Dismissal for disclosing personal data is one of the legal ways to part with chatterboxes. However, not everyone can be fired and not always, because the laws clearly regulate this procedure. Dismissal not in accordance with the rules of the law threatens the company with financial losses, because an employee who believes that he was fired illegally can go to court with a complaint, and if the judge finds errors in the paperwork, reinstatement of the chatterbox at work is inevitable, as is the recovery of forced absenteeism and moral damages.

Personal Data Law

Regulatory Act No. 152 was adopted back in 2006 and is aimed at protecting personal information. According to the law personal information is any information about a person, For example:

• place of work;
• salary;
• address or telephone.

And this information must be protected.

According to the third article of the 152nd law, the dissemination of personal data is the disclosure of personal information to outsiders. For example, an accountant discussed the size of employee bonuses with the cafeteria workers, which means he disclosed personal information.

Attention!

Important: within the meaning of Law 152, the transfer of personal data is not only the mention of other people’s personal information in a conversation, but also the distribution:

• by phone;
• by fax;
• in the Internet.

And according to Article 24 of the law, the chatterbox faces administrative and even criminal liability!

Article for disclosure of personal data

Disclosure of other people's secrets is punishable:

• under Article 137 of the Criminal Code - a fine of up to 300 thousand, or arrest for up to six months, or prison for up to 4 years;
• under Article 13.11 of the Administrative Code - a fine of up to a thousand rubles;
• under article 81 Labor Code- dismissal.

At the same time, in paragraphs “c” of paragraph 6 of the first part of Article 81 of the Labor Code on dismissal, this is what it says: if an employee dealing with personal data discloses some of it to outsiders, the contract with him can be terminated. And it doesn’t matter whether he did it once or not.

For your information

From the analysis of Article 81 of the Labor Code it follows that Only those employees who process personal information can be fired.

For example, it is impossible to fire a cleaning lady because she found a sheet of bonus amounts on the floor in the accounting department and discussed these sizes with her friends. It is the accountant who did not protect the information, he should be held accountable. And the cleaning lady does not deal with confidential data.

Who can be fired under this article?

Only those employees who work with the personal data of others
workers. This directly concerns:

• personnel officers;
• accountants;
• sometimes - secretaries;
• economists;
• heads of departments;
• director.

By law, all organizations must have a Regulation on Personal Data, which includes a full list of positions related to the processing of personal information. And in employment contracts according to this list, it is necessary to include a condition on responsibility for disclosing other people's secrets.

Attention!

Important: You cannot be fired under the article for disclosing personal data if the employee’s written permission has been received for their transfer.

For example, one of the employees takes out a loan from a bank. The bank will call you and ask you to tell us who the borrower works, how much he works and how much he earns. If you immediately post all the information, you cannot avoid responsibility. But if you ask the borrower if he is okay with you providing such information to the bank, and writes a receipt, everything is legal.

How to fire an employee

Disclosure of other people's information is a violation of discipline. Therefore, you need to act according to Article 193 of the Labor Code.

But there must be a foundation first, because you had to know from somewhere, that discipline is broken . The reasons may be:

• memo or report;
• data disclosure act.

These documents are drawn up randomly stating that in a specific place, at a specific time, by a specific employee, someone else’s personal data was disclosed. In this case, the compiler can be either the victim himself or another person.

Based on the note or act, a demand for explanation is drawn up: “According to such and such an act (or note), you then and there disclosed the personal data of so and so. I demand written explanations within 2 days.”

Attention!

Important : The request must be presented in person against signature!

If the explanations are not in writing, draw up a statement stating that explanations were not provided upon request.

If after 2 days there are no explanations, or they do not satisfy the director, you can prepare a discipline order.

Based on this order, we are preparing an order T-8 on dismissal.

So, you should have the following documents:

• disclosure statement or memo;
• demand for explanations;
• discipline order;
• dismissal order.

In this case, each document must be endorsed by the culprit personally or sent to his address by registered mail. You can also draw up an act of refusal to sign and attach it to the document.

Also consider the following conditions:

• order T-8 must be drawn up no later than a month from the moment of discovery of a violation of discipline;
• the time of illness of the culprit or his vacation is not counted in this month;
• the basis for dismissal in order T-8 will be an order on discipline e.

