See also ‘Restrictive Covenant’ - It is only logical that an employee will pick up a level of knowledge when working for an employer. However, certain knowledge obtained in the course of employment may be so important to the employer that they will wish to protect themselves should an employee privy to such information decide to leave their post. Such information is often referred to as “confidential information” or “trade secrets”. Employers may prevent an employee from using confidential knowledge obtained in the course of employment after the relationship has ended through a restrictive covenant. However, employers may only be able to restrict an employee from using “objective knowledge”, which is the property of the employer, whereas an employer may not restrict an employee from using “subjective knowledge” which is knowledge an employee has developed due to their own intelligence, experience or skill.
