It is prohibited for BelAZ employees to disclose the company’s commercial secret. Even 5 years after resignation

Information has appeared on the official Telegram channel of BelAZ (Belarusian automobile plant ) concerning the prohibition to disclose the commercial secrets of the enterprise not only throughout the term of employment but also 5 years after resignation. The lawyer explains whether this is lawful and whether the rate of wages is attributed to such information. 

“It is prohibited to disclose or divulge information constituting a commercial secret of our company without the written permission of the Director General of OJSC “BelAZ”, its deputies and assistants, the Designer General – Head of the Research and Technology Center named after A.N. Egorov, both during the term of labor relations with OJSC “BelAZ” and within 5 years after termination thereof”, – the message says.

The management staff also announced that it had approved a list of information constituting a commercial secret. This list affects “organizational and administrative, production, planning, financial, commercial, scientific and technological activities of the enterprise.

What do lawyers say in regard herewith?

– The term for non-disclosure of confidential information may not be limited by the scope of the employment contract but go beyond it. For some companies it may be 5 years, for others – even 10, – explains the lawyer Svetlana Semenikhina. – However, we need to make a reservation that an employee, when signing a non-disclosure agreement, needs to clearly understand what information exactly he/she shall not disclose. Publicly available information (for example, information available on the company’s website) shall not be treated as a commercial secret. In many cases, the rate of wages is a stumbling block. It is often prohibited to disclose this information; however, labour law experts say that this data shall not constitute a commercial secret, except for the system of wage formation.