Legality of dismissal

Dismissal for disclosing personal data will only be considered legal if if you have evidence :

• the culprit disclosed confidential information (act or note);
• this information became known to the culprit during the work ( job description or a list of responsibilities in the employment contract);
• the culprit undertook not to disclose personal data (subscription to the Data Protection Regulation or a condition in the employment contract.

Conclusion employment contract on working with documents containing state secrets is possible only if the citizen has access to state secrets. An employment contract concluded with a person who has access to state secrets must stipulate all obligations related to his access to state secrets. Moreover, a person granted access to state secrets is entitled to certain guarantees and compensation, and they must also be reflected in the employment contract. Our information Secret means information deliberately hidden by the person in possession of it. To ensure that such information does not become known to persons who should not have access to it, the owner has the right to limit access to it, and if this information becomes known against his will, to take actions to protect it.

Labor Code of the Russian Federation and confidential information

Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the dismissal was recognized by the court as legal. Frequently asked question: Why is sending to a personal email address recognized by the courts as dissemination of information for the benefit of third parties? Answer: The “User Agreement” of all services that provide free email addresses () provides similar wording: “The User provides Ru.” 2. Assignment of corrective labor for disseminating confidential information by sending messages via e-mail Source: Judgment of the Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow dated June 4, 2013 in case No. 1-160/2013 A criminal case was initiated against the employee who sent confidential information to the counterparty’s email address.

Dismissal for disclosing trade secrets

Ksenia, According to Art. 37 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, participants in collective negotiations and other persons associated with the conduct of collective negotiations must not disclose information received if this information relates to a secret protected by law (state, official, commercial and other). Persons who disclosed the specified information are brought to disciplinary, administrative, civil, and criminal liability in the manner established by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and other federal laws. Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation makes it possible to include in an employment contract a condition on non-disclosure of information constituting a trade secret with any employee if this information is known to him in connection with the performance of official duties.
Dismissal under clause “c” clause 6, part 1, art.

Confidential information in labor relations

Attention

Dismissal of an employee for disclosing confidential information via Skype Source: Decision of the Golovinsky District Court of Moscow dated October 8, 2013 in case No. 2-5055/13 The employee sent documents and information to third parties via Skype. The program was installed on a company computer for work purposes and the employer was able to track this fact.

Responsibility for disclosure of trade secrets. What threatens a chatterbox?

Info

EXAMPLE In turn, the contents of the registers accounting and internal financial statements is a trade secret (Article 10 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1996 No. 129-FZ “On Accounting”). IT IS FORBIDDEN! Provide for a condition on non-disclosure of trade secrets in the employment contracts of all employees of the organization, without exception. When concluding an employment contract with a person whose labor function will be related to access to information constituting a trade secret, a condition on access to this information, as well as mutual obligations of the parties to the employment contract, associated with such access must be specified in the employment contract. However, the employer should include a clause on non-disclosure of trade secrets in employment contracts only for those employees who actually have access to such information in connection with the performance of labor responsibilities.

Responsibility of an employee for disclosure of trade secrets

In order to protect the confidentiality of information constituting a trade secret, the employee is obliged to: 1) comply with the trade secret regime established by the employer; 2) not to disclose this information, the owners of which are the employer and his counterparties, and without their consent not to use this information for personal purposes during the entire period of validity of the trade secret regime, including after termination of the employment contract; 3) compensate for losses caused to the employer if the employee is guilty of disclosing information that constitutes a trade secret and became known to him in connection with the performance of his job duties; 4) transfer to the employer, upon termination or termination of the employment contract, material media available for the use of the employee and containing information constituting a trade secret. 4.

Non-disclosure clause in your employment contract

Before including a clause on non-disclosure of trade secrets in an employment contract, the employer must:

1. familiarize, against signature, an employee whose access to information constituting a trade secret is necessary for him to perform his job duties, with a list of information constituting a trade secret, the owners of which are the employer and his counterparties;
2. familiarize the employee, against signature, with the trade secret regime established by the employer and with the penalties for violating it.

