Workplace Investigations

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).

See question 9 for the confidentiality obligations of a whistleblower response service employee.

Other than the above, there is no specific legal obligation to maintain confidentiality for persons in charge of investigations, etc. However, if the information falls under the category of confidential information obtained by employees in the course of their work, compliance is required as an obligation attached to a labour contract, and many employment regulations stipulate a duty to keep information obtained in the course of work confidential.

The employer's conclusions from the investigation.

Although there is no legal obligation to report the results of the investigation to the employee, when taking disciplinary action it is generally necessary, from a due process point of view, to explain the facts of the disciplinary action and the results of the investigation, and to allow the employee to explain him or herself. Particularly in the case of serious disciplinary actions such as dismissal, failure to provide an adequate opportunity for an explanation is a possible ground for denying the validity of the disciplinary action.