My kids are pretty entrepreneurial (at least some of them are). They run a pretty successful local business. They make more than their teachers make.
They’ve also invented all kinds of contracts.
Contracts buyers sign.
Contracts anyone working for the business sign.
If only they weren’t so messy and didn’t leave their piles of contracts on my workbench!
People ask me all the time for an NDA they can use with their OFS.
Along with this they ask “Can you enforce an NDA?”
The short answer is no.
Any contract that involves people outside of US jurisdiction can be hard or impossible to enforce. That includes an NDA or a non-disclosure agreement.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still have an NDA if you want your OFS to sign one. Nor should it put you off from hiring an OFS.
If your business has proprietary information, getting your OFS to sign an NDA would be a good idea, even if the NDA isn’t easily enforceable in the Philippines.
For your OFS, signing an NDA means a lot to them because of their culture.
The Philippines has a very high power-distance index (https://johnjonas.com/why-your-ofs-sometimes-work-mindlessly-power-distance-index/). They respect authority and contracts with their authority figures. Signing a contract means they’re giving you their word that they will abide by that agreement and they will do whatever it takes to keep that contract.
Enforcing is difficult, but just signing the NDA will likely have the effect you want.
Also, enforcing a contract in the Philippines is difficult but not impossible.
If you hired your OFS through Onlinejobs.ph and there’s proof that they broke the contract, you can contact us for mediation.
If they stole information (which is rare), you could contact the Philippines’ Department of Justice. Theft of information counts as a cybercrime that falls under their jurisdiction.
We can’t give legal advice, but you can pretty easily hire a lawyer in the Philippines from OnlineJobs.ph. You could use them to draft a contract that’s enforceable in the Philippines while following how the law is interpreted in your country. Or use them in prosecuting if someone breaks the contract.
Or we have contracts available here:
www.OnlineJobs.ph/hiringdocs
John