In turn, the employer is obliged to create for the employee the necessary conditions to comply with the established trade secret regime. The Federal Law “On Trade Secrets” expanded the employee’s obligation to non-disclose information constituting a trade secret.
And despite the fact that all conditions are included in the Employment contract solely by mutual consent of the parties, in cases provided for by federal law, the condition of non-disclosure of secrets protected by law must be taken into account in the employment contract. Let's look at how the condition of non-disclosure of secrets should be reflected in the employment contract, and also talk about the features of establishing this condition for certain categories of employees. A condition on non-disclosure of secrets protected by law may be provided for in an employment contract by agreement of the parties. The purpose of its establishment is to protect confidential information to which the employee will have access while performing his job duties.

Article of the Labor Code on non-disclosure of confidential information

The employee is obliged not to disclose this information not only during the validity of the employment contract, but also after its termination. The duration of such an obligation is determined by a separate agreement between the employee and the employer, concluded during the period of validity of the employment contract. If the specified agreement has not been concluded, then the obligation not to disclose information constituting a trade secret is valid for 3 years after termination of the employment contract.

Maintaining trade secrets is one of the additional conditions employment contract. Currently, the number of such agreements has increased significantly. This is related to growth competitive environment, and with the abolition of the Labor Code of the rule provided for by the Labor Code that an employment contract may contain a condition on non-disclosure of trade secrets only in cases provided for by federal laws and other regulations legal acts RF.

Within internal audit it was determined that the documents were thrown away by the cleaning lady, and the reason for this violation was the improper storage of confidential documents. Considering that the documents were already in the trash cans, the employer additionally pointed out the fact of improper disposal of confidential information. The employee was dismissed under paragraphs. “c”, clause 6, part 1, art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the dismissal was recognized by the court as legal.

6. Dismissal of an employee for saving information on a USB drive + e-mail

Almost every large enterprise there is a set of data and information, which allow him to increase his income, avoid losses, occupy a leading position in the market, or receive some other benefit.

This information is called trade secret, and access to it is strictly limited to only a small circle of people - it is not intended for general use.

Disclosure of trade secrets and familiarization with third parties often leads to deterioration of the enterprise's activities Therefore, such actions are considered a violation and are subject to certain punishment.

It is worth understanding what sanctions management can apply to the offending employee, which in this case will be considered a violation and how to prove its completion.

Concept

What is considered disclosure of trade secrets?

Enterprises that have introduced a trade secret regime must take certain steps measures to protect such information.

Only if this requirement is met will it be considered that the specified data was actually confidential information and there is a fact of their disclosure.

TO ways to protect information can be attributed:

Disclosure of a trade secret is any action or inaction of an employee who has access to such information and has provided it in any form (oral, written, electronic) to unauthorized persons without the consent of the owner.

In this case, any actions of the employee in which he was unable to protect protected data from unauthorized access by third parties will be considered disclosure.

Examples could be:

1. Sale information to competitors by employees who have access to trade secrets. According to statistics, this is the most common way for rival companies to obtain data.
2. Providing free access to information that is a trade secret for outsiders (both intentionally and accidentally). This can happen if an employee quits securities on the table unattended or leaves the computer turned on with open documents of this kind, as a result of which other employees or visitors of the company will be able to familiarize themselves with this information.
3. Excessive talkativeness employee, as a result of which he talks about production secrets to outsiders - his colleagues, relatives, friends. Even if these actions do not cause any harm to the company, they are still considered a disclosure.
4. Kidnapping important information and using it for your own benefit. An example of this could be an employee starting his own business, in which transactions are conducted with the employer's client base.

It does not matter which employee is guilty of disclosure - previously laid off or still employed at the enterprise.

Even if he moves to another company, he is obliged to comply with the trade secret regime of his former employer.

For failure to comply with this requirement, he may also be subject to responsibility.

Important so that they sign documents regarding non-disclosure of secrets (these provisions may be contained in the employment contract or constitute a separate document). The company must also have undertaken measures on the protection of trade secrets.

Other violations

In addition to disclosure, employees or third parties may be accused in violations such as:

• collection commercial information through illegal means or using unlawful means;
• theft or theft of documents;
• breaking electronic systems;
• illegal penetration to premises where secret documentation is stored, etc.

These violations are quite serious, since there is clear intent in them.

The employer will be able to complain about such actions to the police or other law enforcement agencies– after this, an investigation will be carried out and all documents on the activities of a possible information thief will be checked.

