By decision of June 8, 2022, amended by preliminary appeal decision of July 29, 2022, the data protection authority had to deal with the question of which parts of a civil servant’s appraisal interview may be included in the personnel file in accordance with the Civil Service Act
The complainant, a civil servant employed by the federal government under public law, had discovered during an inspection of his personnel file that his department had included in his personnel file the minutes of the results of the first parts of several staff appraisals held in recent years.
According to § 45a para. 1 BDG, the supervisor directly entrusted with professional supervision must conduct an employee interview with each of his or her employees once a year. This is composed in accordance with para. 2 leg. cit. composed of two parts. Although the results of both parts are to be summarized in writing and the result protocol of the second part is to be included in the personnel file, one copy each of the result of the first part is to remain with the employee and his superior and may not be passed on. The inclusion of the minutes of the results of the first part of the interviews in the complainant’s personal file thus constituted a violation of the right to confidentiality.
The decision is legally binding.
Source: DSB Austria