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Question:
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Ken,
I enjoy your insights on matters, and thought I would ask this question.
I recently had an employee that left the company over the weekend. He took half of the travel money for this week, a company furnished laptop, and a company furnished cell phone; we are taking appropriate action, however it got me thinking about company data on a laptops. I cannot keep a person from backing up the data on a USB flash drive, or CD’s before they quite.
My question is, if a company employee furnishes his/her own laptop for work, and they come in and give their 2-week’s notice can I legally remove company data off of their personal laptop? Or should there be a clause in our company policy that they sign?
Thanks
TG
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Answer:
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All employers are concerned with company records and property when an employee departs. Having an Employment Contract is a good start to help define certain sticky issues that may arise. Who owns the lap top, the data on the lap top and a plethora of other issues can be addressed in the Employment Contract. Of course having the contract does not always end the matter since one option when there is a contract is to breach it.
Let's first address some easy issues, assuming you have taken minimal precautions. The lap top your employee has been using is clearly owned by and is the property of the company, and this is in writing [such as signed receipt employee gives when issued the lap top]. That same document should spell out that the employer owns all of the data on the lap top and has the right to delete any data, including personal data, at any time. Note that even if the lap top is owned by the employee you can have a similar provision that, in consideration of permitting the employee to use the personal lap top and store company data, the company reserves the right to inspect the lap top any time and delete data in its discretion. [By the way, my Standard Employment Contract form does not have this provision - I will be adding it to the form by the time you read this email].
The Employment Contract or an acknowledged and accepted company's written employment policy should specify what information and records the company considers to be proprietary and confidential. This should include all subscribers serviced by the alarm company while the employee worked for the employer, including those subscribers solicited and obtained by the employee [assuming he is a salesman]. Of course all subscriber information is also included, as well as all business affairs regarding the operation of the employer.
Some jurisdictions may prevent or limit agreements restricting employees working in the industry or competing against the employer, but none of these jurisdictions should limit an employer's right to insist that employer records remain with the employer.
As is the case with most agreements, when you have an employment agreement or written employment policy accepted by the employee, conflicts caused by ambiguous relationships can be avoided.
Get the Employment Contract at www.alarmcontracts.com
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