The penalty is imprisonment and a fine of up to one million dirhams
Disclosing work secrets is a crime that exposes the employee to legal accountability
Youssef Al-Sharif: “Any employee who belongs to an institution, authority, or ministry, must preserve its privacy and secrets.”
Legal Adviser Dr. Youssef Al-Sharif stated that the Rumors and Cybercrime Law tightened the penalty for disclosing work secrets, with imprisonment and a fine of up to one million dirhams, calling on employees to take caution when talking about their employers through social media, so as not to expose themselves to accountability.
Al-Sharif said, in video episodes broadcast by "Emirates Today" on its platforms to shed light on the newly issued laws, that any employee who belongs to an institution, authority or ministry, must preserve its privacy and secrets, which are seen by that employee because of or on the occasion of his work, and this saying applies to workers in the private sector.
He explained what is meant by preserving the privacy of the entity and its secrets, explaining that the employee, from the reality of his location and workplace, learns about the privacy of this entity and the way it works and gets to know its secrets. The law did not distinguish between a big secret and a small secret, and decided that the employee, whether he was a public employee, or an employee in the private sector, must be obligated to maintain the secrets of his employer, as the Human Resources Law stipulated the commitment of the public employee to this matter, while the Labor Law stipulated that regarding employee in the private sector.
Al-Sharif indicated that the legislator decided in Article (45) of this law to be punished by imprisonment for a period of no less than six months, and a fine of no less than 200,000 dirhams and not more than one million dirhams, or one of these two penalties, whoever disclosed confidential information, On the occasion of, or because of his work, or by virtue of his profession or trade, using an information technology means, without being authorized to disclose it, or without the person concerned in the secret permission to disclose or use it.
He stressed that the employee should be careful in dealing in such circumstances, given the possibility of speaking about matters related to his work, but with the consent of the person concerned, meaning the person responsible for these secrets and privacy, suggesting in such cases that this be under a written mandate or order for the employee.
He pointed out that the second clause of this article states that if the offender uses this information for his own benefit, or for the benefit of another person, this is considered an aggravating circumstance, explaining that this means that the person has disclosed the secret to achieve a purpose belonging to him, whether by harming his work, or to benefit Others, and here the suspicion of bribery or intermediary arises, so the legislator tightened the penalty for this situation.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news