General question about NDAs and agencies/temp work

[Would rather not be named]

Hi all.

I am new to this forum. As my username suggests I'd rather not be named because I am in a grey grey area.

Last year I used employment agencies for first proper time. At a company who shall remain nameless (all I can say is they do telephone charity fundraising) I had to sign an NDA. So far so mundane.However unfortunately I cannot rmemeber what it said and how long it may last. I wish I could but I can't, don't recall getting a copy either!!

So to experienced contractors and the like, anyone who knows ndas etc any advice would be really appreciated...

1) How long does an NDA last- is it effective even after leaving temp jobs?
2) How much does it cover, typically? Just data or personal info or pretty much everything??
3) Someone I know recorded our dismissal meeting and is worried about whether that's covered...we were out as a group and it was all quite odd, quite sprung upon us.

What kinda law are we looking at here?

Any info is really appreciated...I am clueless so I thought here might be a good place to start, cheers.

[Eirikur]

Is there nay date or duration mentioned in the NDA?

If there's no date in the NDA I won't sign it.
Had recently one from K2 solutions which had no end date, blocked me from using any agency in future that would offer roles that they also offer and had a build in opt out clause for the rest of my live.

[Would rather not be named]

Hi and thanks for the reply. That's the thing I truly cannot recall. How can I legally find out what was in it how it was dated etc? Do you mean a limitation date? I assume at bare minimum it had date which I signed it.

As for not signing I didn't really have an option given it was during the interview itself.

[Crossroads]

What is the issue? You signed a non-disclosure agreement and now you want to go disclose something you previously agreed you would not?

Why?

[SueEllen]

So to experienced contractors and the like, anyone who knows ndas etc any advice would be really appreciated...

1) How long does an NDA last- is it effective even after leaving temp jobs?

Yes - it's effective until the material it covers is no longer secret.

This in some cases means you can't say exactly what you did forever.

If the system was mentioned in full detail in the national news then there is nothing stopping you mentioning it. Though personally the only project I was on that was mentioned in the news I would never talk about.

2) How much does it cover, typically? Just data or personal info or pretty much everything??

It depends what is written in the contract.

I have NDAs where I cannot name the end-client company and the systems that they implement. Though they allow me to state the location and describe in generic terms what I did. (If I worked through a consultancy I just name the consultancy.)

I have NDAs which state I cannot name the commercial companies involved or reveal any of these commercial companies data, however I can name the client company and the client's systems.

On one occasion I refused to sign an NDA but it was actually a mirror of what was in the contract I signed e.g. not allowed to mention any commercial details of partners.

3) Someone I know recorded our dismissal meeting and is worried about whether that's covered...we were out as a group and it was all quite odd, quite sprung upon us.

You can record anything you like however if people are present you need to advise them you are doing so. If they make a fuss and say you can't record it, then you must stop.

If you record something in secret you aren't allow to disseminate the actual recording. If you do it with permission you need to make it clear to the people you are recording, what you are using it for, why and how long you will keep the recording for.

So for example I can record phone calls with my bank but as I haven't told the bank I was recording them, then I'm not allowed to send anyone the actual recording. This doesn't stop me writing up the recording word for word and giving the copy of the transcript to someone. (I also would advise people to record their phone calls with companies they have issues with as unfortunately many customer service staff of well-known companies lie.)

What kinda law are we looking at here?

Lots of different laws e.g. contract law, Data Protection, Official Secrets Act - It really depends on the kind of work you were doing. The NDA has to be reasonable as well like with all contracts.

[SueEllen]

Is there nay date or duration mentioned in the NDA?

If there's no date in the NDA I won't sign it.
Had recently one from K2 solutions which had no end date, blocked me from using any agency in future that would offer roles that they also offer and had a build in opt out clause for the rest of my live.

What you talking about is an agency anti-competition agreement which is different from a non-disclosure agreement.

The Official Secrets Act could be described at being at the extreme of NDAs.

Other more annoying ones, which are anti-competition ones as well, are the NDAs which designers and their kin sign. Designers need portfolios to get work however the NDAs they have mean often they can't use pictures in their work of a campaign at all or years later.

[Would rather not be named]

What is the issue? You signed a non-disclosure agreement and now you want to go disclose something you previously agreed you would not?

Why?

Let us just say me and the people in our team our section whatever you want to call it were let go in a shoddy clandestine manner.

I don't want to say much more about it in case anyone from said company is on here. Would the NDA cover said recording provided there was a recording which my friend may have done. Is kinda where I am going with this.

[Crossroads]

Did they terminate in accordance with your contract?

What was the purpose of the NDA?

[northernladuk]

Any info is really appreciated...I am clueless so I thought here might be a good place to start, cheers.

I thought you didn't want to be named...

2) How much does it cover, typically? Just data or personal info or pretty much everything??

Just hope it doesn't cover talking about your gig and hinting who it is on an open forum

Why not get in touch with the company or agent and ask for a copy of it? If they can't produce evidence either then you are in the clear no?

[Would rather not be named]

Did they terminate in accordance with your contract?

What was the purpose of the NDA?

Was via agency unsure had a contract as such. Basically one day they got us all in a room and some managerial type babbled and told us work had ran out. He chatted some tulipe that's for sure...

That's the thing I cannot remember always kinda assumed NDA covered everything.