Confidentiality & Privacy

I’ve previously written about the importance of distributing employee handbooks, employment arbitration agreements and confidentiality agreements to your workforce. However, if you have employees who have little English literacy, it is important that you also provide translations of these key documents to your non-English speaking employees.

The threat of losing valuable company trade secrets to a departing employee is real and not a matter of if, but when, it will happen.  Failure to take appropriate measures to thwart against trade secret theft could result in significant loss of profitability and erosion of an established employee and customer base, and it can happen quickly and easily.  It only takes a minute to copy or remove countless files containing confidential and proprietary company information to a thumb drive, or to email or upload files to the cloud.

Maintaining adequate employee personnel files is crucial for several reasons. Personnel files, along with the employee handbook, are usually the first things plaintiffs’ attorneys will request in any employment related lawsuit, and the documents contained therein are often central to the employer’s defense of the case. For example, they may contain a documented history of performance issues and documents laying the foundation for termination. California Labor Code section 1198.5 provides that every current and former employee has the right to inspect and receive a copy of the personnel records that the employer maintains “relating to the employee’s performance or to any grievance concerning the employee.” Employers are also required to give employees, upon their request, a copy of any document that the employee has signed relating to the obtaining or holding of employment, which are usually stored in the personnel file.

So what should go into an employee’s personnel file? …