DUTY OF CONFIDENTIALITY
An employee owes a general legal duty of confidentiality to the
employer even if they do not have a written employment contract or
the contract is silent on the topic. However, it is far better to
have a contractual provision to rely on. The general duty only
provides protection where the information is truly confidential and
is not trivial. If the information becomes part of the
employee's "know how" and skill it will not be
protected by the general duty of confidentiality.
While confidential information is typically broadly defined in
an employment contract, it is also best to specifically include the
types of "make or break" information that is applicable
to your business. Unless the information is accessible in the
public arena, a court is likely to uphold a contractual obligation
to maintain confidentiality.
