In a restaurant business, sharing an heirloom recipe or a most kept kitchen secret is inevitable. But you just can’t let the secret out knowing that it can easily get to the wrong people or to your competitors. If you want to freely share all or part of your trade secrets to your employees without worrying about further disclosure, then you’ll need a restaurant nondisclosure agreement. Explore how a nondisclosure agreement works through our article and take note of the different sample templates that you can download below.
Size: 3.5×2 inches + Bleed
A restaurant nondisclosure agreement, also known as a confidentiality agreement, is an arrangement that takes place between two parties. One party discloses information (disclosing party) while the other party receives the information (receiving party) and prevent further disclosure. The purpose of a nondisclosure agreement or NDA is to protect confidential or sensitive information from further revelation, like trade secrets, and employment arrangements. The confidentiality clause in an NDA covers details on what will happen after an employee exits and the salary rate for contract workers.
You’ll need a reliable nondisclosure agreement template if you’re planning to write one for your restaurant business. Here are simple tips that you can use to make a good restaurant nondisclosure agreement.
Aside from a reliable nondisclosure agreement template, you’ll need more restaurant agreement templates that are relevant to you and your business. Of course, there are business owners who prefer writing a customized NDA, so using different references is an advantage. Sample references include business nondisclosure agreements, and nondisclosure and non-compete agreements, to name a few.
Many people believe that writing an agreement requires using difficult and technical terms. This belief is very wrong. Difficult and ambiguous words will make your agreement hard to understand. Your agreement must be simple and very specific so that it can be easily read and understood. For example, if you want to prevent the revelation of your fine dining restaurant’s chicken soup recipe, you can easily use this exact phrase in your NDAs.
Writing the wrong names in an NDA invalidates the document. Require a valid ID or a government-issued ID from the other party and conduct a background check to ensure that you know who you are working with. It will help you put the right names of the right people in your nondisclosure agreement. This step applies whether you are making a restaurant franchising NDA or a product development NDA.
As mentioned, the purpose of an NDA is to protect confidential information. It can only be done if you provide a concise definition of what confidential information is in the agreement. You can write a whole section dedicated to defining or enumerating confidential information. Something unknown cannot be protected. It’s that simple. For a restaurant, this confidential information may come in the form of recipes, product processing, or marketing strategies.
The common issues addressed in an NDA include how confidential information is defined, defining the parties in the agreement, the disclosure period, the agreement limitations or exclusions, the restrictions for each party, how long confidentiality will last, how long the basic agreement is legally binding, restrictions to the transfer of data, the obligations and responsibilities of the parties in the agreement, and who are allowed to disclose information to a recognized party. More clauses may be added to address different issues or conditions set forth by the contracting party.
Confidential information in a nondisclosure agreement is defined as the information that must not be disclosed to an unauthorized party or a third party. If you are one of the parties in a nondisclosure agreement, you are allowed to learn what the confidential information is, but you cannot share it with people who are not part of the agreement. Confidential information includes trade secrets, employee salary, business plans, etc.
NDAs protect confidential or sensitive information from further publication or revelation. If the receiving party breaks an NDA, they’ll have to face the consequences of their actions. A breach in the contract is first settled out of court. If both parties agree on the settlement, then the issue ends there. If not, the case is brought to court. The breaching party may be asked to pay hefty fines and pay for other damages.
You’ll know that your nondisclosure agreement is invalid if you make any of the following mistakes:
Don’t get overwhelmed with the contents that you see in a nondisclosure agreement. Most of what you see are commonly found in any agreement. Besides, there are nondisclosure agreement samples that you can use as a guide when writing one for your restaurant, cafe, bistro, or food truck business. You can even customize an editable sample and use it as your own. It’s an easy and convenient way to come up with a reliable nondisclosure agreement.
