Witness interviews and legal holds are among the most sensitive aspects of…
Witness interviews are a central fact-finding instrument in internal investigations conducted by German companies, particularly in cases involving suspected compliance breaches or regulatory violations. While indispensable for fact-finding, such interviews raise legal, particularly employment-law issues that require careful handling.
In the context of internal investigations, employees are generally obliged to cooperate in interviews conducted by their employer and to provide truthful information about work-related matters, insofar as these relate to the core area of the employment relationship. The obligation to provide information extends to questions concerning the fulfillment of work duties, operational processes, and compliance with ancillary obligations under the employ-ment contract, but not to private matters. This includes self-incriminatory information.
Data protection law plays a key role. Witness interviews inevitably involve the processing of personal data, including potentially sensitive information. Investigations must therefore comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), especially with regard to Article 13 of the GDPR, which regulates the duty to provide information when collecting personal data from the data subject.
Another issue concerns the involvement of the works council. If standardized questionnaires are used that record personal circumstances, knowledge, or skills, the works council has the right of co-determination. Individual, non-standardized questionnaires are excluded from this.
Witness interviews are a powerful but legally sensitive investigative tool. Their effectiveness depends not only on careful preparation and professional interviewing techniques, but also on a robust legal framework that balances corporate interests in compliance and enforce-ment with the individual rights of employees.
