Brown Crayon in the Workplace

StartFragmentConfidentiality Disclosure Agreement (CDA) or Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) ▼ EndFragment

“Telling my story of what I experienced in the workplace.”

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They are essentially the same thing. Both are trying to protect private or confidential information from becoming public or widely known. Such sensitive confidential business information should be secured and safeguarded. This is likely the only surefire way to establish a culture of confidentiality.

In the workplace, you’ll encounter the good, the bad and the ugly. Some co-workers are really good, and you can count on them at all times. Some are bad, which means they just don’t know what they are doing and make mistakes. Others are ugly, meaning they are out to get you. Before leaving my employment at Green America, 1612 K Street, Washington, DC (www.greenamerica.org), I worked from home in accounting with sensitive confidential information relating to the employee, management, businesses, and external system programs. The accountant position was a critical risky position. There was no signed Non-Disclosure Agreement on my hire date and no signed Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement on my departure date. Or any other documentation with my signature on it to say that I read, understood, and agreed with the procedure.

I left Green America while working from my home office with information on my personal computer, my personal flash drive, my personal mobile phone, and in my head. My job was done from my personal home computer by logging on different company’s web-based mobile and internet software. All data and paperwork came from working on external systems at home to perform the responsibilities of the job description while working from my home office. When necessary, my personal printer and scanner were used with no reimbursement of supplies. While the Director of Finance was creating his own “posse” against me, rejoicing over my leaving Green America, the most critical matter did not get handled with Human Resources (HR). Before leaving the job, I was not asked any questions concerning documentation or about my personal computer. All documentation and information used at the Green America office I placed in the cabinet. There are risky positions in an organization or company that should be covered with specific information under a confidentiality agreement. If not, these critical business assets could be up for negotiation with the 3rd party. A business must meet the criteria of protecting an employee and customer personal information.​ When an employee is in IT or security, the access to confidential data is even greater. They handle company’s information through smartphones with enormous storage capacity and WiFi wireless networks with high transfer speeds. How much is your business worth?

✅ Note: This post was originally published September 5, 2018, and has been completely revamped and updated.

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Pen Name: Brown Crayon (pseudonym)