the employee NDA will protect. Whether it’s all information the company shares, only information marked ‘confidential,’ or specific information such as accounting information or marketing and sales plans.
You need to detail whether the confidential information must be protected indefinitely once the employee’s employment contract is terminated or if the NDA will remain in effect until a specific date or period.
If you want to include a non-compete clause, outline whether it is only when the employee works for the company or whether it’s from signing until a specific date. Do the same for a non-solicitation clause if you must include one.
Outline under what terms the NDA can terminate earlier, such as upon written agreement of both parties or the cessation of the employee’s employment.
Below, you can download an employee non-disclosure agreement in PDF or Word format:
In its basic form, an employee confidentiality agreement lets employees know they can’t discuss information learned through your business outside the office. Some clauses can be included in your NDA to make it more robust to protect your interests.
Some common considerations when drawing up this contract for employees to sign include:
You might also include a Non-Compete clause in your NDA. This clause lists a time frame when current employees could not enter into direct competition with your company. Commonly, you would include a 1- or 2-year period where past employees could not work for a direct competitor through direct hire or contract. They also could not open their own company in direct competition with your own.
Many times, there are legal consequences for employees disclosing trade secrets and other confidential information, even without an NDA. However, suppose your employee has signed an NDA. In that case, you have additional legal actions available that may be easier to pursue, like action for breach of contract for violating the non-disclosure agreement.
The NDA can also serve as a guide for the employee to outline expectations regarding what information should be protected and how to protect that information so that you can adequately manage employee expectations and hopefully avoid a serious breach or future legal action.
When non-disclosure agreements signed by employers are enforceable, it depends on your company’s state. State laws vary from state to state regarding employee NDAs, but most agreements may be enforceable if drafted and executed correctly. Also, for the non-disclosure to be legally valid, some form of consideration must be involved, like the employee being employed by the employer in exchange for the employee’s agreement under the NDA not to disclose confidential information or business trade secrets.
This varies from state to state due to state laws, but employee NDAs can be unenforceable for several reasons, such as:
If a confidentiality agreement is breached, the violator could be taken to court and could result in having to pay financial damages as well as legal costs. Typically, the breaching party must reimburse the other party for any losses caused by violating the confidentiality agreement. It can be hard to know what to do if someone breaks your NDA, but there are some steps you can take following a breach;
A confidentiality agreement lasts as long as the disclosing party requires the information to be confidential. Typically, they last between one and five years but can be as long as required.
Information that is not confidential is typically anything that is known publicly. Information that the other party already has access to before signing the agreement, information that has been received by reverse engineering, and information required to be disclosed by a court of competent jurisdiction or government agency are further examples of information that is not confidential.
It’s ideal to have an employee NDA signed upon hiring a new employee. In many cases, it is contained within a standard employment contract.
These contracts are enforceable because they meet set criteria:
Some companies may not have all employees sign an NDA. In this case, the employee confidentiality agreement might be drawn up to be signed by employees when they are promoted to a position where one is deemed necessary. Payment should still be attached to these agreements, even when a current employee is asked to sign. Payment might include a raise or some form of bonus.
Create Your Employee Non-Disclosure Agreement in Minutes!
