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Confidentiality
Maintaining confidentiality when dealing with valuable information that belongs to E4 People or clients of E4.
What is confidential information?
Confidential information is valuable information that belongs to E4 People or clients of E4 People, even if an employee has had a significant role in finding or creating the information. This may even be the case if the employee has done so outside of normal business hours.
For the purpose of this policy, Confidential Information means:
- Information which an employee should reasonably expect to be regarded by E4 People or clients of E4 People as ‘Confidential’, noting that information does not have to be specifically marked or identified as ‘Confidential’.
- Information of a confidential nature, regardless of the format which it is held in. This can include information in written, pictorial, verbal, hard copy, electronic, or any other form whatsoever.
- Particular types of information that are considered sensitive to E4 People and its Clients and Customers and is not publicly available. Information may be sensitive for commercial reasons or for other reasons relating to the operation of the business.
This policy outlines key information about the Modern Slavery Act and E4 People’s steps to address, prevent, and mitigate the risks of modern slavery in our business activities and partnerships.
Employees' obligations in relation to confidential information
All employees of E4 People are under a legal duty to preserve the confidentiality of information which belongs to E4 People, customers or clients. These legal duties are contained in your contract of employment, E4 People Confidentiality Agreement, and are also imposed by law.
Further, confidential information belonging to E4 People may be subject to protection under copyright provisions, and employees may also have obligations under corporations and privacy legislation not to disclose confidential information to any third party, including any company or individual who is authorised to view the Confidential Information.
The Key Obligations of All Employees
- Not to disclose E4 People's confidential information or that of their customers or clients to any third party without expressed permission to do so.
- To use and disclose E4 People's confidential information or that of their customers or clients only so far as it is necessary for the proper performance of their duties or where it is required by law.
- To do everything reasonable to ensure that unauthorised disclosure of E4 People’s confidential information or that of their customers or clients does not occur, including but not limited to ensuring secure storage of confidential information and the avoidance of unnecessary copying of this information.
- To avoid using E4 People’s confidential information or that of their customers or clients in any way that would contravene an employee’s obligations under the E4 People Conflict of Interest Policy.
- Upon conclusion of employment, to return or destroy any copies of any confidential information to E4 People as directed. This includes any paper or electronic copies and any notes made from confidential information in the performance of your duties.
Access controls
To maintain the security of confidential information, employees should strictly adhere to access controls. This includes securely storing physical documents and using encryption, strong passwords, and other security measures when handling electronic data. Compliance with these guidelines is imperative to protect sensitive information.
Handling of portable devices
When using portable devices for work-related tasks, such as laptops or smartphones, employees must exercise extra caution in safeguarding confidential information. Security measures, such as password protection and encryption, should be employed to prevent unauthorised access in case of device loss or theft.
External communication
Employees are reminded to exercise caution when discussing work-related matters, especially confidential information, outside of the workplace. Confidential matters should not be shared on personal social media accounts or in public forums to maintain the integrity of sensitive information.
When can confidential information be disclosed?
An employee’s obligation to preserve the confidentiality of the information may cease to apply in certain circumstances, outlined below. In such instances, approval to disclose or confirm such information should still be sought prior to further disclosure:
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The information comes into the public domain other than by reason of unauthorised disclosure.
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The information was in the possession of the employee from a source other than E4 People or any of its related Clients, Customers or other business contacts.
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The information becomes available in the public domain by reason of a media report (except where that availability is a consequence of a breach of Confidentiality).
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The information is required to be disclosed by reason of any lawful requirements of any government, administrative body, authority or department.
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The information is required to be disclosed to any court in the event of legal action.
Reporting any breaches under this policy
In the event of a suspected breach of confidentiality, employees are obligated to promptly report it to a Director, or the Operations Manager.
Timely reporting is crucial to addressing breaches and preventing further harm.
Confidentiality Policy
What happens if an employee breaches their obligations under this policy?
E4 People views any breach of Confidentiality extremely seriously. A breach of employee obligations in relation to confidentiality seriously undermines the trust and confidence of E4 People, and calls into question their ability to perform their duties in the best interests of the employer.
In many cases, a breach of confidentiality may constitute as grounds for serious misconduct, and therefore may be dealt with via disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment. It is also possible that legal action may be taken as the business’ interests are seriously damaged by the disclosure of Confidential Information. The remedies which E4 People might be able to obtain from a Court in cases of Confidentiality breaches include orders to pay monetary damages or injunctions, which are orders to prevent further disclosure of the information or to prevent an employee from taking advantage of an unlawful disclosure.
Please note, employee obligations regarding confidentiality continue beyond the period of employment with E4 People, as outlined in employment contract and confidentiality agreement.