1. Last update of this record: 07/11/2023

2. Reference number: 3/2019

Ref. Ares(2024)1188383 - 16/02/2024

3. Name and contact details of the controller:

European Ombudsman, 1 avenue du Président Robert Schuman, CS 30403, F-67001 Strasbourg Cedex.

Contacts

- EOethics-Brussels@ombudsman.europa.eu- or EOethics-Strasbourg@ombudsman.europa.eu

- conciliation committee: Eoconciliationcommittee@ombudsman.europa.eu

4. Name and contact details of the Data Protection Officer:

Functional e-mail address: Dpo-Euro-Ombudsman@ombudsman.europa.eu

5. Name and contact details of the processor:

N/A

6. Name and contact details of the joint controller(s):

The European Parliament’s Medical Service: two doctors (one holder/one substitute) are members of the Ombudsman’s Conciliation Committee in charge of leading the conciliation procedure, following a request by a staff member who feels he/she is a victim of harassment

Emails: denis.gillet@europarl.europa.eu and luc.vandenitte@europarl.europa.eu

7. Purpose(s) of the processing:

To prevent and to deal effectively and efficiently with any actual or potential cases of psychological or sexual harassment at the workplace. The Ombudsman’s Decision on a Policy for the prevention of and protection against harassment in the Ombudsman’s Office (the “Decision”) provides for both an informal and a formal procedure.

Under the informal procedure, a staff member who feels he/she is a victim of harassment may consult the ‘ethics correspondents’ (Article 6 of Decision) and/or ask the ‘conciliation committee’ to intervene (Article 7). The alleged harasser can also consult the ethics correspondents and the conciliation committee.

In the formal procedure (see Article 8 and annex of the Decision), statutory staff members can request the Ombudsman for assistance under Article 24 of the Staff Regulations. Statutory staff members, trainees, Seconded National Experts and external contractors working in the Ombudsman’s Office who feel they are victims of psychological or sexual harassment may also ask their immediate managers, the Secretary General, or the Ombudsman to launch an administrative investigation or disciplinary proceedings.^.

The legal basis of the procedure is the Decision of the European Ombudsman on a Policy for the prevention of and protection against harassment in the Office of 18 December 2017 and the Decision of the European Ombudsman laying down general implementing provisions on the conduct of administrative inquiries and disciplinary proceedings of 23 February 2023.

8. Description of the categories of data subjects and of the categories of personal data:

In the procedure for the prevention of and protection against harassment, we process data of different categories of data subject: the alleged victim(s), the person(s) concerned, and the data of staff members involved at various capacities in the procedure (ex: witnesses, ethical correspondents, managers, members of the administrative inquiry team).

In the informal procedure, the ethics correspondents, the conciliation committee and the managers of the relevant persons involved (if applicable) process the following data:

• The opening form, which contains: the names of the persons involved (alleged victim and alleged harasser) their unit, type of contract, category and grade; the type of complaint as defined by the alleged victim; the dates of first contact, of opening the informal procedure, as well as the dates of any subsequent meetings; the channel used for first contact (face to face, e-mail, telephone).
• The closing form, which contains the date of the first contact and the date of closing the informal procedure; the type of the complaint as defined by the alleged victim; the type of the problem identified by the alleged victim, the action  taken and the outcome of the procedure;
• The anonymous statistical form contains information about the type of complaint as defined by the alleged victim (type of harassment); the type of the request (urgent, get information/advice, get support in the action undertaken, other); the gender of the alleged victim and the alleged harasser; the employment status of the alleged victim and the alleged harasser; the reason given for the complaint; the number of the meetings taken place; the length of the procedure; the outcome of the procedure (solution found-yes/no; outcome of conciliation or mediation attempts; recommendations from the conciliation committee; need for emergency measures; decision of the alleged victim decides to close the case). It is noted that the ethics correspondents and conciliation committee must publish a  yearly report (see articles 6 and 7 of the Decision);
• The written recommendations made to managers, if applicable (see article 7 paragraph 9 of the Decision).
• The declaration of conflict of interest of a member of the conciliation committee, if applicable (see article 7, paragraph 4 of the Decision)
• The request by the persons involved in an allegedly harassment case that a member of the conciliation committee is replaced due to a conflict of interest (see Article 7 paragraph 4 of the Decision)
• The confidentiality agreement signed by the ethics correspondents and the conciliation committee members stating that the issues discussed with both the alleged victim and the alleged harasser are to remain strictly confidential.

