Short answer: Employee data refers to personal information that employers are legally required to protect under GDPR. This includes both standard details like name and job title, as well as more sensitive data such as health information, union membership, and national ID numbers. Proper handling requires clear procedures, secure systems, and transparency with employees — from recruitment to termination.
How much employee data do you store?
Does your business collect employee data? As an employer, you must evaluate people’s qualifications, support the team’s well-being, ensure workplace safety, manage salaries, benefits and sick days, as well as comply with legal requirements. In order to do all this properly, you must collect personal data. Let’s talk about the data you store about your employees and how to make sure you handle it in a manner that protects their privacy and complies with data regulations like GDPR.
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Which types of employee data are there?
Let’s review some of the highly personal information you may store about your employees:
- Financial information. For example, you may collect bank account details for direct deposit of wages, tax information, and information related to benefits such as retirement plans.
- Insurance information. Details about insurance plans an employee is enrolled in, as well as their coverage levels and dependents.
- Background checks and criminal history: Background checks that include criminal history, credit history, driving records, and verification of professional licenses or certifications.
- Education and qualifications: For instance, degrees, certifications, diplomas, and any specialised training or skills relevant to the job.
- Pre-recruitment and annual examinations. Records of medical exams you require to ensure a person can meet or continue to meet the physical demands of their job.
- Sick leave management data. If an employee requests sick days or leave for doctor’s appointments or medical treatments, then you may still have those medical records.
- Parental leave. Any information related to pregnancy/birth you collected when processing requests for parental leave.
- Other absences. Requests to work part-time or take leave, for example, to care for a seriously ill or disabled family member, make funeral arrangements, etc.
- Workplace injury or illness records. For example, any work-related injuries or illnesses that occur on the job.
- Drug and alcohol test results. Any results from drug and alcohol testing you require for safety-sensitive work or as part of a general workplace policy.
- Health screenings and assessments. Data from voluntary health assessments as well as screenings from any wellness programs you provide.
- Fitness or wellness program participation. Information about an employee’s engagement in workplace wellness initiatives.
- Immunisation records. Records of vaccinations or antigen/antibodies tests if you require them in the workplace, especially during disease outbreaks.
- Employee assistance programs data. For instance, records of an employee’s participation in any counseling or support services you offer.
- Occupational health records. Health-related information specific to an employee’s work environment or occupational health risks.
Meanwhile, what about your emails and general communications with your employees? Often, people casually share personal information about themselves and even about their family members. Therefore, you should clean out your inboxes regularly. Otherwise, you could have tons of highly sensitive information about your employees floating around in them, at risk of leaks and breaches.
Stop the GDPR monster before it gets its hold of your personal data
Employee data is personal information
Information about an employee’s physical or mental health, medical history, diagnoses, or treatments falls under the category of sensitive personal data under the GDPR. This type of data is given special protection because it can reveal intimate and personal aspects of a person’s life — and that’s precisely why stricter requirements apply to how such data is handled and safeguarded. The General Data Protection Regulation sets out specific obligations for how companies collect, store, and manage employee data. Given the sensitive nature of this information and your legal responsibility, it’s essential to have clear processes and sound practices in place — from collection to deletion.
Read more about processing personal data in accordance with the GDPR here.
Need help managing personal data?
In our newsletter you get tips and tricks for dealing with privacy management from our founder Sebastian Allerelli.
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How to keep employee data private
You have a legal responsibility to handle personal information in a confidential and secure manner. Additionally, employees have rights regarding their personal information, including the right to access and correct their own records.
So, how can you comply with these requirements? To begin with, let your employees know the types of data you collect from them and how you will use it. Then, make sure you keep it safe. Here are a few things you must do to keep employee data private:
- Regularly inventory the employee data you store.
- Check that all locations where you store employee data are secure.
- Set up access controls so that only authorised employees can view others’ data.
- Use encryption when you need to share or request personal data.
- Only use employee data if you still need it for the purposes for which you collected it.
- Set limits for how long you will keep employee data.
- Delete what you no longer need in order to minimise risk.
- Educate employees about the importance of safeguarding their colleagues’ information.
It all starts with finding out how much data you have and where you store it. Then, keep track of data to make sure it does not linger unprotected in your systems and inboxes. Certainly, taking inventory of employee data can be a daunting task. However, automated tools can help.
FAQ about employee data
1. Which types of employee data are considered most sensitive?
Health information, trade union membership, and details about religion or ethnicity are classified as sensitive personal data. These require a clear legal basis for processing, typically explicit consent or a legal obligation.
2. Can we keep data on former employees after they leave?
Yes – but only to the extent necessary, for example for proof of past employment or legal compliance. Make sure to delete redundant data regularly and define a clear data retention policy.
3. How can we ensure GDPR compliance in daily operations?
Map out what data you collect and why. Clearly inform employees. Use secure systems for storage and access control. Pay special attention when using cloud services, email, and file sharing.
4. Can HR send sensitive data via email?
Only if secure solutions are used – such as encrypted emails or approved file-sharing tools. Avoid sending national ID numbers or health information via regular email.
Get started with handling employee data correctly
Identifying how much employee data you hold — and where it is stored — can be nearly impossible to do manually. It is time-consuming, inaccurate and makes it difficult to ensure that personal data is handled correctly under GDPR.
At Safe Online, we offer a GDPR Risk Assessment that quickly gives you a clear overview of employee data across your systems. The assessment identifies documents, emails and files that contain employee information, and highlights where your biggest risks are.
Learn more
Sebastian Allerelli
Founder & COO at Safe Online
Sebastian is the co-founder and COO of Safe Online, where he focuses on automating processes and developing innovative solutions within data protection and compliance. With a background from Copenhagen Business Academy and experience within identity and access management, he has a keen understanding of GDPR and data security. As a writer on Safe Online's Knowledge Hub, Sebastian shares his expertise through practical advice and in-depth analysis that help companies navigate the complex GDPR landscape. His posts combine technical insight with business understanding and provide concrete solutions for effective compliance.
