Employees in the UAE can immediately be terminated for revealing confidential information of the employer

Disclosure of workplace secrets through IT systems is viewed strictly under the Cyber Crimes Law as the disclosure in such a way would result in detention for at least six months and/or a fine of at least Dh20,000 to Dh1 million.

Employees in the UAE can immediately be terminated without prior notice for revealing confidential information of the employer which leads to damage or loss of profit, or if the employee gains personal benefits from it, said Raka Roy, partner, Galadari Associates and Legal Consultants.

She said disclosure of workplace secrets can also attract at least one-year imprisonment along with a fine of a minimum of Dh20,000.

Roy added that employees are prohibited from keeping any original or copied documents, or information belonging to their employer during their employment in their personal possession. Additionally, employees must return any work-related information and data to their employer at the end of their service.

“To further safeguard against the retention of confidential information, it is recommended that employers include a provision in their employment agreement which requires employees to return confidential information when their employment ends.”

Under the Civil Transactions Law, employers have the right to file a civil lawsuit against an employee who violates their confidentiality obligations under their employment contract.

“This can be done either during the employee's term of employment or within one year after the termination of their contract. However, there is no such time limit to initiate legal action in case an employee discloses the employer’s trade secret,” she said.

Companies take employees to court when the losses they suffered are quite high due to leaking secrets.

Raka Roy added that unintentional sharing of confidential data is more usual among employees.