Covid-19 GDPR Guide To Employers

The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has forced governments to take measures that pose exceptional limitations to individual's rights and freedoms for the benefit of public safety. Companies on the other hand are asked to employ best practices in relation to hygiene and are asked to protect the workplace from health hazards, and for this, they are requesting the provision of certain personal information from their employees such as whether the employees have recently travelled, and in certain cases medical information such as symptoms and medical examinations which relate to the virus. However, do employers have a legal right to process such information which in ordinary circumstances would be a violation of the right of privacy of the employee.