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    You have a business to protect, and that means your proprietary and confidential business records, customer information and contacts, vendor information, contacts and pricing, employees and other things.  You have long time trusteed employees who you can't imagine would do anything underhanded to hurt you, and you have new hires, who you really don't know and therefore have some concerns.  As a business owner or trusted manager of the operation you should be concerned with employees

  • working for their own purposes and benefit during working hours
  • operating competing business while employed by you
  • planning and creating a potential competitive business on your time while employed by you
  • taking and using your proprietary and confidential information for their personal purposes
  • soliciting your customers to become their customers
  • soliciting your employees to come work for them
  • making disparaging remarks about you or your business while employed and thereafter

    I suppose there is more than one way to handle the above. 

  • worry about it
  • do nothing and hope for the best
  • do nothing and deal with it when it comes up
  • have all employees sign and agree to a company handbook that addresses some of the issues
  • have all employees sign an Employment Agreement that addresses the issues

    You might be surprised to know that employees are typically free to compete against former employer,  They are not however permitted to secretly compete or do things that would be considered disloyal to their employer while employed.  They are not permitted to leave with the employer's business records.  
    If you want to anticipate and avoid aggravation have your employees sign an Employment Agreement.  Will it be enforceable in your jurisdiction?  Maybe; perhaps; probably; definitely.  Hopefully we won't have to find out.  Hopefully the Agreement will act as a deterrent so that in the first instance there is no offensive conduct by the current or former employee.  
    For our Employment Agreement go to alarmcontracts.com or call our Contract Administrator Eileen Wagda at 516 747 6700 x 312; for a company handbook contact Jesse Kirschenbaum, Esq. at jesse@Kirschenbaumesq.com or 516 747 6700 x 307.
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