NEWSLETTER-2017

337 PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION line with the field of activity. Meanwhile, they may not breach the personal rights of their employees. In accordance with established Court of Cassation decisions, the existence of provisions that grant employers the right to amend the working conditions in an employment contract means that the employ- ers have extended their right to govern. To this end, employers gain the right to change the working conditions, such as the working place, within the scope of the employment contract without the employees’ consents. In addition, in extraordinary situations, or in the event of emergencies, the right to govern may be broadly interpreted. In these cases, employees can be instructed to work overtime and/or in mis- sions other than their usual duties. However, employers may not abuse this right by executing these contract provisions with the purpose to terminate the contract. This abuse will enable employees to seek remedies for termination without just cause. It should be emphasized that the courts are not competent to judge whether the decisions of the employers are feasible or not, as the employers may take the necessary precautions related to their busi- ness courses, and/or amend the working conditions to increase perfor- mance. Within this point, there is a very fine line between the right to govern and the amendment made in the working conditions without the obligation to obtain the employees’ consents 3 . The key part of this distinction is not to fundamentally change the previous situation of the employees, and/or not to aggravate their working conditions 4 . Employer’s Interference in their Employees’ Private Lives and Personal Data Employees’ information, such as identity, address, occupation, criminal record, religion, political or union activities, health and disease status, fingerprint, telephone number, photos, electronic cor- respondences, etc., is deemed as personal data to be protected 5 . By the 3 Please see the decision of General Chamber of Court of Cassation dated 12.04.2017, numbered 2014/7-2461 E., 2017/719 K. in the relevant matter. 4 Please see the decision of 22nd Chamber of Court of Cassation dated 24.04.2017, numbered 2017/32194 E., 2017/9305 K. in the relevant matter. 5 Prof. Dr. Sarper Süzek, İş Hukuku, 3 rd ed., Beta Yayınları, İstanbul, 2006.