What does the criminal code say?

Criminal liability in the field of trade secrets is rarely applied, however, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains some provisions regarding this issue. In particular, in Art. 183 contained list of possible liability, which can be applied to a violator of the trade secret regime.

Criminal Responsibility is divided into the following types:

Criminal liability applies in the most serious cases when information was disclosed intentionally and the damage caused to the company was significant.

Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Article 183. Illegal receipt and disclosure of information constituting commercial, tax or banking secrets

1. Collecting information constituting commercial, tax or banking secrets by stealing documents, bribery or threats, as well as others illegal way —

   shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to five hundred thousand rubles or in the amount wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to one year, or correctional labor for a period of up to one year, or forced labor for a period of up to two years, or imprisonment for the same period.

2. Illegal disclosure or use of information constituting a commercial, tax or banking secret, without the consent of its owner, by a person to whom it was entrusted or became known through service or work -

   shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to one million rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to two years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years, or by corrective labor for a term of up to two years, or by forced labor. for a term of up to three years, or imprisonment for the same term.

3. The same acts that caused major damage or were committed out of selfish interest -

   shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to one million five hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to three years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years, or by forced labor for a term of up to five years, or imprisonment for the same period.

4. Acts provided for in parts two or three of this article, which entailed grave consequences, -

   shall be punishable by forced labor for a term of up to five years or imprisonment for a term of up to seven years.

Procedure for punishing an employee

In order to accuse an employee of disclosing trade secret and punish him for it, two conditions must be met:

Generally procedure for punishing an employee for disclosure can be presented in the form of several stages:

1. Establishment by employer fact disclosure (can occur on the basis of both direct and indirect evidence).
2. Carrying out internal investigation at the enterprise with the study of all the circumstances of the case.
3. Sending to a suspected employee written request with demands to explain the established fact of violation. The request must describe the circumstances and reasons by which the employer reached its conclusions about the disclosure. After reading the document, the employee must confirm this with his signature.
4. Expectation written explanation from the employee regarding the accusation against him. Two days are allotted for the preparation of this document. If the employee ignores the request and does not explain anything, the employer must draw up a corresponding report.
5. Creation special commission, which will analyze and evaluate the detected circumstances, after which it will decide on the responsibility that the employee will bear. At the end of all these actions, a protocol is drawn up.
6. Edition order
7. Direct performance

challenge

important requirement

material liability

losses.

How to prove?

an important condition

If, , he applies any punishment to the employee (for example, fires him), then the latter will be able to challenge this decision in court. And it is there that the worker will investigate the discovered circumstances, after which he will decide on the responsibility that the employee will bear. At the end of all these actions, a protocol is drawn up.

The employer should save all documents that are created during this procedure - if in the future the employee wants challenge measures taken against him, these papers will be useful for the trial.

Compliance with legal procedure and implementation of all the above actions - important requirement, since without it the punishment may be considered unlawful.

If, as a method of influence on an employee, material liability, then the amount of compensation should also be calculated by a special commission.

In this case, only real and not potential losses.

How to prove?

Proof of disclosure of secrets by an employee is an important condition to apply any sanctions or measures to him. This is often quite difficult to do because the employer receives the disclosure based on inaccurate testimony.

If, without significant evidence, he will apply some kind of punishment to the employee (for example, dismiss him), then the latter will be able to challenge this decision in court. And it is there that the employer will have to prove that he punished the employee not unreasonably.

There are several ways, with which you can confirm that the employee is really guilty of disclosing commercial information:

Other legal ways of obtaining evidence that can be presented to the court are not excluded. The more information the employer collects, the higher probability his success.

Types of liability

If the enterprise in legally If a trade secret regime was introduced, then employees for disclosing this information may be subject to responsibility. Specific measures depend on several factors:

• was present intent when committing an offense;
• which employee is guilty of disclosure – previously laid off or employed at the enterprise;
• was obtained as a result of disclosure damage and if so, in what amount;
• did you know employee that the information disclosed by him is a trade secret.

Depending on all this, liability may be applied to the employee.

Disciplinary– this could be a reprimand, reprimand or dismissal.

Only one punishment can be applied for one offense, and its choice depends on the severity of the employee’s guilt.

