Do I need the consent of the employee to the processing of his personal data?

To begin with, among the experts there are two polar points of view on this issue. Thus, some experts believe that the employer is not obliged to obtain the consent (permission) of employees to process their personal data (PD), provided that the employer uses the PD solely for the purpose of exercising the rights and fulfilling obligations in the field of labor relations in accordance with the law with the provision of appropriate data protection. The grounds for such a conclusion they see in paragraph 5 of Part 1 of Art. 11 Law of Ukraine “On the protection of personal data” of 01.06.2010, No. 2297-VI.

We take a cautious approach. In our opinion, it’s safer to get the employee’s consent to process his PD. The fact is that Part 6 of Art. 6 of Law No. 2297 does not allow the processing of data on an individual who is confidential information without his consent. The only exceptions are cases defined by law, and only in the interests of national security, economic well-being and human rights.

Thus, in view of the existing uncertainty in the provisions of the regulatory legal acts, it is better to obtain the consent of the “newcomer” to the processing of his PD. This can be done in one of two ways:

- include the corresponding clause in the employment contract, if it is concluded in writing. (we will remind: the list of cases when the written form of the labor contract is obligatory, is given in article 24 of the Labor Code);

- or formalize a separate document.

Also, it will not be superfluous to familiarize the employee under the signature with legal guarantees in the field of personal data protection.