LGS Handling Ltd, Louis Travel Ltd, and Louis Aviation Ltd ("the Louis Company Group")

The Commissioner launched an investigation after a complaint was lodged by the employees’ trade union.<br /><br />The reasoning behind Bradford's Factor automated system for scoring employees' sick leave was that short, frequent, and unplanned absences lead to a higher disorganising of the company rather than longer absences.<br /><br />The date and the frequency of a sick leave relating to an individual, insofar as his or her identity is directly or indirectly disclosed, entail the processing of "special categories of personal data", as defined under Article 9(1) of the GDPR. Providing personal data to an automated system, scoring the data using 'Bradford Factor', and profiling individuals based on the results, is considered as processing of personal data; therefore such a processing operation needs to be in line with the principles defined in the GDPR.<br /><br />The controller carried out an impact assessment of the processing operation, and it was submitted to the Commissioner for consultation during the investigation. The Commissioner was of the opinion that the controller failed to demonstrate through the impact assessment that its legitimate interest prevailed over the interests, rights and freedoms of its employees and consequently the mitigation of the risks was inadequate.<br /> After assessing all the elements gathered for the purpose of the investigation, the Commissioner decided that such processing operation had no legal basis. Primarily, it had not been established that the legitimate interest of the controller overrides the interests, rights and freedoms of its employees, which would enable the controller to rely on article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR. Likewise, none of the provisions of Article 9(2) of the GDPR would apply in this case, enabling the controller to process health data of employees.<br /><br />The controller, as the employer, was entitled to supervise the frequency of sick leaves and the validity of sick leaves certificates. However, such a perquisite should not lead to mishandling and should be applied within the limits set by the relevant legislative framework.