Material– is that the employee is obliged to compensate for losses caused to the company as a result of disclosure of information.

If the violator is still working at the enterprise, he is only liable for real damage. As for dismissed employees, they will also be required to compensate for lost profits by the company.

Administrative– consists of a fine, the amount of which is:

• for citizens – from 500 to 1000 rubles;
• for officials - from 4000 to 5000 rubles.

Criminal– its use is possible only in the most severe cases. The responsibility in this case is quite serious: large fines (from 80 to 120 thousand rubles), forced labor and even imprisonment for up to three years.

If the violation was committed on a large scale and with obvious mercenary motives, responsibility is becoming stricter: fine up to 200 thousand rubles. or imprisonment for a term of up to seven years.

If incurred by the company losses are insignificant, the court may exempt the accused from having to pay a fine and replace the punishment with an oral reprimand.

Results

Disclosure of a trade secret is a serious violation on the part of an employee, because it can bring big losses. Depending on the type of disclosure and its severity, the employee may be punished a fine, the need to compensate the company for damages, and even dismissal.

Main at the same time, to prove a violation on the part of the employee, because the employer’s actions can be challenged in court.

TO responsibility Not only employees working in the company, but also those who were previously dismissed may be held liable for disclosure.

In this case, the relationship with the employer goes beyond the scope of labor, so liability for the violator may be possible%D

Dismissal for disclosing trade secrets is one of the most serious penalties that can be applied to hired workers. For such an offense, a former employee can be brought not only to administrative, but also to criminal liability. The degree of guilt is determined by the articles of the Labor Code Russian Federation, providing for certain types of punishment.

General information

In order for the dismissal procedure to take place in accordance with the law, it is necessary to follow paragraphs. in clause 6, part 1, art. 81 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. It requires providing substantial evidence that the disclosed information is a trade secret.

Definition of the concept

A trade secret is secret information through which its owner can obtain some benefit for himself or his enterprise. These include:

• increase in income;
• cost reduction;
• maintaining the position in the market of goods and services.

Russian legislation clearly states exceptions that cannot be considered a trade secret. Disclosure of such information may lead to dismissal or some kind of punishment, only under a different article. This could be the following information:

Confidential information can be classified as information to which unauthorized persons do not have access. In this case, a special secrecy regime must be established in the company or firm. Otherwise, the leak of secret data cannot be qualified as intentional disclosure of confidential information.

Secrecy mode at the enterprise

One of the most important conditions for dismissing an employee for leaking information is the establishment of a secrecy regime at the enterprise. To do this, the employer must fulfill several mandatory requirements. All of them are prescribed by law and cannot be changed at the request of the manager. These include the following:

If an employee was fired for disclosing confidential information, and at least one of the conditions was not met, then you can safely appeal the decision in court.

Grounds for dismissal

An employer should know that it is not so easy to fire an employee for disclosing secret data. To do this, you need not only to prove his guilt, but also to meet many conditions. Guided by subparagraph 6 of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, it is possible to impose punishment for accidental or intentional transfer of confidential information to a third party. What do I need to do:

In order for a manager to have a chance to legally dismiss a guilty employee, he needs to collect as much evidence of his guilt as possible. If the grounds are insufficient, termination of the employment contract will be illegal.

In some cases, an employee cannot be fired, even if the required amount of evidence has been collected that he disclosed trade secrets. These include the following categories of employees:

• minor workers;
• pregnant women.

All other employees for this type of violation are subject to immediate dismissal.

Procedure

In order to carry out the procedure in the legal field, it is necessary to follow a strictly defined procedure. It is specified in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and adherence to it will be considered the main basis for the legality of dismissal.

Identification of violations

The head of an enterprise may learn about the disclosure of confidential information from several individuals and organizations. They can provide such information in an official document or report, which is written to the owner of the company.

The violator can be identified:

If a leak of confidential information was detected within the enterprise, then a corresponding act is drawn up confirming the unlawful actions of a particular employee. It indicates detailed information about declassified data and the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the leak. In addition, the document contains the following information:

• information about the originator and witnesses present;
• the exact time and date the violation was recorded;
• signatures of all compilers and management of the enterprise.

