Privacy Policy
1. Introduction
We may have to collect and use information about people with whom we work. This personal information must be handled and dealt with properly, however it is collected, recorded and used, and whether it be on paper, in computer records or recorded by any other means.
We regard the lawful and correct treatment of personal information as very important to our successful operation and to maintaining confidence between us and those with whom we carry out business. We will ensure that we treat personal information lawfully and correctly.
To this end we fully endorse and adhere to the principles of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
This policy applies to the processing of personal data in manual and electronic records kept by us in connection with our human resources function as described below. It also covers our response to any data breach and other rights under the GDPR.
This policy applies to the personal data of job applicants, existing and former employees, apprentices, volunteers, placement students, workers and self-employed contractors. These are referred to in this policy as relevant individuals.
2. Definitions
“Personal data” is information that relates to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified from that information, for example, a person’s name, identification number, location, online identifier. It can also include pseudonymised data. “Special categories of personal data” is data which relates to an individual’s health, sex life, sexual orientation, race, ethnic origin, political opinion, religion, and trade union membership. It also includes genetic and biometric data (where used for ID purposes).
“Criminal offence data” is data which relates to an individual’s criminal convictions and offences.
“Data processing” is any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction.
3. Data Protection Principles
Under GDPR, all personal data obtained and held by us must be processed according to a set of core principles.
In accordance with these principles, we will ensure that:
a) processing will be fair, lawful and transparent
b) data be collected for specific, explicit, and legitimate purposes
c) data collected will be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purposes of processing
d) data will be kept accurate and up to date. Data which is found to be inaccurate will be rectified or erased without delay
e) data is not kept for longer than is necessary for its given purpose
f) data will be processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of personal data including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage by using appropriate technical or organisation measures
g) we will comply with the relevant GDPR procedures for international transferring of personal data
4. Types of data held
We keep several categories of personal data on our employees in order to carry out effective and efficient processes. We keep this data in a personnel file relating to each employee and we also hold the data within our computer systems, for example, our holiday booking system.
Specifically, we hold the following types of data:
a) personal details such as name, address, phone numbers
b) information gathered via the recruitment process such as that entered into a CV or included in a CV cover letter, references from former employers, details on your education and employment history etc
c) details relating to pay administration such as National Insurance numbers, bank account details and tax codes
d) medical or health information
e) information relating to your employment with us, including:
i) job title and job descriptions
ii) your salary
iii) your wider terms and conditions of employment
iv) details of formal and informal proceedings involving you such as letters of concern, disciplinary and grievance proceedings, your annual leave records, appraisal and performance information
v) internal and external training modules undertaken
All of the above information is required for our processing activities. More information on those processing activities are included in our privacy notice for employees, which is available from your manager.
5. Employee Rights
You have the following rights in relation to the personal data we hold on you:
a) the right to be informed about the data we hold on you and what we do with it;
b) the right of access to the data we hold on you. More information on this can be found in the section headed “Access to Data” below and in our separate policy on Subject Access Requests”;
c) the right for any inaccuracies in the data we hold on you, however they come to light, to be corrected. This is also known as ‘rectification’;
d) the right to have data deleted in certain circumstances. This is also known as ‘erasure’;
e) the right to restrict the processing of the data;
f) the right to transfer the data we hold on you to another party. This is also known as ‘portability’;
g) the right to object to the inclusion of any information;
h) the right to regulate any automated decision-making and profiling of personal data.
More information can be found on each of these rights in our separate policy on employee rights under GDPR.
6. Responsibilities
In order to protect the personal data of relevant individuals, those within our business who must process data as part of their role have been made aware of our policies on data protection.
We have also appointed employees with responsibility for reviewing and auditing our data protection systems.