How To Protect Yourself With A Non-Disclosure Agreement

If you’re hiring a household manager, a nanny, a personal assistant, or any other domestic staff, you may want to consider having them sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). An NDA is a legal document that prevents the person who signs it from disclosing any confidential or sensitive information that they may learn or access while working for you. This can include personal, financial, medical, or business information, as well as any trade secrets, photos, videos, or other media that belong to you.

Why You Need An NDA

You may think that an NDA is only necessary for celebrities, politicians, or wealthy individuals who have a lot of secrets to hide. However, in today’s digital age, anyone can be vulnerable to privacy breaches, identity theft, cyberattacks, or blackmail. Having an NDA can help you protect your privacy and security, as well as your reputation and assets.

For example, imagine that you hired a nanny to take care of your children. You trusted the nanny with your home address, phone number, email, social media accounts, bank accounts, credit cards, and other personal information. You also allowed the nanny to take photos and videos of your children and post them online with your permission. However, one day, you found out that the nanny had been secretly selling your information and media to a tabloid magazine for money. The magazine published an expose on your family life, revealing your secrets and scandals to the public. You felt violated, humiliated, and angry. You wanted to sue the nanny for breach of trust and privacy, but you had no legal basis to do so.

This is where an NDA could have helped you. If you had an NDA in place before hiring the nanny, you could have specified what information and media were confidential and prohibited from disclosure. You could have also stated the consequences for violating the NDA, such as termination of employment, legal action, or monetary damages. With an NDA, you would have had a stronger case against the nanny and could have sought justice and compensation for your losses.

How To Create An NDA

Creating an NDA is not as complicated as it may seem. You can use online templates or services to generate an NDA that suits your needs. However, you should always consult a lawyer before signing or asking someone to sign an NDA. A lawyer can help you review the terms and conditions of the NDA and make sure they are clear, fair, and enforceable.

What should I include?
  • The names and addresses of the parties involved
  • The definition and scope of the confidential information
  • The purpose and duration of the confidentiality obligation
  • The exceptions and exclusions to the confidentiality obligation
  • The remedies and penalties for breach of confidentiality
  • The governing law and jurisdiction of the NDA

You should also make sure that the NDA is signed by both parties and witnessed by a third party. You should keep a copy of the signed NDA for your records and provide a copy to the other party.

An NDA is not a guarantee that your privacy and security will never be compromised. However, it is a useful tool that can deter potential breaches and protect your rights in case they occur. By having an NDA in place with your domestic staff, you can enjoy more peace of mind and trust in your relationship.

At Old State Staffing, we simplify hiring private staff for families throughout Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia and beyond. Ready to hire? Call us or submit a new hire request. Need guidance? Book an introductory meeting with one of our staffing experts!

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The world is spinning faster every day.

Employment has changed drastically the past few years—how we work, the type of work we do, and even where we work. Yet, while the world adapts, solutions for hiring private staff seem to be stuck in the past.

 

At Old State Staffing, we believe the status quo is not enough, and that those who decide now is the time to settle will be left behind. In the face of great change, tinkering around the edges simply won’t do. Since Day 1, our approach has been built on four key principles:

1. Developing A Quality Product

We’ve built Old State Staffing from the ground up, implementing the same cutting-edge recruiting tools used by the nation’s largest family offices. Historically inaccessible to smaller clients, these tools improve the tracking and management of talent, utilize machine learning for smarter searches, and intuitively compare compensation and qualification benchmarks both regionally and nationally. This allows us to find and match families with the best candidates quicker and more efficiently than ever before.

2. Building A Great Team

We knew from the start that our team would be our greatest differentiator. That’s because our agency is composed entirely of family office professionals who know what exceptional candidates look like; because we’ve applied to, managed, and hired for each of those positions ourselves.

3. Creating Meaningful Relationships

Building and maintaining relationships is important today, more than ever before. We place immense value on our relationships, not just with our clients, but our candidates, and the community at large. We spent our “pandemic years” building partnerships with local universities, to open the doors of private staffing to recent college graduates in the most educated metropolitan area in the world.

4. Refusing To Settle

Change is inevitable, yet private staffing has historically lagged in both hiring and employment standards. We’ve always been disruptors, first to adopt AI and machine learning—ensuring smarter, faster, more accurate matches for our clients.


We know that choosing an agency is a personal decision, and we’re honored for the time you have spent considering us as a partner in your search. If you haven’t spoken to us yet, let me be the first to say that we can’t wait to introduce you to our contacts, to guide you through the hiring process, and to introduce you to the perfect candidate. We know the stakes are high, but so are the rewards. With Old State Staffing you’ll be empowered to make informed, meaningful hiring decisions, so you can continue to thrive in a world that’s spinning faster every day.

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Adam Cook
Founder & Managing Director

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