Obtaining an explanation from the offending employee

Once a violation is identified, the guilty employee is given the opportunity to explain his actions. To do this, a document is drawn up and handed over to the offending employee in writing. It contains information about the circumstances of detection of illegal actions. In addition, a link is written to the clause of the employment contract, which obliges the employee not to disclose confidential information.

The paper is given to the employee or sent by registered mail to his registered address. The violator must familiarize himself with the document and put his signature on it. If he refuses to undergo this procedure, then a corresponding act is drawn up and signed by several witnesses.

After informing the offending employee, he can draw up an explanatory note. It indicates all the details of the transfer of confidential information to third parties or denies this fact. The paper is sent to a specially created commission, which reviews it and makes its decision. This takes into account not only the degree of guilt of the employee, but also the seriousness of the consequences for the employer and his company. The result is a protocol that indicates the decisions made and recommendations for further actions.

Issuance of an order

After the owner of the company has made the final decision to punish the offending employee, he draws up a dismissal order. It contains the following information:

The order is printed in several copies and handed to the dismissed employee against signature. In case of refusal to sign a document, a special act is drawn up and certified by two or more witnesses.

Issuance of money and work book

On the last day of work, the dismissed employee is given all payments required by law. Among them may be:

• wages for days worked;
• compensation for unused vacation;
• other payments provided for in the employment contract.

Besides money former employee a package of documents is issued. Their list is compiled based on the application of the dismissed person and may include:

• work book with a record of dismissal;
• a copy of the employee’s personal card;
• salary certificate for the specified period.

In some cases, the employee’s actions may be qualified as intentional, which will lead to a more serious punishment than termination of the employment contract. After dismissal, liability for disclosure of trade secrets may be administrative or criminal.

The first option is applied if the employee’s actions did not have signs of a crime. In this case, a type of punishment such as a fine may be applied. Its amount depends on the damage caused and can be awarded for each individual offense.

A more serious type of punishment is criminal liability. It can only be applied in the following cases:

• bribery of certain persons;
• illegal seizure of documentation;
• obtaining the necessary information through threats or blackmail.

In these cases, the court may impose a certain type of punishment. It is selected based on the damage caused and the severity of the crime committed. The consequences for the violator may be as follows:

• a fine in the amount of the offender’s annual income;
• correctional labor for up to 1 year;
• forced labor for up to 2 years;
• imprisonment for up to 24 months.

Dismissal for leaking classified information is a rather difficult undertaking that requires the manager to strictly comply with the laws of the Russian Federation. If everything is done correctly, you can not only punish the offending employee, but also eliminate the possibility of appeal decision taken in the courts.

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When can an employee be fired for disclosing information?

An employment contract can be terminated at the initiative of the employer if an employee of an institution discloses a legally protected secret (state, official, or other) on the basis of subparagraph “c” of paragraph 6 of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. In this case, the following conditions must be met:

• such a secret is known to the employee in connection with his performance labor function;
• the obligation not to disclose secrets protected by law is expressly provided for in the employment contract with the employee;
• The employment contract (an appendix to it) contains specific information containing secrets, which the employee undertakes not to disclose.

If these conditions are not met, termination of an employment contract with an employee on the grounds in question may be considered illegal.

In addition, before starting the procedure for dismissing an employee for disclosing a secret protected by law, the employer should take into account the position of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, specified in paragraph 43 of Resolution No. 2 of March 17, 2004. According to it, the employer is obliged to provide evidence that the information which the employee disclosed relate to state, official or other secrets protected by law, became known to the employee in connection with the performance of his job duties and he undertook not to disclose them.

What is a state secret?

According to Part 1 of Article 2 and Article 5 of the Law of the Russian Federation of July 21, 1993 No. 5485-1, state secrets include information protected by the state in the following areas:

• military (information about the direction of development of weapons and military equipment, about the development, technology, production and its volumes, storage, nuclear weapons and their components and etc.);
• economic, scientific and technological (information on the use of Russian infrastructure in order to ensure the defense capability and security of the state, on the achievements of science and technology, research, development, design work and technologies that have important defense or economic significance and affect the security of the state, etc.);
• foreign and economics;
• intelligence, counterintelligence, operational-search activities, as well as in the field of countering terrorism (information about the organization and the actual state of protection of state secrets, about federal budget expenditures to ensure defense, state security and law enforcement activities in the Russian Federation, etc.).

