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When you offer contract staffing services, you must get everything squared away between your client and the contractor. Your client might require a confidentiality agreement for contractors to protect their company during employment and after the contractor’s work term is up.

Learn what a confidentiality agreement is, how it can protect your client’s company, and your recruiter responsibilities for facilitating the agreement between clients and contractors.

What is a confidentiality agreement for contract workers?

An employee confidentiality agreement is a legal document that prevents employees from disclosing protected information about the company they work for.

Individuals who sign the agreement must abide by its terms and conditions during and, in most cases, after their employment with the company.

Sometimes, confidentiality agreements are paired with a noncompete agreement. Noncompete agreements prevents employees from accepting a job from a competitor or in the same niche for a certain period after termination. Violating noncompete agreements and confidentiality documents can have serious repercussions for the contractor.

After you have successfully placed a contractor at your client’s company, your client might require that the worker sign a workplace confidentiality agreement. A confidentiality agreement should be drafted and signed before the contractor begins working.

Additionally, you might be required to sign the document. Or, your client might have you sign a separate recruitment agency confidentiality agreement.

What is included in a confidentiality agreement for contractors?

Documents differ, but a confidentiality agreement for contractors should answer the following basic questions:

1. Which parties are involved in the agreement?

The confidentiality agreement will list your client and your contract worker. In some cases, it might list you, too.

2. What information is considered confidential?

The confidentiality agreement will need to explicitly say what items are protected. Confidential information can include trade secrets, product or service information, strategic plans, or anything that is in development.

For example, you place a contractor with a company that creates soap. Your client’s confidentiality agreement prevents the contractor from disclosing the ingredients in the products to anyone, creating soap and selling it on their own, or working at another soap company after their contract ends.

Further, the confidentiality agreement should explain what information is considered non-confidential. For example, information that is already public knowledge is not confidential.

3. How long will the confidentiality agreement last?

Generally, confidentiality agreements last between one and five years.

Contractor confidentiality agreements and your responsibilities

As the contractor’s employer of record, you are responsible for onboarding the contractor, offering benefits to them, running payroll, obtaining insurance, etc. You may also need to work with both clients and contractors to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Your client may ask you to work with them in drafting an employer-employee confidentiality agreement.

The contract worker might need to sign the agreement during the onboarding process. You may need to answer questions about the agreement, so it’s a good idea to talk with your client in detail about it ahead of time.

Regardless of whether you work directly on drafting the confidentiality agreement or if your client does it on their own, it’s a good idea to speak with an attorney to verify the agreement is fair and legal.

If your client requires you to sign the agreement, understand your responsibilities and restrictions. It’s a good idea to talk with an attorney to avoid legal trouble down the road.

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