New FAQs: Your questions from our recent GDPR webinar answered

We answer some of the questions raised by participants in our recent webinar: Processing without consent - taking a deeper dive into the GDPR.

Many employers have asked employees for their consent to process their personal data as a matter of course. They have relied on a standard consent clause in employment contracts for a broad range of processing activities. We now know that employers are going to have to do things differently under the new GDPR regime.

The GDPR makes it clear that when an employer asks an employee to consent to the processing of his or her personal data, the imbalance of power in the relationship means that consent is unlikely to be valid. There are some situations in which employers will be able to rely on their employees' consent, but these are limited.

Employers need to get used to the idea that asking for consent will be the exception rather than the rule when it comes to processing employee data. They will need to be able to identify an alternative legal basis for their HR processing activities.

These FAQs look at the practical implications for employers of the rules on consent under the GDPR. This is an area that has been of particular concern for employers as they get to grips with the new rules. These questions were all raised by participants in our recent webinar:

In addition to these new FAQs, we have already published answers to many more GDPR questions, including:

To view all our FAQs on preparing for the GDPR, go to FAQs > Data protection > General Data Protection Regulation.