NEWSLETTER-2017

336 NEWSLETTER 2017 Employer’s Right to Govern and Personal Data Management* Att. Yesim Tokgoz In our previous article, we mentioned the need to protect private life and personal data, as almost everywhere is set up with cameras, as well as the method to provide this privacy within the scope of the Labor Law 1 . In this article, we shed light on the scope of employers’ rights to govern, and evaluated several systems that employers have implemented in order to regulate the code of conduct in their work- places, in regard to breaches of employees’ private lives and personal data protection rights. The Scope of Employers’ Rights to Govern Through the dependency factor of employment contracts, em- ployees have the duty of loyalty and are under the obligation to obey their employers’ instructions. As a result of these obligations, employ- ers shall rule the workplace and form regulations in order to establish working conditions and environment. Employers create this organiza- tion as a result of their right to govern. Within this scope, for example, employers determine rules regarding workplaces’ entrances and exits, the usage of dressing rooms, parking, eating, resting places, sport halls, smoking areas, action plans in the case of emergency, etc. They can even forbid smoking 2 . However, all of these regulations cannot be against the Constitutional Law, mandatory rules of laws, provisions of collective and individual employment contracts, and workplace practices. In addition, they shall protect the health of their employees, safety of the workplace, with the intent to manage the workplace in * Article of September 2017 1 For detailed information please see: http://www.erdem-erdem.av.tr/publications/ newsletter/protection-of-personal-data-within-the-scope-of-labor-law/ (Accessed on 05.10.2017). 2 Prof. Dr. Sarper Süzek, İş Hukuku, 3. Bası, Beta Yayınları, İstanbul 2006.