Can an employer compel a prospective employee to provide a certificate of no criminal record?

ANSWER

Under applicable law, an employer may process data on criminal records only where such a requirement follows directly from legal provisions, e.g. for employees in the financial sector. Requesting such data from an employee hired for a position for which there is no statutory requirement of no criminal record remains contrary to the law and leads to unlawful processing of data by the employer if such data are obtained.