Job Applicant Privacy Notice

As part of any recruitment process, West Lindsey District Council collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants.

We are committed to being transparent about how we collect and use that data and to meet its data protection obligations.

The purpose of this privacy notice is to make you aware of how and why we will collect and use your personal information during the recruitment process. We are required under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to notify you of the information contained in this privacy notice.

This privacy notice applies to all job applicants, whether you apply for a role directly or indirectly through an employment agency. It is non-contractual.

Please see our full Privacy Notice

Updated: 15 June 2023

Reviewed: 15 June 2023

The reasons we use your data

We collect and process a range of information about you to during a recruitment process. This includes:

your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number
details of your qualifications, skills, experience, employment history, and professional memberships
information about your current level of remuneration, including benefit entitlements
whether or not you have a disability for which the organisation needs to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process
information about your entitlement to work in the UK
equal opportunities monitoring information, including information about your ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health, and religion or belief
in order to consider any potential criminal convictions
for applicants who have been offered a position we will request employment and personal references

Why we are allowed to use your data

We may process some special category data as part of the recruitment process we rely on Article 9(2)(b) of the UK GDPR – Processing is necessary in the field of employment and Schedule 1 part 1(a) of the DPA 2018 in that the processing is necessary for the purposes of performing or exercising obligations or rights which are imposed or conferred by law on the controller or the data subject in connection with employment.

Legal obligations under various UK laws including but not limited to:

We will use the personal information you provide to process your application. The information you provide on an application form makes it easier for us to assess your skills and knowledge against another applicant’s in a fair and consistent way.

We may also process information about whether or not applicants are disabled to make reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability in order to carry out its obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment practices.

In some cases, we need to process data to ensure that we are complying with our legal obligations. For example, it is required to check a successful applicant'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 from job applicants allows us to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm a candidate's suitability for employment and decide to whom to offer a job. We may also need to process data from job applicants to respond to and defend against legal claims.

Where we process other special categories of data, such as information about ethnic origin, sexual orientation, age, health or religion or belief, this is for equal opportunities monitoring purposes as permitted by the Data Protection Act 2018. You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide personal information to us during the recruitment process.

For some roles, we are obliged to seek information about criminal convictions and offences. Where we seek this information, we do so because it is necessary for it to carry out our obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment, or comply with a regulatory requirement to establish whether or not an individual has committed an unlawful act or been involved in dishonesty or other improper conduct.

We will not use your data for any purpose other than the recruitment exercise for which you have applied.

How do we collect your data

We collect this information in a variety of ways. For example, data might be contained in application forms, obtained from your passport or other identity documents, or collected through interviews or other forms of assessment.

We will also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by former employers, and information from criminal records checks. We will seek information from third parties only once a job offer to you has been made and will inform you that it is 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) and in paper records.

How long do we store your data

If your application for employment is unsuccessful, we will hold your data on file for six 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 personnel file and retained during your employment. Your information will be retained for 13 years following the end of your employment.

Your information will be shared internally for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes members of the HR and recruitment team, interviewers involved in the recruitment process, managers in the service area with a vacancy and IT staff if access to the data is necessary for the performance of their roles.

We may need to share the information you have provided with:

third party organisations (for the purpose of seeking references)
Disclosure and Barring Service
occupational Health Provider
other government agencies such as HMRC and CSA

We are also required to check individual’s immigration status (as applicable) with government agencies.

We are also permitted by law to protect public funds. To this end, we may share information that you provided for the prevention and detection of fraud.

What if you do not provide personal data?

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to us during the recruitment process. However, if you do not provide the information, we may not be able to process your application properly or at all. If your application is successful, it will be a condition of any job offer that you provide evidence of your right to work in the UK and satisfactory references.

You are under no obligation to provide information for equal opportunities monitoring purposes and there are no consequences for your application if you choose not to provide such information.

When computers make any decisions about you

Not applicable

When your data gets sent to other countries

Not applicable

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 us to change incorrect or incomplete data
require us to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing
object to the processing of your data where we are relying on our legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing
ask us to stop processing data for a period, if data is inaccurate or there is a dispute about whether or not your interests override the council’s legitimate grounds for processing data

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact the Human Resources team by email human.resources@west-lindsey.gov.uk.

If you believe that the organisation has not complied with your data protection rights, you can complain to the Information Commissioner.

How to get independent advice

If you have any questions about how your personal information is handled, please contact our Data Protection Officer via email at dpo@west-lindsey.gov.uk or via the contact details at the end of the privacy notice.

For independent advice about data protection, privacy, data sharing issues or if you are dissatisfied with how your personal information has been used you have a right to complain and can contact the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner’s Officer

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Phone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545745 (national rate)

Visit: www.ico.org.uk

Email: casework@ico.org.uk