UCF Employee Duties and Promises Project

Employee Duties and PromisesCourse Project
Instructions
The purpose of this course is to enable you to protect your company’s trade secrets, customer relationships, and
intellectual property, while recognizing the general rights of former employees to use their skills and on-the-job-training to
create a competing business, or work for competitors.
To complete this project, you will draw from your experiences in a current or previous workplace. You may also research a
company of interest to you.
In Part One, you will assess your duty of loyalty to your current organization, including your duty not to compete with your
current employer while employed and not to misappropriate trade secrets or assets during or after employment.
In Part Two, you will evaluate when noncompetition clauses and other restrictive covenants are enforceable against
departing employees in your company.
In Part Three, you will assess rights to employee inventions in your organization.
Except as indicated, use this document to record all your project work and responses to any questions. At a minimum, you
will need to turn in a digital copy of this document to your course facilitator as part of your project completion. You may
also have additional supporting documents that you will need to submit. Your course facilitator will provide feedback to
help you work through your findings
Note: Though your work will only be seen by those grading the course and will not be used or shared outside the course,
you should take care to obscure any information you feel might be sensitive or confidential nature.
Complete each project part as you progress through the course. Wait to submit the project until all parts are complete. Begin
your course project by completing Part One below. A submit button can be found on the final Course Project assignment
page. Information about the grading rubric is available on any of the course project assignment pages online. Do not hesitate
to contact your course facilitator if you have any questions about the project.
Part One
Assessing Duty of Loyalty and Trade Secrets
In this part of the course project, you will assess your duty of loyalty to your current organization, including your duty not to
compete with your current employer while employed and not to misappropriate trade secrets or assets during or after
employment.
To complete this part of the project you will need to consider the information provided in this module in light of your current
(or a previous) workplace situation. Answer the questions below to assess your duty regarding noncompetition, trade
secrets, and appropriation of assets.
Note: If you are not currently employed, you may choose to base your answer on a previous or future workplace situation.
Part A – Competing and Preparing to Compete
a. Assume you are going to leave your current job for a competitor. Explain in the box below what your duty
would be with regards to competing with your current employer. What can you do and what can you not
do? Be specific to your industry.
Part B – Trade Secrets
a. In your work unit, what might be some potential trade secrets? How do you know what constitutes clear
and possible trade secrets?
b. What are some general skills, knowledge, and abilities that you gain from being on the job?
Part C – Appropriation of Assets
Write a paragraph for each of the following:
a. Discuss the range of misappropriation possible in your position.
b. Discuss corporate opportunity as it pertains to your role.
Part Two
Evaluating Noncompetition Clauses and Other Restrictive
Covenants
In this part of the course project, you will evaluate when noncompetition clauses and other restrictive covenants are
enforceable against departing employees in your company.
To complete this part of the project, you will need to consider your role, as well as those of other workers in your
organization, and think about who might be subject to an enforceable restrictive covenant.
Write a paragraph for each of the following.
Part A – Assess your role in your organization
This part of the project requires you to take a look at your employment contract. You may need to ask your Human
Resources office for a copy.
If you are currently not employed, you can look online for an example of an employment contract in your industry.
1. In your employment contract, is there a restrictive covenant? (E.g., a noncompetition agreement, a nonsolicitation agreement, no business agreement, non-disclosure agreement, agreement to reimburse
training costs)
a. If so, what are the restrictions?
b. If not, why not?
Part B – Assess other workers in your organization
Who in your organization do you believe might possibly be subject to an enforceable restrictive covenant?
Explain your rationale.
Part Three
Assessing Rights to Employee Inventions
In this part of the course project, you will assess rights to employee inventions in your organization.
Part A – Assess your role in your organization
Looking at the employment contract you used to answer Part Two of this project, is there anything that specifies
rights to inventions or copyright?
a. If your answer is yes, what are the restrictions?
b. If not, why not?
Part B – Assess other workers in your organization
Who in your organization do you believe could possibly be subject to an enforceable agreement related to inventions
or copyright? Explain your rationale.
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To submit this assignment, please refer to the instructions in the course.