Job Applicant Privacy Notice

Data controller: Poole Town Surgery

Data protection officer: Dorset ICB

As part of any recruitment process, the practice collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants and is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data in line with data protection legislation.

What information does the practice collect?

The practice collects a range of information about each job applicant. This includes:

• their name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number;
• details of their qualifications, skills, experience and employment history;
• information about their current level of remuneration, including benefit entitlements;
• whether or not they have a disability for which the practice needs to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process;
• information about their entitlement to work in the UK;
• equal opportunities monitoring information, including information about their ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health and religion or belief; and
• any other information which may be required as part of the job application process.

The practice collects this information in a variety of ways, such as:

• application forms:
• CVs or resumes;
• copies of job applicants’ passports and other identity documents; and
• information collected through interviews or other forms of assessment.

The practice will 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 the disclosure and barring service;
• the practice may seek information from third parties only once a job offer to a job applicant has been made and will inform you that it is doing so.

Data will be stored in a range of different places, including:

• an application record for each job applicant;
• HR management systems; and
• IT systems (including email).

Why does the practice process personal data?

The practice needs to process data to take steps at each job applicant’s request prior to entering into a contract with them. It also needs to process their data to enter into a contract with them.

The practice needs to process data to ensure that it complies with its legal obligations such as being required to check a successful applicant’s eligibility to work in the UK before employment starts.

The practice has a legitimate interest in processing personal data during the recruitment process and for keeping records of the process. Processing data from job applicants allows the practice to:

• manage the recruitment process;
• assess and confirm a candidate’s suitability for employment;
• decide to whom to offer a job; and
• respond to and defend against legal claims.

Where the practice relies on legitimate interests as a reason for processing data, it will consider whether or not those interests are overridden by the rights and freedoms of applicants, employees or workers.

The practice will process health information if it needs to make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process for candidates who have a disability. This is to carry out its obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.  Where the practice processes other special categories of data, such as information about ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health or religion or belief, this is for equal opportunities monitoring purposes.

The practice is obliged to seek information about criminal convictions and offences in line with NHS Employers guidelines on criminal records checks, which you can read at:  http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/recruit/employment-checks/criminal-record-check.

Who has access to data?

Information about each job applicant will be shared internally for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes:

• interviewers involved in the recruitment process;
• managers in the area with a vacancy;
• IT staff; and
• any other staff members that may be required to have access to this as part of the job application process.

The practice will not share job applicants’ data with third parties, unless their applications for employment are successful and they are given an offer of employment. The practice will then share their data with former employers to obtain references for you, employment background check providers to obtain necessary background checks, the Disclosure and Barring Service to obtain necessary criminal records checks and any other organisations/people whose input is necessary for the offer of employment.

The practice will not transfer your data outside the European Economic Area unless absolutely necessary.

How does the practice protect data?

The practice takes the security of job applicants’ data seriously. Internal policies and controls are in place to ensure that their data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessed except by our employees in the proper performance of their duties.

For how long does the practice keep data?

If a job applicant’s application for employment is unsuccessful, the practice will hold their data on file for no longer than twelve months after the end of the relevant recruitment process.  At the end of that period, their data is deleted or destroyed.

If a job applicant’s application for employment is successful, personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to their personnel file and retained during their employment. The periods for which their data will be held will be provided to them in a new privacy notice.

Job applicants’ rights

As a data subject, each job applicant has a number of rights. They can:

• access and obtain a copy of their data on request; references are not treated as confidential;
• require the practice to change incorrect or incomplete data;
• require the practice to delete or stop processing their data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing;
• object to the processing of their data where the practice is relying on its legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing; and
• ask the practice to stop processing data for a period if data is inaccurate or there is a dispute about whether or not their interests override the practice’s legitimate grounds for processing data.

If a job applicant would like to exercise any of these rights, they can contact Sara Green, Practice Manager.  

If a job applicant believes that the practice has not complied with their data protection rights, they can complain to the Information Commissioner.

What if job applicants do not provide personal data?

Job applicants are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to the practice during the recruitment process. However, if they do not provide the information, the practice may not be able to process their application properly or at all.

Automated decision-making

The practice does not