After the termination of an employment relationship, both employees and employers regularly face the question of to what extent personal data may continue to be stored—especially when sensitive information such as warnings in the personnel file is involved. In its judgment of March 14, 2024 (Ref: 9 Sa 73/21), the Baden-Württemberg Regional Labor Court intensively addressed the data protection law claim for the removal of a warning from the personnel file after the end of the employment relationship, thereby providing important clarifications regarding the relationship between labor law and data protection law.
The legal basis of personnel file management
The role of warnings in the employment relationship
Warnings are instruments for safeguarding contractual rights and serve the purpose of documenting misconduct, while giving the affected employee the opportunity to improve. During the ongoing employment relationship, warnings often retain their relevance, for example in regard to subsequent disciplinary actions or dismissals.
Data protection classification
With the departure from the company, the question arises as to the further storage of such personal data. Data protection law—particularly the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)—sets clear requirements regarding the necessity and lawfulness of storage. For employee data, the decisive factor is whether continued storage is actually still necessary or whether there is a right to deletion instead.
Decision of the Baden-Württemberg Regional Labor Court
Facts and subject of dispute
In the underlying case, after the termination of his employment, an employee requested the removal of a warning from his personnel file. The employer refused and referred to possibly existing retention obligations.
Assessment by the court
The Regional Labor Court decided that upon termination of the employment relationship, the original purpose of the warning—namely, the documentation of breaches of contractual duties and the preparation of potential further employment law steps—ceases to exist. The court found that after the employee leaves, there are no longer legally recognized reasons for further storage of the warning, unless, exceptionally, other legitimate interests—such as in connection with ongoing legal disputes or statutory retention requirements—apply. Otherwise, the warning must be removed from the personnel file, with the data protection law right to erasure derived from Art. 17 GDPR.
Differentiation: When may data continue to be retained?
Exceptional cases and legitimate interests
The court expressly left open whether, in individual cases, legitimate interests of the employer—such as in cases of ongoing legal disputes or statutory retention requirements—might preclude immediate deletion. Here, the specific circumstances of the individual case are decisive, and a comprehensive balancing of interests must be carried out.
Significance for practice
For employers, this results in the necessity to carefully review personnel files after the termination of an employment relationship and, as a rule, to remove warnings if there are no particular reasons for continued storage. Employees, in turn, receive strengthened rights regarding the protection of their personal data.
Implications for personnel management and compliance
Necessity of data protection-compliant processes
Companies must ensure that, upon the termination of employment relationships, data protection-compliant processes are in place for reviewing and removing no longer necessary personnel data, in particular such data with potentially negative connotations like warnings. This is not only an employment law obligation but also a requirement under data protection law, as violations of the GDPR can result in substantial sanctions.
Relationship to other retention obligations
Personnel files are regularly also subject to co-determination, tax law, and social security retention obligations. The obligation to remove a warning after the end of the employment relationship, therefore, always exists in tension with other potential statutory provisions. A differentiated examination of the respective legal basis is a fundamental prerequisite for legally compliant personnel management processes.
Significance of the decision for employers and employees
The judgment of the Regional Labor Court underscores the significance of the principle of data minimization from Art. 5(1)(c) GDPR also in labor law. Employers are faced with an increasingly complex regulatory framework in which affected employees can assert comprehensive claims to the erasure of personal data after the end of the employment relationship.
Employees, in turn, will find their legal position strengthened and can be assured that, following termination of employment, unfounded or no longer necessary negative entries must be removed as part of their data protection law right to erasure.
Note on individual legal advice options
The judgment of the Baden-Württemberg Regional Labor Court demonstrates the central role of data protection-compliant processing of personnel data both during and after the employment relationship. Companies and private individuals facing complex questions regarding, for example, the legality of erasures or the further retention of specific documents can benefit from a careful review of current statutory and case law developments.
With regard to the ongoing dynamic developments in data protection law and labor law, the Rechtsanwälte at MTR Legal Rechtsanwälte are available for well-founded legal advice nationwide and internationally. Source reference: LAG Baden-Württemberg, judgment of 14.03.2024, Ref.: 9 Sa 73/21.
