{"id":14817,"date":"2023-11-24T06:00:10","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T06:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/letslaw.es\/?p=14817"},"modified":"2023-11-14T17:13:52","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T17:13:52","slug":"health-surveillance-and-gdpr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/letslaw.es\/en\/health-surveillance-and-gdpr\/","title":{"rendered":"Health surveillance and GDPR: what can my employer know about my health status?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Workplace health surveillance<\/strong> involves collecting and analyzing data about employees’ health to ensure a safe and healthy working environment. These practices often include medical examinations, sickness records, and other health-related data of employees.<\/p>\n

However, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) establishes regulatory obligations that employers must adhere to when collecting and using employees’ health data.<\/p>\n

In this blog post, we will clarify what data employers can access and what they cannot.<\/p>\n

Key aspects of GDPR regarding health surveillance<\/h2>\n

As mentioned earlier, the Occupational Risk Prevention Law<\/strong> and its implementing regulations impose on companies the obligation to carry out a set of activities to prevent or reduce work-related risks. To fulfill this duty, it is necessary to process personal data of employees.<\/p>\n

In this specific case, the processing of personal data concerning risk prevention is justified by the existence of a contractual relationship that requires data processing. The employment contract<\/strong>, along with compliance with legal obligations established in the Employment Act and the Occupational Risk Prevention Law, forms the legal basis for data processing.<\/p>\n

However, this obligation of the employer in health surveillance does not mean that employees have to undergo medical examinations, as they are generally voluntary. The employee must give consent, except in the following scenarios:<\/p>\n