As part of any recruitment process, the we collect and processes personal data relating to job applicants. We must tell you how it is this data collected and used and how it meets the data protection obligations.
What personal data do we collect?
We collect a range of information about you, including:
- your name, address and contact details, including email address, phone number, date of birth and gender
- details of your qualifications, skills, experience and employment history, including start and end dates, with previous employers
- information about your current level of pay and employment benefits
- whether or not you have a disability or a health condition for which the organisation needs to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process
- information about your entitlement to work in the UK.
We may collect this information in a variety of ways. For example, data might be contained in application forms, CVs or resumes, obtained from your passport or other identity documents, or collected through interviews or other forms of assessment.
We may also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by former employers, information from employment background check providers and information from criminal record checks.
We will seek information from third parties only once a job has been offered to you and we will notify you when we intend to request this information.
Data will be stored in a range of different places, including in the interview paperwork, in the our human resources management systems and in other IT systems (including the our email system).
Why do we process personal data?
We need to process data prior to and when entering into an employment contract with you.
In some cases, we need to process data to ensure that it is complying with its legal obligations. For example, it is required to check a candidate’s eligibility to work in the UK before employment starts.
We have a legitimate interest in processing personal data during the recruitment process and for keeping records of the process. Processing data for job applicants allows us to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm a candidate’s suitability for employment and decide to who to offer a job.
We may also need to process data from job applicants to respond to and defend against legal claims.
We may process special categories of data, such as information about ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religion and links to armed forces to monitor recruitment statistics. It may also collect information about whether or not applicants are disabled to make reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability or a health condition during the recruitment process.
We process such information to carry out its obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment and to meet its obligations relating to equalities monitoring. We are required by law to publish anonymised equalities monitoring data on an annual basis.
The equalities monitoring data is held on a separate section of the application form which is not seen by the recruiting manager and does not impact recruitment decisions, apart from if a disability is disclosed then the applicant will be guaranteed an interview if they meet the minimum requirements of the role.
For some roles, we are obliged to seek information about criminal convictions and offences. Where we seek this information, it does so because it is necessary for it to carry out its obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.
We will not use your data for any purpose other than the recruitment exercise for which you have applied other than for equalities monitoring purposes as outlined above.
Who has access to data?
Your information may be shared internally for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes members of the human resources team, interviewers involved in the recruitment process.
We share your data with third parties in order to obtain pre-employment references from other employers, employment background checks from third-party providers and the necessary criminal records checks from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
If your application is successful, we will share your data with the companies engaged by us to process data on its behalf for payroll; the provision of benefits and the provision of occupational health services.
How do we protect your personal data?
We take the security of your personal data seriously. All appropriate, technical and organisational measures are taken to ensure security of storage of and access to your data.
Where we have engaged the services of third parties to provide services on their behalf and on behalf of employees, it does so on the basis of a comprehensive service supply contract which obliges them to comply fully with the data protection legislation including information security.
For how long does the council keep data?
If your application for employment is unsuccessful, we will hold your data on file for 12 months after the end of the relevant recruitment process. At the end of that period, your data is deleted or destroyed.
If your application for employment is successful, personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your electronic case file and retained during your employment. The periods for which your data will be held will be provided to you in a new privacy notice at the point at which you are offered employment with us.
What are your rights?
Your rights are outlined on our website.
If you wish to fulfil your rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer and they will investigate the matter and make a decision on what will happen next. You will be notified of this decision and any next steps.
If you believe that we have not complied with your data protection rights, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Address: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Phone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 545 745
Contact details
Email: dataprotectionofficer@woking.gov.uk
Phone: 01483 755 855
Address: Data Protection Officer, Woking Borough Council, Civic Offices, Gloucester Square, Woking GU21 6YL