Data Protection Policy
You must read this policy because it gives important information about:
• the data protection principles with which the Company must comply;
• what is meant by personal information (or data) and sensitive personal
information (or data);
• how we gather, use and (ultimately) delete personal information and sensitive
personal information in accordance with the data protection principles;
• where more detailed privacy information can be found, e.g. about the personal
information we gather and use about you, how it is used, stored and
transferred, for what purposes, the steps taken to keep that information
secure and for how long it is kept;
• your rights and obligations in relation to data protection; and
• the consequences of failure to comply with this policy.
1 Introduction
1.1 The Company obtains, keeps and uses personal information (also referred to
as data) about job applicants and about current and former employees,
temporary and agency workers, contractors, interns, volunteers and
apprentices for a number specific lawful purposes.
1.2 This policy sets out how we comply with our data protection obligations and
seek to protect personal information relating to our workforce. Its purpose is
also to ensure that staff understand and comply with the rules governing the
collection, use and deletion of personal information to which they may have
access in the course of their work.
1.3 We are committed to complying with our data protection obligations, and to
being concise, clear and transparent about how we obtain and use personal
information relating to our workforce, and how (and when) we delete that
information once it is no longer required.
1.4 The Company’s data protection officer, Name & Job Title, is responsible for
informing and advising the Company and its staff on its data protection
obligations, and for monitoring compliance with those obligations and with the
Company’s policies. If you have any questions or comments about the content
of this policy or if you need further information, you should contact the data
protection officer.
2 Scope
2.1 This policy applies to the personal information of job applicants and current
and former staff, including employees, temporary and agency workers,
interns, volunteers and apprentices.
2.2 Staff should refer to the Company’s data protection privacy notice and, where
appropriate, to its other relevant policies including in relation to internet, email
and communications, monitoring, social media, information security, data
retention and criminal record information, which contain further information
regarding the protection of personal information in those contexts.
2.3 We will review and update this policy at least annually in accordance with our
data protection obligations. It does not form part of any employee’s contract of
employment and we may amend, update or supplement it from time to time.
We will circulate any new or modified policy to staff when it is adopted.
3 Definitions
criminal
records
information
means personal information relating to criminal
convictions and offences, allegations, proceedings, and
related security measures;
data breach means a breach of security leading to the accidental or
unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised
disclosure of, or access to, personal information;
data subject means the individual to whom the personal information
relates;
personal
information
(sometimes known as personal data) means
information relating to an individual who can be
identified (directly or indirectly) from that information;
processing
information
means obtaining, recording, organising, storing,
amending, retrieving, disclosing and/or destroying
information, or using or doing anything with it;
pseudonymised means the process by which personal information is
processed in such a way that it cannot be used to
identify an individual without the use of additional
information, which is kept separately and subject to
technical and organisational measures to ensure that
the personal information cannot be attributed to an
identifiable individual;
sensitive
personal
information
(also known as ‘special categories of personal data’ or
‘sensitive personal data’) means personal information
about an individual’s race, ethnic origin, political
opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union
membership (or non-membership), genetics
information, biometric information (where used to
identify an individual) and information concerning an
individual’s health, sex life or sexual orientation.
4 Data protection principles
4.1 The Company will comply with the following data protection principles when
processing personal information:
4.1.1 we will process personal information lawfully, fairly and in a transparent
manner;
4.1.2 we will collect personal information for specified, explicit and legitimate
purposes only, and will not process it in a way that is incompatible with
those legitimate purposes;
4.1.3 we will only process the personal information that is adequate, relevant
and necessary for the relevant purposes;
4.1.4 we will keep accurate and up to date personal information, and take
reasonable steps to ensure that inaccurate personal information are
deleted or corrected without delay;
4.1.5 we will keep personal information in a form which permits identification
of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for
which the information is processed; and
4.1.6 we will take appropriate technical and organisational measures to
ensure that personal information are kept secure and protected against
unauthorised or unlawful processing, and against accidental loss,
destruction or damage.
5 Basis for processing personal information
5.1 We will only process personal data where we have a legal justification for
doing so, which will be set out in the Company’s data protection privacy
notice.
6 Sensitive personal information
6.1 Sensitive personal information is sometimes referred to as ‘special categories
of personal data’ or ‘sensitive personal data’.
6.2 The Company may from time to time need to process sensitive personal
information. We will only process sensitive personal information if:
6.2.1 we have a lawful basis for doing so as set out above, e.g. it is
necessary for the performance of the employment contract, to comply
with the Company’s legal obligations or for the purposes of the
Company’s legitimate interests; and
6.2.2 one of the special conditions for processing sensitive personal
information applies.
6.3 The Company’s data protection privacy notice will set out the types of
sensitive personal information that the Company processes, what it is used for
and the lawful basis for the processing.
7 Criminal records information
7.1 Where we are required by law to carry out criminal record checks then we will
do so and the information received will be used to make the appropriate
recruitment / employment decision and then destroyed. We will not retain
criminal records information for any more than 6 months.
8 Privacy notice
8.1 The Company will issue privacy notices from time to time, informing you about
the personal information that we collect and hold relating to you, how you can
expect your personal information to be used and for what purposes.
8.2 We will take appropriate measures to provide information in privacy notices in
a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and
plain language.
