Event Held on "Processing of Employees' Personal Health Data" as Part of the Decent Work Series
In the twenty-third session of the “Decent Work Series” organized by Ibn Haldun University UHAM; the protection of employee personal health data in employment relationships, recent legal regulations, the limits of explicit consent in asymmetric employment relationships, the legal status of workplace physicians, the confidentiality of health data in personnel files, and wearable technologies alongside AI-assisted OHS applications were comprehensively discussed from a “decent work” perspective.
The twenty-third session of the “Decent Work Series,” organized by Ibn Haldun University International Law and Human Rights Research and Application Center (UHAM), was held online on Thursday, August 13, 2026. In the session titled “Processing of Employees' Personal Health Data from a Decent Work Perspective,” the conditions and boundaries for processing employees' health data—one of the most contemporary issues at the intersection of labor law and data protection legislation—were thoroughly discussed.
The event was moderated by Prof. Dr. Burcu Savaş Kutsal (Faculty Member at Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Law, Department of Labour and Social Security Law), while Dr. Şelen Kolan İmir participated as the keynote speaker. During the event, the concepts of personal data and special category health data were clarified, and the impact of current legal regulations on working life was evaluated. Highlighting that explicit consent alone does not always provide a sufficient legal basis due to the dependency relationship between employee and employer, the importance of adhering to the principles of proportionality and data minimization during data processing was emphasized.
In the session examining occupational health and safety processes, the legal status and scope of responsibility of workplace physicians—acting as key figures—were evaluated. It was stated that employers should not have direct access to medical diagnosis information in medical leave reports, that diagnosis details in reports must be masked, and that health data in personnel files must be stored with restricted access in accordance with medical confidentiality principles. Finally, the role of wearable technologies and AI-assisted applications in accident prevention, along with the risks of algorithmic management, were addressed. Emphasizing the necessity of protecting employee privacy and physical integrity to ensure a decent working environment, practical challenges and potential solution proposals were discussed.
The event was broadcast live on UHAM’s official YouTube channel.
For those who missed the event and wish to watch it again: Processing of Employees' Personal Health Data from a Decent Work Perspective
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