HR professional, David Price urges businesses to prevent employees stealing sensitive business data

PRLog (Press Release) - Feb. 8, 2012 - David Price said today, "At Peninsula Business Services we are experiencing a number of calls from frustrated employees who are concerned about employees who steal vital company information and take it that information elsewhere to another company whether it be a competitor or start by starting a brand incentive. By introducing a restricted covenant it places restrictions on what employment an employee takes up once their present employment has ended. It need not only be introduced at the start of employment – it may be introduced part way through employment with consultation and agreement with the employee."

David Price continues,  "They are put in place mainly to safeguard the employer’s interests in terms of protecting the sensitive information that the employee would have been privy to as part of his/her job which is integral to the employer’s company.   In order for a restrictive covenant to be valid in the courts, it must be considered to be reasonable so cannot place a blanket restriction on the employee’s future employment. The time period and/or the geographical radius within which the restrictions are placed must not be unrealistically wide and therefore each employer should consider carefully the parameters they will include taking into consideration where in the UK they are situated and their particular industry. "

Price concludes, "A restrictive covenant is legally binding document which the employer may enforce though the courts if it is alleged that the employee has breached it. Enforcement will take place through the civil courts, rather than an Employment Tribunal, and if the employer is claiming damages, he should be able to show that his company has suffered financial loss from the breach. It really is better to be safe than sorry and makes for good business sense by introducing such covenants. "
http://www.peninsula-uk.com

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Peninsula Business Services is the UK's largest Employment Law and Health & Safety Consultancy. Over 25,000 businesses have integrated Peninsula to work as part of their HR and Health and Safety departments. Peninsula employs over 900 people in the UK.