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Three Essential Agreements Needed When Hiring Employees

Even if your San Diego business chooses not to have employment contracts with your workers, there are still other essential agreements that you must have your employees sign before they begin working. These are needed to protect your business and its assets. This article discusses three such agreements. A good San Diego corporate attorney can help draft these agreements and tailor them specifically to ensure your business is protected and in compliance with the law.

San Diego Corporate Law: Nondisclosure Agreements

Even the smallest business has intellectual property in the form, for example, of trade secrets. Such can be as simple as customer lists, a certain way of doing business, vendor and supplier lists and more. In order to have legal protection for your trade secrets, your business must take “active steps” to protect those trade secrets. One key active step is to have nondisclosure agreements with your employees. This is one reason that a nondisclosure agreement is essential for new employees. Nondisclosure agreements also protect other forms of intellectual property.

San Diego Corporate Law: Confidentiality Agreements

A related type of agreement essential for new employees is a confidentiality agreement. While nondisclosure agreements protect information related to your business, confidentiality agreements are needed to protect third parties — mainly your customers, clients, and patients. Privacy laws are becoming stronger, requiring that businesses safeguard sensitive personally identifiable customer data and information (and that of employees). This has long been the case with patient information in the healthcare field under laws like the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) which requires, among other things, that patient medical records be kept confidential. Similar new privacy laws are now in place with respect to computer-stored personal and financial customer data. Legal liability can be imposed against your business if your employees violate these types of confidentiality laws. To protect your business, it is essential to have a specific agreement whereby your employee agrees to maintain such confidentiality and agree to abide by such privacy laws. This can help your business avoid litigation, defend any litigation that is filed, and help minimize penalties if there is a breach of confidentiality.

San Diego Corporate Law: Company Policy Compliance Agreements

Every business — even the smallest business — has company policies. These might be as simple as a company policy that employees must arrive to work on time and dress in a manner appropriate to your type of business. Likely, your business also has policies — even if such are informal and not written — with respect to discrimination, harassment, and how to treat customers. Because your business can be held liable if your employees engage in discrimination and/or harassment and/or other legally prohibited behaviors, it is essential that your employees sign an agreement whereby they commit to complying with any and all company policies. Such policies are often compiled in a notebook or an employee handbook and should include the following at minimum:

Job Duties
Compensation
Employee discipline and termination procedures
At-will nature of employment
Anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies
Notices required by labor laws — such as wage and leave rights
Other employee benefits
Expected employee behaviors
Confidentiality and nondisclosure obligations — it is important to state these as policies in addition to having agreements signed; redundancy is helpful
Internet policy — use of social media, etc
Use of company resources
Standards of conduct
Safety and security policies and procedures
And more

Call San Diego Corporate Law Today

If you would like more information, contact attorney Michael Leonard, Esq., of San Diego Corporate Law. Mr. Leonard has been named a “Rising Star” for four years running by SuperLawyers.com. Contact Mr. Leonard by calling (858) 483-9200 or via email.