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Data protection for employees under Polish law

Employee monitoring

The Data Protection Act amends the provisions of the Labor Code regulating CCTV and the monitoring of e-mail (Art. 111 Data Protection Act).

Closed circuit television (CCTV)

CCTV in the area of the workplace or around the workplace is allowed if necessary to protect employees or property, production control or confidential information. In principle, it is not allowed to monitor sanitary rooms, cloakrooms, canteens, smoking areas or rooms made available to trade unions. The CCTV recordings must be processed exclusively for the purposes for which they have been collected, and their retention is limited to three months.

The employer must inform the employees about the CCTV at least two weeks before it is launched. In case of new employees, the employer must provide the information on the purposes and scope of CCTV in writing. The recorded areas must be indicated and the appropriate visible and legible notices must be given at least 1 day before the CCTV’s launch.

E-mail monitoring

Monitoring of the employee’s professional e-mail is allowed if necessary to ensure the organization of work, to enable the full use of work time and to ensure the proper use of working tools. Such monitoring must not violate the confidentiality of correspondence and other personal rights of an employee.

DPIA list of the Polish supervisory authorities

The proposed DPIA list includes many activities in the employment context, for example:

  • Monitoring of working time and IT systems
  • Processing of employee biometric data
  • Employee productivity-assessment systems

The full list (in Polish) is available at: https://giodo.gov.pl/pl/file/13366

Unofficial translation in English: https://iapp.org/media/pdf/resource_center/Mandatory-DPIA-Poland-klattorneys.pdf

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