Formal procedure:

• Identification data of the persons involved (name, date of birth, address, telephone number) and administrative data (grade, unit, duties and responsibilities, etc.);
• The request for assistance (see Article 24 of the Staff Regulations and Article 8 of the Ombudsman’s Decision and its Annex) or the request to launch an administrative investigation or disciplinary proceedings (see Annex to the Ombudsman’s Decision) which contain the following data: purpose of the request, identity of the alleged harasser(s), detailed description of the facts and any additional information that would support the claim(s) of the victim of harassment;
• Allegations and declarations based upon the subjective perceptions of the alleged victim(s)/harasser(s)/witness(es); statements and communications of alleged harasser(s) or witness(es).
• Health-related data to support the claim(s) of the victim of harassment or in case of emergency measures taken on the basis of health risks; ;
• The Ombudsman’s decision on a request for assistance and/or her decision for opening/not opening disciplinary procedures or an administrative inquiry;
• If applicable, the complaint lodged under Article 90(2) SR by the staff member against the Ombudsman’s decision on the request for assistance;
• The report made by the official in charge of the administrative inquiry to the Appointing Authority, including copies of all the attesting documents and reports of the hearings;
• The Ombudsman’s decision on closing the disciplinary proceedings or administrative inquiry or rejecting the request for assistance;
• the report to the disciplinary board (see article 12, Annex IX of the Staff Regulations and Article II-5 of the Annex to the Ombudsman’s decision). 

9. Time limit for keeping the data and, where possible, for erasure

In the informal procedure:

The data listed under point 8 will be kept for as long as the procedure is on going (one month maximum when the ethics correspondents are involved and two months maximum when the conciliation committee is involved) and for a maximum of 3 months after the closure of the procedure, except for the opening and the closing forms. The member(s) of the conciliation committee representing the administration will keep the opening and closing forms for 5 years in a locked cupboard (in paper version) only accessible to them. This period of maximum 3 months enables to organise the follow-up meeting after a mutually acceptable solution has been found, following the intervention of the conciliation committee. Data are erased afterwards.

In the formal procedure:

Pre-inquiry:

a) In case no inquiry is launched, the relevant data listed under point 8 will be kept for a maximum of two years after the adoption of this decision, in case of appeals against this decision.

b) In case an inquiry is launched, a maximum of 5 years from the closure of the inquiry, in case of appeals against this decision.

Inquiry reports and disciplinary files are not kept further than the necessary time for the procedure to reach an end.

Final decision:

a) If the decision acquits the staff member, it is retained in the personal file for 10 years after the last pension payment.

b) If the decision imposes sanctions, the person concerned may ask for deletion under Article 27 of Annex IX to the Staff Regulations, otherwise it is retained in the personal file for 10 years after the last pension payment.

10. Recipients of the data

Informal procedure: the ethics correspondents, the conciliation committee among which two members (one holder/one substitute) are from the EP medical service.  The ethics correspondents and the conciliation committee may inform the Directorate for Administration- HR services and/or the Secretary General if they consider that there is a health risk for the staff member concerned or that the situation calls for emergency measures. The conciliation committee may also make recommendations to the managers of the persons involved or suggest dedicated training, without disclosing any information.

Formal procedure: the European Ombudsman, the immediate manager of the alleged victim, the Secretary General, the person(s) in charge of the investigation^[1], the alleged harasser, the manager of the alleged harasser, witnesses if applicable, the Disciplinary Board if applicable (see Article 5 Annex IX SR).

11. Are there any transfers of personal data to third countries and/or to International Organisations?:

N/A

12. General description of security measures:

As regards the informal procedure, besides the information included in the opening and closing forms, all other information is provided orally to the ethics correspondents and/or the members of the conciliation committee. The ethics correspondents and the members of the conciliation committee do not accept or keep any evidence (for example, e-mails, personal notes, medical certificates) submitted to them by the alleged victim or harasser. If the request for the intervention of the conciliation committee or the ethics correspondents is sent by e-mail, the email is deleted at the end of the procedure. The member(s) of the conciliation committee representing the administration will keep the opening and closing forms, only in paper version, in a locked cupboard only accessible to them.

As regards the formal procedure, the files containing the administrative investigation and the disciplinary proceedings are scanned and stored in the network drive on a file server accessible to the European Ombudsman, the Secretary General, the Director for Administration and the person(s) in charge of the investigation only. Other staff members do not have access to these electronic files. The paper files are stored in locked cupboards by the designated assistant(s) in HR services and only accessible to him/her.

