Signing The Confidentiality Agreement, The New Labor Law Has New Regulations.

Recently, a two-year "Fu Bi case" (two employees who jumped from Foxconn to BYD were convicted of infringement of Foxconn group's commercial secrets by the Baoan District people's Court of Shenzhen. They were sentenced to four years' imprisonment and one year and four months respectively).

Foxconn asked its employees to sign an intellectual property confidentiality agreement, stipulating that those who violate the relevant provisions must first pay 600 thousand yuan (excluding other compensation fees) to the company.

The move has aroused great repercussions in the industry, should the confidentiality agreement be signed?

Is the payment of liquidated damages unreasonable?

The reporter consulted the experts.

Experts point out that the general provisions of the Foxconn confidentiality agreement are in accordance with the legal provisions, but the specific procedures and rules of the operation need to be improved and should be fully negotiated with the staff.

Two situations can be agreed.

The worker shall bear the penalty for breach of contract.

The penalty for breach of contract and the restriction of competition are the two shackles for job hopping.

Gao Rui, a human resource expert, pointed out that in the labor law, which was put into effect in January 1, 1995, there were no specific provisions and restrictions on the payment of liquidated damages by laborers to employers.

In practice, if a worker has left his post, if there are provisions for breach of contract in the labor contract, the laborer shall make compensation according to the contract. In the newly implemented labor contract law, the workers have to make strict provisions on the liquidated damages for the workers. Only two situations can be agreed upon by the employer and the laborer. The worker has to pay the penalty for breach of contract: first, the employer has provided special training for the laborers, who can conclude an agreement with the worker, stipulate the service period and the penalty for breach of contract; and the second case is that if the employer and the worker have a stipulation in the competition and confidentiality matters, and the laborer violates the agreement, he shall pay liquidated damages to the employer in accordance with the contract.

The amount of liquidated damages for these two cases is not determined arbitrarily by employers. The labor contract law also has very detailed provisions.

For example, in the first case, the amount of liquidated damages must not exceed the cost of training which should be apportioned in the unfulfilled part of the service period.

Competition restrictions are not applicable to ordinary employees.

According to a media report, according to Foxconn Shenzhen Fu Tai Hong Precision Industrial Co., Ltd. employees, in mid March, the company issued an intellectual property rights and confidentiality agreement, requiring employees of a certain level or above to sign.

The copy of the agreement shows that the employee shall not directly or indirectly engage in any competition with the company's business or related business in Foxconn's country or region within two years from the date of departure.

In respect of confidentiality and competition restrictions, the labor contract law carries out a series of restrictions and regulations.

First of all, the applicable group of competition restrictions is "senior management, senior technical personnel and other personnel who have obligations of confidentiality", which can not be used for general employees. Secondly, the time limit for competition is also stipulated, that is, "no more than two years". In addition, the restrictions imposed by employers and laborers are not unilateral, and units must fulfill their obligations to this end, that is, "to give laborers financial compensation in a limited period of time".