REFRAINING FROM COMPETITIVE ACTIONS AND NON-DISCLOSURE OF COMMERCIAL SECRETS UNDER UKRAINIAN LABOUR LAW
Keywords:
refraining from competitive actions, non-disclosure of commercial secrets, secondary employment restriction, employment relationship, employment contractAbstract
Background. Due to the fact that the world of work is characterised by its wide coverage, not all categories related to it can receive proper regulation in labour legislation in a timely manner. The above-mentioned issues are quite visible in business environment, where such categories as ensuring that employees do not compete with their employers and non-disclosure of commercial secrets obtained in the course of employment are of great importance. Despite a sufficiently detailed analysis of non-competition and non-disclosure agreements in the studies of domestic scholars, the practical implementation of these categories in Ukrainian labour law has remained unaddressed.
Methods. In the process of preparing this paper, the author applied dialectical, comparative and legal, formal and logical methods of research. With the help of the dialectical method, in particular, the author identifies the specific features of legal regulation of refraining from competitive actions and non-disclosure of commercial secrets. The comparative and legal method helped to carry out a comparative legal study of the provisions of national and foreign legislation governing non-competition and non-disclosure of commercial secrets in the world of work. The formal and logical method was used to identify shortcomings in the legal regulation of preventing employees from committing competitive actions against employers and non-disclosure of commercial secrets.
Results. The implementation of mechanisms to ensure non-competition and non-disclosure of commercial secrets in employment relationships in Ukraine is significantly limited due to the lack of a clear regulatory framework. And while the issue of non-disclosure of trade secrets can be resolved at the level of local employer regulations developed with the participation of employees' representatives, the non-competition with the employer is currently limited only by the legal regime of Diia City. This is primarily due to the significant impact of non-competition on the labour rights of the parties of employment relationship.
Conclusions. The comprehensive implementation of non-competition and non-disclosure of commercial secrets in labour relations in Ukraine is currently impossible without ensuring their proper regulation at the level of labour legislation.
References
Decision in case No. 607/1440/17-ц. (2017). Court of Appeal of Ternopil Oblast, (Ukrainian) [in Ukrainian]. https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/ 67731001
Rym, O. (2011). Prevention of competition in labour relations: monograph. Ternograf [in Ukrainian].
Shcherbyna, V., & Sotskyi, A. (2021). Labour law of Ukraine. Technodruk [in Ukrainian].
Shumilo, M. (2022). Non-compete clause in labour law. Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod National University, Series LAW, 70, 253–261 [in Ukrainian]. http://visnyk-pravo.uzhnu.edu.ua/article/view/258228/255050
Verenych, N. (2003). Peculiarities of legal regulation of secondary employment and combination of professions (positions) [Unpublished Avtoref. candidate's dissertation]. National University of Internal Affairs [in Ukrainian]
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