13. Information on how data subjects can exercise their rights of access and rectification, and where applicable, of erasure, restriction and data portability:

Data subjects have the right to access their personal data and to rectify them in case their personal data are inaccurate or incomplete. Where applicable, they have the right to erase their personal data and to restrict the processing of their personal data.  Data subjects have the right to object at any time to the processing of their personal data on grounds relating to their particular situation.

These rights of the data subjects may be restricted by means of application of the Decision of the European Ombudsman on internal rules concerning restrictions of certain rights of data subjects in relation to processing of personal data by the European Ombudsman.

The EO will reply to these requests as soon as possible and within one month at the latest.

Privacy Statement relating to the procedure for the prevention of and protection against harassment in the European Ombudsman’s Office

Ref. Ares(2024)1188383 - 16/02/2024

This privacy statement explains the reason for the processing, the way the European Ombudsman collects, handles and ensures protection of all personal data provided, how that information is used and what rights the candidates may exercise in relation to their data.

The controller is the European Ombudsman (EO). The joint controller is the European Parliament’s Medical Service^[2] of which two doctors (one holder/one substitute) are members of the Ombudsman’s Conciliation Committee. This Committee is in charge of leading the conciliation procedure, following a request by a staff member who feels he/she is a victim of harassment

1. What personal data will the European Ombudsman process?

The Ombudsman’s Office has put in place a comprehensive policy including both an informal and a formal procedure^[3] to protect you and ensure you get appropriate support.

In the procedure for the prevention of and protection against harassment, we process data of different categories of data subject: the alleged victim(s), the person(s) concerned, and the data of staff members involved at various capacities in the procedure (ex: witnesses, ethical correspondents, managers, members of the administrative inquiry team).

In the informal procedure, the following data are processed:

• the opening form which contains the names of the persons involved, the type of complaint as defined by the alleged victim, and the dates of opening the informal procedure as well as those of any subsequent meetings;
• the closing form which contains the date of the first contact and the date of closing the informal procedure; the type of the complaint as defined by the alleged victim; the type of the problem identified by the alleged victim, the action taken and the outcome of the procedure;
• the anonymous statistical form for the publication of the yearly report;
• the written recommendations made to managers, if applicable;
• the declaration of conflict of interest of a member of the conciliation committee, if applicable;
• The request by the persons involved in an allegedly harassment case that a member of the conciliation committee is replaced due to a conflict of interest
• The confidentiality agreement signed by the ethics correspondents and the conciliation committee members stating that the issues discussed with both the alleged victim and the alleged harasser are to remain strictly confidential.

In the formal procedure, the following data are processed:

• Identification data of the persons involved (name, date of birth, address, telephone number) and administrative data (grade, unit, duties and responsibilities, etc.);
• The request for assistance or the request to launch an administrative investigation or disciplinary proceedings that contain the following data: purpose of the request, identity of the alleged harasser(s), detailed description of the facts and any additional information that would support the claim(s) of the victim of harassment;
• Allegations and declarations based upon the subjective perceptions of the alleged victim(s)/harasser(s)/witness(es); statements and communications of alleged harasser(s) or witness(es).
• Health-related data to support the claim(s) of the victim of harassment or in case of emergency measures taken on the basis of health risks; ;
• The Ombudsman’ decision on a request for assistance and/or her decision for opening/not opening disciplinary procedures or an administrative inquiry;
• If applicable, the complaint lodged under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations by the staff member against the Ombudsman’s decision on the request for assistance;
• The report made by the official in charge of the administrative inquiry to the Appointing Authority, including copies of all the attesting documents and reports of the hearings;
• The Ombudsman’s decision on closing the disciplinary proceedings or administrative inquiry or rejecting the request for assistance;
• the report to the disciplinary board.

2. Why does the European Ombudsman process these personal data?

The purpose is to prevent and to deal effectively and efficiently with any actual or potential cases of psychological or sexual harassment at the workplace.

3. What are the legal bases and necessity for processing this data?

The legal basis are Articles 12a and 24 of the Staff Regulations; the Decision of the European Ombudsman on a Policy for the prevention of and protection against harassment in the Ombudsman’s Office of 18 December 2017; and the Decision of the European Ombudsman laying down general implementing provisions on the conduct of administrative inquiries and disciplinary proceedings of 23 February 2023.

The processing is lawful on the basis of Article 5 (1) a) and b) of the Regulation 2018/1725.

4. Who is responsible for processing the data?

Data is processed by the Directorate for Administration- Human Resources (HR) services.

