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RGPD

Article 88

Processing in the context of employment

1.   Member States may, by law or by collective agreements, provide for more specific rules to ensure the protection of the rights and freedoms in respect of the processing of employees' personal data in the employment context, in particular for the purposes of the recruitment, the performance of the contract of employment, including discharge of obligations laid down by law or by collective agreements, management, planning and organisation of work, equality and diversity in the workplace, health and safety at work, protection of employer's or customer's property and for the purposes of the exercise and enjoyment, on an individual or collective basis, of rights and benefits related to employment, and for the purpose of the termination of the employment relationship.

2.   Those rules shall include suitable and specific measures to safeguard the data subject's human dignity, legitimate interests and fundamental rights, with particular regard to the transparency of processing, the transfer of personal data within a group of undertakings, or a group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity and monitoring systems at the work place.

3.   Each Member State shall notify to the Commission those provisions of its law which it adopts pursuant to paragraph 1, by 25 May 2018 and, without delay, any subsequent amendment affecting them.

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Article 88 allow Member States to do?
Article 88 lets Member States lay down more specific rules, by law or by collective agreements, to protect employees' rights and freedoms when their personal data are processed in the employment context. In other words, the GDPR leaves room for national legislation and collective agreements to spell out in more detail how employee data may be handled at work.
Which employment purposes can these more specific rules cover?

Article 88(1) names the purposes in particular:

  • recruitment and the performance of the employment contract, including obligations laid down by law or by collective agreements
  • management, planning and organisation of work
  • equality and diversity in the workplace
  • health and safety at work
  • protection of the employer's or customer's property
  • the exercise and enjoyment, individually or collectively, of rights and benefits related to employment
  • the termination of the employment relationship
What safeguards must national rules on employee data include?
They must include suitable and specific measures to safeguard the data subject's human dignity, legitimate interests and fundamental rights. Article 88(2) calls for particular regard to the transparency of processing, the transfer of personal data within a group of undertakings or a group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity, and monitoring systems at the workplace.
Did Member States have to notify anyone about these national rules?
Yes. Under Article 88(3), each Member State had to notify the Commission of the provisions of its law adopted under paragraph 1 by 25 May 2018. Any subsequent amendment affecting those provisions must be notified without delay.
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