As you may know, non-disclosure agreements are legal contracts that prohibit employees from disclosing certain confidential information belonging to a company to others. Often, when a person gains a new position of employment or gets a promotion, their employer will ask them to sign a non-disclosure agreement. In most cases, these agreements are in good faith, however, there are times when they may not be appropriate to sign. Please continue reading and reach out to a dedicated Chesterfield County non-disclosure agreements attorney to learn whether your employer can make you sign such an agreement and how our legal team can be of assistance to you. Here are some of the questions you may have:
Is my employer allowed to make me sign a non-disclosure agreement in VA?
In general, employers do, in fact, have a right to require their employees to sign non-disclosure agreements under certain circumstances. In many cases, it’s quite understandable that an employer wouldn’t want certain sensitive or private information about a company getting out and becoming available to the general public, and often, there is no harm done by signing such an agreement.
However, you should understand that these agreements are only enforceable to the extent that they are reasonable and necessary to protect a legitimate business interest. If the NDA is overly broad or restrictive, it may not be enforceable in court, and an employee should not sign such an agreement. Additionally, these agreements cannot be used to prohibit employees from reporting unlawful or unethical activity in the workplace–this, in and of itself, would be unlawful. Finally, NDAs cannot be used to prevent employees from discussing their wages or working conditions with other employees.
What should I do if the NDA isn’t fair?
If you believe you’re being asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement that isn’t legally enforceable in some way, you should strongly consider hiring an employment lawyer who can help you analyze the agreement and determine whether it is fair before signing. If you’re accused of violating a non-disclosure agreement, you should also hire an attorney who can help defend you, as the repercussions for doing so can be severe.
If you have any additional questions about non-disclosure agreements in Virginia, or you’d like to speak with an attorney who can help you review any sort of employment agreement before you sign it, please don’t hesitate to contact Passero Employment Law today. Our firm is here to guide you through every step of the process.