5. Who will be recipients of the data?

In the informal procedure, the recipients are the ethics correspondents, the conciliation committee among which two members (one holder/one substitute) are doctors from the EP medical service. The ethics correspondents and the conciliation committee may inform the Director for Administration and/or the Secretary General if they consider that there is a health risk for the staff member concerned or that the situation calls for emergency measures.

In the formal procedure, the recipients are the European Ombudsman, the immediate manager of the alleged victim, the Secretary General, the person(s) in charge of the investigation^[4], the alleged harasser, the manager of the alleged harasser, witnesses if applicable, the Disciplinary Board if applicable.

6. How long will the data be kept?

In the informal procedure, data listed under point 1 below will be kept for as long as the procedure is on-going (one month maximum when the ethics correspondents are involved and two months maximum when the conciliation committee is involved) and for a maximum of three months after the closure of the procedure, except for the opening and the closing forms.

The member(s) of the conciliation committee representing the administration will keep the opening and closing forms for five years after the closure of the procedure. Data are erased afterwards.

In the formal procedure, data listed under point 1 below will be kept, as regards the pre-inquiry, in case no inquiry is launched, a maximum of two years after the adoption of this decision. In case an inquiry is launched, the relevant data will be kept a maximum of five years from the closure of the inquiry. Inquiry reports and disciplinary files are not kept further than the necessary time for the procedure to reach an end.

As regards the final decision, in case the decision acquits the staff member, it is retained in the personal file for 10 years after the last pension payment. If the decision imposes sanctions, the person concerned may ask for deletion under Article 27 of Annex IX to the Staff Regulations. Otherwise, it is retained in the personal file for 10 years after the last pension payment.

7. How do we protect the data subject’s data?

As regards the informal procedure, besides the information included in the opening and closing forms, all other information is provided orally to the ethics correspondents and/or the members of the conciliation committee.

The ethics correspondents and the members of the conciliation committee do not accept or keep any evidence (for example, e-mails, personal notes, medical certificates) submitted to them by the alleged victim or harasser. If the request for the intervention of the conciliation committee or the ethics correspondents is sent by e-mail, the email is deleted at the end of the procedure.

The member(s) of the conciliation committee representing the administration will keep the paper version of the opening and closing forms for five years after the closing of the informal procedure, in a locked cupboard only accessible to them.

As regards the formal procedure, the files containing the administrative investigation and the disciplinary proceedings are scanned and stored in the network drive on a file server accessible to the European Ombudsman, the Secretary General, the Director for Administration and the person(s) in charge of the investigation only. Other staff members do not have access to these electronic files. The paper files are stored in locked cupboards by the designated assistant(s) in HR services and only accessible to them.

8. What are your rights and how can you exercise them?

You have the right to access your personal data and to rectify them in case they are inaccurate or incomplete. Where applicable, you have the right to erase your personal data and to restrict its processing. You have the right to object at any time to the processing of your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation.

These rights of the data subjects may be restricted by means of application of the Decision of the European Ombudsman on internal rules concerning restrictions of certain rights of data subjects in relation to processing of personal data by the European Ombudsman.

The EO will reply to your requests as soon as possible and within one month at the latest.

9. Who to contact in case of queries or complaints concerning data protection issues?

At any time, you may send data protection related questions concerning the procedure to prevent and protect against harassment in the Office to the European Ombudsman, at the following address:

European Ombudsman

1 avenue du Président Robert Schuman

CS 30403

F-67001 Strasbourg Cedex

For the informal procedure, EOethics-Brussels@ombudsman.europa.eu or EOethics-Strasbourg@ombudsman.europa.eu or for the formal procedure, to the Director for Administration.

You also may contact the Data Protection Officer of the European Ombudsman at the following address: DPO-Euro-Ombudsman@ombudsman.europa.eu

You may lodge a complaint with the European Data Protection Supervisor at any time at the following address: EDPS@edps.europa.eu

 

[1] see Article 12 of the Ombudsman’s Decision on general implementing provisions on disciplinary proceedings and administrative inquiries- https://www.sisteo.ep.parl.union.eu/Administration/Shared%20Documents/Administrative%20decisions/GIPs_disciplinary_administrative_Final.pdf

[2] In accordance with an agreement of inter institutional cooperation, the European Ombudsman uses the medical service of the European Parliament.

[3] see the Decision of the European Ombudsman on a Policy for the prevention of and protection against harassment in the Ombudsman’s Office of 18.12.2017.

[4] see the Ombudsman’s Decision on general implementing provisions on disciplinary proceedings and administrative inquiries of 2004