9 Individual rights
9.1 You (in common with other data subjects) have the following rights in relation
to your personal information:
9.1.1 to be informed about how, why and on what basis that information is
processed—see the relevant data protection privacy notices;
9.1.2 to obtain confirmation that your information is being processed and to
obtain access to it and certain other information, by making a subject
access request—see the Company’s subject access request policy;
9.1.3 to have data corrected if it is inaccurate or incomplete;
9.1.4 to have data erased if it is no longer necessary for the purpose for
which it was originally collected/processed, or if there are no overriding
legitimate grounds for the processing (this is sometimes known as ‘the
right to be forgotten’);
9.1.5 to restrict the processing of personal information where the accuracy of
the information is contested, or the processing is unlawful (but you do
not want the data to be erased), or where the employer no longer
needs the personal information but you require the data to establish,
exercise or defend a legal claim; and
9.1.6 to restrict the processing of personal information temporarily where you
do not think it is accurate (and the employer is verifying whether it is
accurate), or where you have objected to the processing (and the
employer is considering whether the organisation’s legitimate grounds
override your interests).
9.2 If you wish to exercise any of these rights please contact the data protection
officer.
10 Individual obligations
10.1 Individuals are responsible for helping the Company keep their personal
information up to date. You should let the Company know if the information
you have provided to the Company changes, for example if you move house
or change details of the bank or building society account to which you are
paid.
10.2 You may have access to the personal information of other members of staff,
suppliers and customers/clients of the Company in the course of your
employment or engagement. If so, the Company expects you to help meet its
data protection obligations to those individuals. For example, you should be
aware that they may also enjoy the rights set out above.
10.3 If you have access to personal information, you must:
10.3.1 only access the personal information that you have authority to access,
and only for authorised purposes;
10.3.2 only allow other Company staff to access personal information if they
have appropriate authorisation;
10.3.3 only allow individuals who are not Company staff to access personal
information if you have specific authority to do so from the data
protection officer;
10.3.4 keep personal information secure (e.g. by complying with rules on
access to premises, computer access, password protection and secure
file storage and destruction and other precautions set out in the
Company’s information security policy);
10.3.5 not remove personal information, or devices containing personal
information (or which can be used to access it), from the Company’s
premises unless appropriate security measures are in place (such as
pseudonymisation, encryption or password protection) to secure the
information and the device; and
10.3.6 not store personal information on local drives or on personal devices
that are used for work purposes.
10.4 You should contact the data protection officer if you are concerned or suspect
that one of the following has taken place (or is taking place or likely to take
place):
10.4.1 processing of personal data without a lawful basis for its processing or,
in the case of sensitive personal information, without one of the lawful
conditions being met;
10.4.2 any data breach as set out below;
10.4.3 access to personal information without the proper authorisation;
10.4.4 personal information not kept or deleted securely;
10.4.5 removal of personal information, or devices containing personal
information (or which can be used to access it), from the Company’s
premises without appropriate security measures being in place;
10.4.6 any other breach of this policy or of any of the data protection
principles set out in paragraph 4.1 above.
11 Information security
11.1 The Company will use appropriate technical and organisational measures to
keep personal information secure, and in particular to protect against
unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction
or damage.
12 Storage and retention of personal information
12.1 Personal information (and sensitive personal information) will be kept securely
in accordance with the Company’s obligations.
12.2 Personal information (and sensitive personal information) should not be
retained for any longer than necessary. The length of time over which data
should be retained will depend upon the circumstances, including the reasons
why the personal information was obtained.
12.3 Personal information (and sensitive personal information) that is no longer
required will be deleted permanently from our information systems and any
hard copies will be destroyed securely.
13 Data breaches
13.1 A data breach may take many different forms, for example:
13.1.1 loss or theft of data or equipment on which personal information is
stored;
13.1.2 unauthorised access to or use of personal information either by a
member of staff or third party;
13.1.3 loss of data resulting from an equipment or systems (including
hardware and software) failure;
13.1.4 human error, such as accidental deletion or alteration of data;
13.1.5 unforeseen circumstances, such as a fire or flood;
13.1.6 deliberate attacks on IT systems, such as hacking, viruses or phishing
scams; and
13.1.7 ‘blagging’ offences, where information is obtained by deceiving the
organisation which holds it.
14 Training
The Company will ensure that staff are adequately trained regarding their data
protection responsibilities. Individuals whose roles require regular access to
personal information, or who are responsible for implementing this policy or
responding to subject access requests under this policy, will receive additional
training to help them understand their duties and how to comply with them.
15 Consequences of failing to comply
15.1 The Company takes compliance with this policy very seriously. Failure to
comply with the policy:
15.1.1 puts at risk the individuals whose personal information is being
processed; and
15.1.2 carries the risk of significant civil and criminal sanctions for the
individual and the Company; and
15.1.3 may, in some circumstances, amount to a criminal offence by the
individual.
15.2 Because of the importance of this policy, an employee’s failure to comply with
any requirement of it may lead to disciplinary action under our procedures,
and this action may result in dismissal for gross misconduct. If a non-
employee breaches this policy, they may have their contract terminated with
immediate effect.
15.3 If you have any questions or concerns about anything in this policy, do not
hesitate to contact the data protection officer.
I have read and understood this policy and agree to abide by its terms.
Signed Mr D.C.Bacciocchi
Name Dom Bacciocchi
Date 1/08/2022
