By Pascale Gelly

Who to notify of new performance evaluation system launch

AGME (Association pour la Gestion du Groupe Mornay Europe) employs 2,300 individuals and had planned to implement a project of performance evaluation based on interviews with employees. The employer presented the project to the works council, which objected that the project must also notify the CHSCT (Committee for Hygiene, Safety and Work Conditions) and to the CNIL (French Data Protection Authority). The social chamber of the Supreme Court confirmed on November 28, 2007 that the CHSCT had to be consulted before the implementation of this project, since the yearly evaluations were intended to improve consistency between salary decisions and the achievement of employees' objectives. They could have an impact on the behavior of employees, their career evolution and their compensation, and therefore generate psychological pressure with consequences on employees' work conditions. However, the Supreme Court upheld partly the decision of the Court of Appeal as it considered that since the individual interview form was on paper, the Court of Appeal had not evidenced that personal data would be subject to an automated data processing. Under the French Data Protection Act, non-automated processing does not have to be notified to the CNIL.