diff --git a/basics/README.adoc b/basics/README.adoc
index ad02f3a..6c76223 100644
--- a/basics/README.adoc
+++ b/basics/README.adoc
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ The cornerstone of any example is the domain object:
 ----
 @Data
 @Entity
-@NoArgsConstructor
+@NoArgsConstructor(access = AccessLevel.PRIVATE)
 @AllArgsConstructor
 @JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown = true)
 class Employee implements Identifiable<Long> {
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ This domain object includes:
 
 * `@Data` - Lombok annotation to define a mutable value object
 * `@Entity` - JPA annotation to make the object storagable in a classic SQL engine (H2 in this example)
-* `@NoArgsConstructor` - Lombok annotation to create an empty constructor call to appease Jackson.
+* `@NoArgsConstructor(PRIVATE)` - Lombok annotation to create an empty constructor call to appease Jackson, but which is private and not usable to our app's code.
 * `@AllArgsConstructor` - Lombok annotation to create an all-arg constructor for certain test scenarios
 * `@JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown=true)` - Jackson annotation to ignore unknown attributes when deserializing JSON.
 
diff --git a/basics/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/examples/Employee.java b/basics/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/examples/Employee.java
index 20fbf4a..82d5bfd 100644
--- a/basics/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/examples/Employee.java
+++ b/basics/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/examples/Employee.java
@@ -15,14 +15,15 @@
  */
 package org.springframework.hateoas.examples;
 
-import javax.persistence.Entity;
-import javax.persistence.GeneratedValue;
-import javax.persistence.Id;
-
+import lombok.AccessLevel;
 import lombok.AllArgsConstructor;
 import lombok.Data;
 import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;
 
+import javax.persistence.Entity;
+import javax.persistence.GeneratedValue;
+import javax.persistence.Id;
+
 import org.springframework.hateoas.Identifiable;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonIgnoreProperties;
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonIgnoreProperties;
  */
 @Data
 @Entity
-@NoArgsConstructor
+@NoArgsConstructor(access = AccessLevel.PRIVATE)
 @AllArgsConstructor
 @JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown = true)
 class Employee implements Identifiable<Long> {