Job Applicant Privacy Notice

As part of any recruitment process, the South Downs National Park Authority collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants.

This privacy notice will describe how we collect and use that data during and after the recruitment process and how our activities relate to the Data Protection Act 2018.

What information do we ask for, and why?

We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil our stated purposes and will not keep it longer than necessary.

If your application for employment is unsuccessful, the organisation will hold your data on file for 6 months after the end of the relevant recruitment process.

At the end of that period, or once you withdraw your consent, your data is deleted or securely destroyed.

During this period we may contact you again with regard to the same or similar vacancies.

The information we ask for is used to assess your suitability for employment.

You don’t have to provide what we ask for, but it may affect your application if you don’t.

We will use any feedback you provide about our recruitment process to develop and improve our future recruitment campaigns.

The data we collect includes:

your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number;
details of your qualifications, skills, experience and employment history;
Sensitive information such as Nationality, gender etc. so we can measure diversity
whether or not you have a disability for which the organisation needs to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process; and
information about your entitlement to work in the UK.

Data is collected in a variety of ways; for example, through your CVs and questions answered in the Applicant Tracking system (ATS), obtained from your passport or other identity documents, or collected through appointment or other forms of assessment.

We may also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by former employers.

We will seek information from third parties only once a job offer to you has been made and will inform you that we are doing so.

Data will be stored in a range of different places, including on your application record, in HR management systems and on other IT systems (including email).

Purpose and lawful basis for processing

Our purpose for processing this information is to assess your suitability for a role you have applied for and to help us develop and improve our recruitment process.

The lawful basis we rely on for processing your personal data is article 6(1)(b) of the UK GDPR, which relates to processing necessary to perform a contract or to take steps at your request, before entering a contract.

If you provide us with any information about reasonable adjustments you require under the Equality Act 2010 the lawful basis we rely on for processing this information is article 6(1)(c) to comply with our legal obligations under the Act.

The lawful basis we rely on to process any information you provide as part of your application which is special category data, such as health, religious or ethnicity information is article 9(2)(b) of the UK GDPR, which relates to our obligations in employment and the safeguarding of your fundamental rights.

And Schedule 1 part 1(1) of the DPA2018 which again relates to processing for employment purposes.

We process information about applicant criminal convictions and offences.

The lawful basis we rely on to process this data are Article 6(1)(e) for the performance of our public task.

In addition, we rely on the processing condition at Schedule 1 part 2 paragraph 6(2)(a).

What will we do with the information you give us?

We’ll use all the information you provide during the recruitment process to progress your application with a view to offering you an employment contract with us, or to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements if necessary.

We will not share any of the information you provide with any third parties for marketing purposes.

We’ll use the contact details you give us to contact you to progress your application.

We may also contact you to request your feedback about our recruitment process.

We’ll use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role.

Application stage

If you use our online application system, your details will be collected by our data processor Webrecruit on our behalf.

Information submitted will be shared internally with relevant SDNPA staff for the purposes of the recruitment exercise and on occasion external panel member(s) if they are part of the selection process. Internally this includes members of the HR team, interviewers involved in the recruitment process, managers in the business area with a vacancy and IT staff if access to the data is necessary for the performance of their roles.

We will not share your data with third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and we make you an offer of employment.

We will then share your data with former employers to obtain references for you and employment background check providers to obtain necessary background checks.

Conditional offer

If we make a conditional offer of employment, we’ll ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks.

You must successfully complete pre-employment checks to progress to a final offer.

We must confirm the identity of our staff and their right to work in the United Kingdom, and seek assurance as to their trustworthiness, integrity and reliability.

You must therefore provide:

proof of your identity – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents; we’ll take copies
proof of your qualifications – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents; we’ll take copies
a criminal records declaration to declare any unspent convictions (only when specified)
We’ll contact your referees, using the details you provide upon appointment, to directly obtain references
We’ll also ask you to complete a questionnaire about your health to establish your fitness to work.
We’ll also ask you about any reasonable adjustments you may require under the Equality Act 2010. This information will be shared with relevant SDNPA staff to ensure these are in place for when you start your employment.

If we make a final offer, we’ll also ask you for the following:

bank details – to process salary payments
National Insurance number
emergency contact details – so we know who to contact in case you have an emergency at work
Pension Details including any existing membership of other / local Government Pension scheme.
Declaration of Interest form to identify any financial or non-financial interests that you consider could bring about conflict with the SDNPA’s interests including secondary employment.

After your start date

Our Code of Conduct requires all staff to declare if they have any potential conflicts of interest.

If you complete a declaration, the information will be held on your personnel file.

You will also need to declare any secondary employment in accordance with the SDNPA officers code of conduct.

How we make decisions about recruitment

Final recruitment decisions are made by hiring managers and members of our HR team.

We take account of all the information gathered during the application process.

Your rights

As a data subject, you have a number of rights. You can:

access and obtain a copy of your data on request;
require the organisation to change incorrect or incomplete data;
require the organisation to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing; and
object to the processing of your data where you feel that we have not complied with our obligations as set out in this policy

For more information on your rights, please see SDNPA privacy notice.

Do we use any data processors?

Yes – we use several processors to provide elements of our recruitment service for us.

We use Webrecruit’s Applicant Tracking System to operate our online application system and to produce anonymised management information about campaigns.

Here is a link to the Webrecruit privacy notice.

If you accept a final offer from us, some of your personnel records will be held on your hard copy and electronic personal file as well as Pier, our payroll system.

We have internal policies and controls in place to ensure that your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessed except by our employees in the proper performance of their duties.

If you are employed by us relevant details about you will be provided to Brighton and Hove City Council who provide our payroll services.

This will include your name, bank details, address, date of birth, National Insurance Number, emergency contact details salary and pension information, including details of any existing schemes.

Likewise, your full pension information will be provided to Hampshire County Council who is the administrator of the Local Government Pension Scheme, of which we are a member organisation.

You will be auto-enrolled into the pension scheme and the details provided will include your name, address, date of birth, employment status, start date, hours, email address, National Insurance number, salary and contribution rate.

Your bank details will not be passed to Hampshire County Council at this time.

If you have any concerns at this stage of the process, please contact us via recruitment@southdowns.gov.uk