> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://handbook.helendelovely.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What Survives Employment

> Confidentiality lasts forever. There is no non-compete. What else applies after you leave.

## Confidentiality survives

Your obligation to protect client information doesn't end when your employment does. Everything you learned about clients here stays confidential, permanently, under HIPAA, Utah law, your professional ethics, and the confidentiality agreement you signed. That means:

* No discussing clients, even without names, in ways that could identify them
* No taking client information with you, in any form
* No contacting clients using information you got here
* Responding to any subpoena or request about a former client by referring it to the practice

The same applies to the practice's confidential business information: financials, systems, contracts, and the like.

## There is no non-compete

Utah law (the Post-Employment Restrictions Act, Utah Code § 34-51, as amended effective May 6, 2026) prohibits non-compete agreements for licensed healthcare workers, including LCSWs, CSWs, and other mental health therapists. The practice does not impose one, and no agreement you sign here contains one. If you find language that looks like a non-compete in anything you're asked to sign, don't sign it; bring it to Helen.

You're free to practice wherever you choose after you leave, including in Salt Lake City, including at another practice, including on your own.

## No non-solicitation clause either

Utah law still allows narrow non-solicitation agreements for healthcare workers (Utah Code § 34-51-102(8)), but it voids any clause that would prevent you from telling a client where you now or will work (§ 34-51-203), and it makes an employer that tries to enforce an unenforceable clause liable for the employee's fees and damages (§ 34-51-301). **The practice has decided not to use a non-solicitation clause at all.** Nothing you sign here contains one.

What the practice does ask, as a matter of ethics and of the client-transition process on the next page: don't use practice systems, practice client lists, or practice time to recruit clients to follow you, and let the client-transition conversation happen through the practice's process so clients get a real choice with full information.

## Clients who want to follow you

Clients have the right to choose their therapist. If a client asks where you're going, you may tell them. The practice's process for transitions is designed to make sure the client hears their options, including staying with the practice, continuing with you elsewhere, or a referral, and makes an informed decision. See [Return of property and client transition](/leaving/return-of-property-and-client-transition).

## Records

Client records stay with the practice. If a client transfers to you elsewhere, they can request a copy of their record through the practice's release process, the same as any client.

## Practice property and materials

Anything created for the practice during your employment (templates, documents, content, systems work) belongs to the practice. Your clinical knowledge, skills, and general experience are yours.

## Your acknowledgment

The acknowledgment you signed at hire confirms you understand these obligations. They don't expire.