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"All information about employees!" In practice, this is what works councils often request from employers. Works councils have a legitimate interest in being involved in HR developments. However, personal employee data is usually a taboo for the works council. Sharing more information than necessary with the works council may result in severe consequences for companies.
Personal employee data may only be shared with the works council if there is an explicit legal basis for doing so. Without such a legal basis, information must not be disclosed and corresponding requests for information from the works council must be rejected. The provisions of the Austrian Labour Constitution Act provide information on what data may be shared with the works council. This includes, for example, salary information, working time records, planned terminations and reasons for employee transfers. Employers should therefore ensure that they have legal permission for the specific purpose before disclosing any data to the works council.
There is a range of information that generally lacks a legal basis for disclosure. This information must not be shared with the works council, even upon an explicit request from the works council. This includes the following, for example:
To avoid data protection violations and any resulting penalties and lawsuits, we recommend checking the following points before sharing employee data with the works council:
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