Employee Data

Personal information about current, former, and prospective employees collected and processed by employers. This includes names, contact details, Social Security numbers, compensation information, performance reviews, benefits enrollment, time and attendance records, disciplinary actions, and workplace monitoring data. Employee data processing has special considerations because of the employment relationship's inherent power imbalance—employees may feel compelled to consent to data processing even when uncomfortable. Privacy laws require employers to balance legitimate business needs against employee privacy rights. Employers should limit collection to necessary data, provide transparency through employee privacy notices, implement appropriate security, restrict access on need-to-know basis, comply with data subject rights, and be particularly careful with monitoring and sensitive data. Special rules may apply to employee health data, union activities, and workplace monitoring.