Ignacio García-Perrote is a lawyer in Uría Menéndez’s Madrid office and head of the firm’s Labour Practice Area. He joined as partner in1999. He is a chaired professor of labour and social security law at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) and a regular speaker and commentator at law seminars and conferences pertaining to his field of expertise. Ignacio has published numerous legal publications.

Ignacio is regarded as an expert in employment law in Spain by the main international legal directories (Chambers Global, Global Counsel 3000, European Legal Experts, etc.).

He is the coeditor of the “Revista de Derecho del Trabajo y de la Seguridad Social” and of the “Revista de Información Laboral”. He has also been an arbitrator of the Interconfederal Service of Mediation and Arbitration (SIMA) since it was founded in 1997.

Ignacio is a founder member, and former president, of the Foro Español de Laboralistas (FORELAB). He was a lawyer of the Spanish Constitutional Court from 1989 to1991 and from 1995 to 1999 (in the latter instance he was directly appointed by the Court President). He was awarded the medal of the Constitutional Court.

Ignacio’s professional experience includes all areas of labour law, and he is particularly known for his legal opinions and contentious work before the labour courts and in large labour negotiations.

He advises on corporate restructurings, collective bargaining agreement negotiations, and redundancy and collective dismissal procedures. He also advises on proceedings before the Labour Chamber of the National Court and redundancy procedures regulated by insolvency law.

 

Abstract

The right to the protection of personal data has a significant impact on the employment relationships of the member states of the European Union and, consequently, of Spain. This right is acknowledged in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and in the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 (GDPR), that has turned into the universal reference in this matter.

Organic Law 3/2018 of 5 December, on Data Protection and digital rights, is the Spanish statute that transposes the GDPR. Until now, the absence of an express regulatory framework that deal with the employment aspects of these rights was covered by the rulings of the Constitutional Court and of the Labour Chamber of the Supreme Court, as well as by leading cases of the European Court of Human Rights.

Under the light of these precedents, the presentation will examine the “employment manifestations” of the digital rights regulated under the Organic Law 3/2018. Among others, it will analyse the use of digital devices by employees and their control by employers, the new “digital disconnection” right, surveillance cameras and other recordings in the workplace, geolocation systems, whistleblowing schemes and the role of collective bargaining.

The presentation will pay special attention to the companies’ information obligations, the preparation of guidelines on the use digital devices and corporate policies on employees’ digital rights.