Right of Access (former privacy code) and disciplinary procedure: Which information the employer must provide to the worker
By Damiana Lesce and Valeria De Lucia
Privacy legislation coincides with the rules governing employment relationship in many occasions, such as disciplinary reprimand. Therefore, it is evident that the employer’s exercise of disciplinary power must be exercised not only by respecting the art. 2106 cod. civ. and the Workers’ Statute, but also by following the rules governing the protection of personal data.
Among the parts regarding the disciplinary procedure, it is relevant to mention the so-called right of access (Art. 7 Privacy Code), according to which the worker can have access to the file of the disciplinary procedure and know all the information inside it concerning him/her.
The documents, possessed by the employer, relating events of the employment relationship – either governed by the Law (the payroll books) or required by the business organization – flow into the creation of an archive which can be subject of administrative inspections and can be consulted by the worker, too. In the case put in examination – with decision on April 12, 2007 – concerning information about the origin of the data used in the disciplinary reprimand, the Privacy Guarantor stated that: “the data controller may legitimately satisfy the request to know the origin of the data by indicating (…) only the roles, the categories, the offices of the company from which the reports of our interest had been made, and without indicating the identity of the individuals who have materially performed them.
According to art. 7 of the Privacy Code, the involved person has the right to know the origin of the data concerning him/her, but does not have the right to personally access the data referred to third parties. ”