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 30, 1995 No. 1203 contains a list of information to be classified as state secret. It specifies a list of classified information. It also identifies government agencies and organizations with the authority to manage such data. The dissemination of such classified information could harm the security of the Russian Federation.

What procedure must be followed upon dismissal?

Dismissal for disclosing secrets protected by law is a type of disciplinary sanction (Part 3 of Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). This means that termination of an employment contract with an employee on this basis must be carried out in compliance with the rules for applying disciplinary sanctions.

First of all, the fact of disclosure of a secret protected by law must be documented. In practice, a report (service) note is used for this. As a rule, it is compiled by the person who revealed this fact. This note states:

• Full name of the employee who discovered the fact of disclosure;
• information that was disclosed;
• the circumstances under which the disclosure and discovery of this fact occurred;
• date and time of disclosure and discovery.

In addition, a special commission can confirm the fact of disclosure of a secret protected by law. It is created by the employer to conduct an internal investigation (verification of disclosure). It is advisable to form such a commission no later than the next day after the fact of disclosure is revealed, including at least three competent and not interested in the outcome of the proceedings employees who have access to information that has been disclosed.

It is created by issuing an order in an institution on the basis of a report (official) note. This order specifies:

• Full name and position of employees included in the commission;
• the purpose of creating the commission, tasks;
• the date of creation of the commission and its validity period;
• powers vested in the members of the commission to ensure the fulfillment of the task assigned to them.

The commission may be tasked with the following tasks: the circumstances of the violation, examination of the possible location of the lost confidential document, identification of the perpetrators, identification of the causes and conditions conducive to the violation, determination of the relevance of the disclosed (lost) information, determination of damage (losses).

The order to create the commission must be familiarized with the signature of all employees included in it.

The results of the commission's work are reflected in the corresponding act. The legislation does not approve a unified form of such an act. Therefore, the employer can develop it independently. The main data indicated in such a document are:

• Full name and position of all commission members;
• date, exact time and place of drawing up the act;
• the basis and timing of the investigation;
• information about the work done, as well as the time, place and circumstances of the violation;
• reasons and conditions for committing a violation;
• the perpetrators and the degree of their guilt;
• the amount of damage caused and proposals for its compensation;
• proposed penalties for those responsible.

Please note that the act may also contain other information. It is signed by all members of the commission. The employee guilty of disclosing information must be familiarized with such a document and signed. In case of his refusal or evasion of familiarization, a corresponding act is also drawn up.

According to Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, before applying a disciplinary sanction, the employer must request a written explanation from the employee of his action. However, the employee’s failure to provide an explanatory note does not at all prevent the imposition of a disciplinary sanction. If an employee refuses to give explanations or fails to provide them within two working days, the employer may draw up a corresponding report about this.

The employer’s further actions will depend on the reasons and circumstances of the misconduct that the employee indicates in the explanatory note. After all, if he considers them respectful, then the employee may not be subject to disciplinary action. Otherwise, the explanatory note will become one of the grounds for bringing the employee to disciplinary liability in the form of dismissal.

When terminating an employment contract with an employee due to his disclosure of a secret protected by law, the employer should be guided by general rules dismissals in accordance with Article 84.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. In particular, it is necessary to issue an order (instruction) to terminate the employment contract. It is drawn up according to the unified form No. T-8 (Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated January 5, 2004 No. 1).

Please note that issuing an order to dismiss an employee this basis no later than one month from the day the offense was discovered. Let us take into account that this monthly period does not include the time the employee is ill, on vacation, or the time required to take into account the opinion of the employees’ body. Disciplinary action cannot be applied later than six months from the date of the commission of the offense (Part 4 of Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Moreover, the specified period does not include the time of criminal proceedings.

In addition to the dismissal order, the employer must also write a note and enter the necessary information into the employee’s personal card.

Let us remind you that an employee can appeal his dismissal for disclosing a secret in court, a labor dispute commission or another body for the consideration of such disputes (Part 7 of Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). If a court (another body) finds dismissal for disclosing a secret illegal, then the employee will need to be reinstated with wages for the period of forced absence.

A. Kuprin,
consultant on payroll, social benefits and their taxation