Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Fiduciary definition

What does Fiduciary mean? In legal practice, a fiduciary is a person or entity who undertakes to act for, and in the interests of, another, creating a relationship of trust and confidence that requires loyalty and selflessness. The scope and incidents of fiduciary duty are principally defined by case law in England & Wales and Northern Ireland and are closely aligned in Ireland; Scots law recognises equivalent fiduciary obligations notwithstanding its different doctrinal foundations. Some duties are partly codified for company directors (Companies Act 2006 (UK) and Companies Act 2014 (Ireland)), but fiduciary is otherwise a descriptive expression used across contexts. Core fiduciary duties...

Employee duty of fidelity and fiduciary obligations: scope, competition and preparatory acts, confidentiality, disclosure, directors’ duties, and remedies including account of profits and the Trade Secrets Regulations 2018

Published by a LexisNexis Employment expert

Practice notes

Duty of fidelity

Every employee owes their employer a duty of fidelity. This duty is often described as a Duty of good faith or loyalty. Fidelity is a wide notion, comprising several more specific obligations, some of which overlap with each other and with the duty of trust and confidence (see Practice Note: The term of trust and confidence):

to act honestly—the duty requires employees deal with their employer truthfully (refer to: Duty of fidelity—honesty, below)
not to compete—during employment, employees must not work for a rival organisation, including one they have founded (see: Duty of fidelity—competition and Duty of fidelity—Preparation to compete, below)
not to secure a secret profit—employees must not earn undisclosed profit and must hand over to the employer any sums obtained (see: Duty of fidelity—secret profit, below)
to disclose information—likewise, all information generated in the course of employment must be provided to the employer (see: Duty of fidelity—disclosure of information to employer, below)
not to misuse confidential information—any confidential information learnt during employment should be...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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