Employee confidentiality policy

A confidentiality policy explains what the business treats as confidential, how staff must handle it, and what happens when they leave. It works alongside the confidentiality clause in the contract of employment, and it does not stand in for one.

The distinction matters after someone has gone. The contract, not the policy, is what binds a former employee, so the two documents need to say the same thing. Where a policy promises more protection than the contract delivers, it is the contract that will be tested.

Trade secrets need evidence of the steps you took

To protect something as a trade secret you have to be able to show the reasonable steps taken to keep it secret. That means a written information classification, an up to date record of who has access to what, and records of training and of access changes when people move roles or leave. Those records are what a court looks for, and they are considerably easier to keep as you go than to assemble after a departure.

The carve-outs are not negotiable

Clause 14 preserves the right to make a protected disclosure, report a crime, cooperate with a regulator, discuss pay, speak to a lawyer or a trade union, and report harassment or discrimination. Those carve-outs are required by law. Do not delete them, do not narrow them, and do not use narrower wording in contracts or settlement agreements, where the same limits apply.

What the policy covers

What is confidential information and what is not. Trade secrets. The main duties on staff. Marking, classification and storage. Devices, systems and online tools. Email, messaging and artificial intelligence tools, which is where most accidental disclosure now happens, because pasting a document into a general purpose AI tool is a disclosure to a third party. Talking about work. Client, customer and third party information. What happens when you leave. Monitoring. What the policy does not prevent. How the policy sits alongside the contract and any post-termination restrictions. Reporting a suspected breach, and the consequences of one.

An annex provides a confidentiality confirmation for a leaver to sign on their last day, recording what they have returned and what continues to bind them.

Before you act on a breach

Take advice before dismissing anyone for a breach, before applying for an injunction, and before relying on a post-termination restriction. Each of those turns on the contract wording and the facts rather than on the policy.