When employees leave a company, managers and HR professionals should follow a process to ensure the protection of the company’s intellectual property. Any confidentiality agreements that were signed at the time of hire should be presented to departing employees, and they should be reminded verbally of their obligations to maintain the confidentiality of records, electronic files, and information learned while working at the company.
Each departing employee should sign a document representing that he/she has returned all documents, computers and electronic storage devices, and that he/she has not made copies of such records.
Departing employees who are given severance should sign a mutual release, and the release should reference all confidentiality, post-termination restrictive covenants, intellectual property assignment and nonsolicitation agreements, and make it clear that these obligations carry forward after the severance agreement is signed. If the departing employee did not sign a confidentiality agreement when hired, these protections should be included in the severance agreement.
Lastly, each departing employee should be sent a letter with a copy of his or her signed confidentiality agreements. In that letter, the company should state that the former employee’s confidentiality obligations apply to all records and files and also include the former employee’s memory of confidential information and trade secrets.
Instant HR Solutions has worked with a number of clients to develop and implement confidentiality agreements and termination documentation to ensure the protection of intellectual property. Contact us today for assistance.
