Workplace Investigations

Article 13 of the Constitution of the PRC provides that the lawful private property of the citizens shall not be violated. Therefore, during the process of investigation, without the employees' consent, the employer has no right to search the employees' personal possessions or files. If it is necessary to search the employees' personal possessions or files, the employer may require the employees to sign a Letter of Informed Consent before searching; or the employer may call the police and the search will be conducted under the escort of the public security authorities or directly by the public security authorities.

Only the police can search employees' possessions (assuming that the prerequisites outlined in the legislation are met).

Although there are no specific laws or regulations regulating the extent of confidentiality obligation employers or the investigators shall comply with, in practice, the confidentiality obligation of both parties usually originates from the confidentiality agreement between the employee and the employer, as well as general provisions on protection of personal information and right of privacy, etc.

In this regard, it is advisable to require the relevant personnel responsible for handling the suspension for investigation to sign a confidentiality agreement or a letter of commitment, and require them to pay attention to the protection of the personal information and privacy of the complainant and other relevant personnel, for the purpose of avoiding extra losses caused by the occurrence of disputes relating to right of reputation, right of privacy and personal information leakage during the investigation.

Concerning a workplace investigation, there is no specific legislation in force at the moment regarding confidentiality obligations. All normal legal confidentiality obligations (eg, obligations outlined in the Trade Secrets Act (595/2018)), and if using an external investigator, the confidentiality obligations outlined in the agreement between the employer and the external investigator, apply. Attorneys-at-law always have strict confidentiality obligations as per the Advocates Act (496/1958).