How do we collect personal information about you?
We collect, use and store certain personal information about employees, job applicants and referees. This information is provided to us voluntarily by you and may be supplemented by additional information that we access about you with your permission, for example, from trusted sources, such as previous employers or HM Revenue and Customs. All personal information that we process or control is treated with the utmost care and confidentiality.
What kind of personal information do we collect?
- Your name, address and relevant contact details
- Copies of passports, visas and any other documentation required to ensure compliance with Home Office requirements
- Certain unique personal identifiers, including your Date of Birth and National Insurance Number
- Details of your education and qualifications
- Your application and/or CV
- Interview tests/results
- Bank account details for salary and pension purposes
- Contact details for your next of kin
- Job title, grade and salary
- Reporting and managerial responsibilities
- Details of your career
- References
- Your contract of employment
- Performance reviews
- Disciplinary, grievance and capability procedures
- Details of any accidents at work
- Details about any medical conditions or accessibility needs at work
- Details of any training received
- Where relevant, details of your time or attendance
Sensitive and special category personal information
Beyond the kinds of personal information listed above, we may also collect, use and store sensitive information in relation to your health, ethnicity, family or financial status. This information is provided to us voluntarily by you and will only be shared with relevant responsible colleagues with your permission. Examples include:
- Individual demographic information in compliance with legal requirements (such as marital status, passport/visa information, nationality, citizenship, military service, disability, work permit, gender)
- Information regarding health issues requiring adaptations to your working environment
- Information and documents concerning leaves of absence such as maternity leave, illness and compassionate leave
- Health and safety incidents, accidents at work and associated records
How is your information used?
We use your personal information for the administration of your employment contract; to provide you with benefits and entitlements, such as your salary and pension contributions, and for other HR-relevant purposes, for example, connected to your career progression or ensuring your well-being in the workplace. All employee personal information is used and held in accordance with our privacy and security policies and only ever shared with the relevant, responsible colleagues.
How long is your information kept for?
We will keep your personal information only as long as is necessary for the purpose(s) for which it was collected and in accordance with our Data Protection Policy. Your personal information will be securely deleted or destroyed when no longer required.
Where you exercise your right to erasure, we will continue to maintain a core set of personal data (name, dates of employment and date of birth) to ensure that we do not contact you or process your data again inadvertently in future, as well as to maintain your record for employment record purposes.
We reserve the right to judge what information we must continue to hold to be able to fulfil our contract with you and our legal obligations as an employer.
Who has access to your information?
Your personal information, including sensitive personal data, will be shared with the relevant responsible colleagues, who require that information to carry out their normal duties and to support your time with us. These include, but are not limited to, the relevant responsible colleagues in our People, Finance and Operations departments.
We will always endeavour to ensure that sensitive and special category personal information is only shared with colleagues with your explicit consent. However, please note that circumstances may arise where this kind of personal information is shared with colleagues without obtaining your consent.
This will only occur in compliance with data protection law: if it is necessary to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another person; if it is necessary for certain other reasons where it is not possible or appropriate to gain your consent, such as disclosures to the police for the prevention or detection of crime, or if it is necessary to meet certain statutory obligations.
Third parties
We may disclose certain personal data to third parties. These third parties, and the purpose for sharing the information include, but are not limited to, the circumstances outlined below:
- Relevant personal information may be shared with your next of kin, either with your consent or in an emergency
- Relevant personal information may be shared with the Home Office, UK Visas and Immigration for the purpose of proving eligibility to work in the UK
- Relevant personal information may be shared with reputable data processors for the purpose of sending communications, for example, staff surveys
- With your permission, we may share relevant personal information about you for publicity and marketing purposes online, in print and on social media
- If we are requested to share sensitive information by law enforcement, we will do so in accordance with our obligations under UK law.
We do not sell your personal information to third parties, or permit third parties to sell on the personal information we have shared with them, under any circumstances.
Lawful processing
The use of certain personal information, as outlined above, is necessary for the implementation of your contract of employment. Withholding or revoking access to the correct and relevant personal information required by UK law to administer your contract of employment responsibly may result in termination of contract, or the withdrawal of an offer of employment.