Posts: Confidential Information

During the course of the employment relationship, employees will inevitably gain knowledge or be exposed to information about the employer’s business that is considered confidential to its operations and which the employer does not want to be put out into the public domain.

During the course of their employment, employees may have access to confidential information which belongs to their employer. This information may be in the form of personal information provided by customers and is therefore sensitive in nature.

The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) provides that a person will not be unfairly dismissed where the person was dismissed as a result of genuine redundancy.

With so much information at our finger tips, it is easy for the personal and the professional to be confused. This is particularly the case where employees can BYOD (bring your own device) and use their personal devices for work purposes.

There are range of important considerations for those delivering references to take into account and often conflicting interests can creep into the equation.

Sports and pop culture website named ‘The Ringer’ published a report about the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers that sparked controversy worldwide.

Settlement agreements, terms of settlement, deeds of release or release and undertakings are all terms which are used interchangeably to refer to the binding and confidential agreements.

Baseless complaints or attempts at extortion are capable of amounting to serious misconduct, as exemplified in this case.

Employers will make every effort to maintain confidentiality when it comes to employees who give evidence as part of an investigation. However, should a matter eventually end up before the Fair Work Commission (or similar tribunal) there is no guarantee that the confidentiality will be upheld.

BlueScope Steel Limited was successful in its urgent Federal Court of Australia application to prohibit a former employee from using or destroying its confidential information, including intellectual property and software.

Employers often seek assistance or advice from their lawyers when a sufficiently serious workplace complaint (such as fraud, sexual harassment or bullying) is made. Lawyers may be asked to conduct an investigation into the allegations and prepare a “Confidential and Privileged” report for the employer, the findings of which may be used later in a disciplinary process.

For some positions, client information is at our fingertips and often just a keystroke or mouse click away. This was the position that a NSW Police Constable was in when he used the NSW Police database system to look up the police record of a woman he was flirting with earlier this year.

Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data has revealed an increase in the number of Australians regularly working from home. Regardless of the reason an employee works from home, confidentiality must be managed through an appropriate policy that addresses situations that are likely to arise both in and outside the workplace.

Most employers and employees do the right thing with employee personal information by keeping it securely stored and protected from disclosure or loss. However, occasional slips by employees with control over personal information can be costly both in a financial sense and in an emotional sense.

Open-plan offices allow managers to observe their teams at all times much like wardens, but the reverse is also true – employees can likewise see and hear what their managers are up to and may be exposed to information that is not necessarily meant for their consumption.

Just one look... or in the case for one former job centre employee, thirty five unauthorised “looks” at an ex-lover’s job seeker profile.

Employees have ready access to their employer’s confidential information during the course of their employment. For an employee, this information is important in order to carry out their duties but for an exiting employee, they may be tempted to improperly retain confidential information believing it will be useful in their new position.