Job Applicant Data Retention & Privacy Policy

FORDS is aware of its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and current data protection legislation. On this page, you’ll find our data retention and privacy policy in full.

This privacy notice sets out, in line with data protection obligations, the types of data that we collect and hold on you as a job applicant. It also sets out how we use that information, how long we keep it for and other relevant information about your data.

In this policy, a “record” is any type of electronic or paper file (document, spreadsheet, database entry) that we store in our systems. Job Applicant records include a range of data relating to individuals applying to work within the organisation, for example, name, address, contact information and work history.

Job Applicant records are stored electronically in a secure location on the Company server and our secure GDPR compliant People & Recruitment system, CezanneHR., These secure locations are accessible and maintained by relevant personnel only, including the CEO, CFO Finance Director, Chief of Staff and the People team, as well as the hiring manager(s) for the vacancy.

Processing data from job applicants allows us to manage our recruitment processes, assessing and confirming a candidate’s suitability for employment within the organisation.

We need to process data prior to entering into a contract with you, as well as ensuring that we are complying with our legal obligations by checking your eligibility to work in the UK. Additionally, we have a legitimate interest in processing your personal data during the recruitment process and for keeping records relating to this process.

If you do not provide the information that we require during our application process, then we may not be able to process your application properly or at all.

As part of your application, we will collect a range of information which includes, but may not be limited to:

• Your name, address and contact details, including your email address and telephone number
• Details of your qualifications, education, employment history, skills and experience
• Information on any unspent criminal convictions
• Information on protected characteristics, such as your gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion, to support our equal opportunities monitoring
• Information about your entitlement to work in the UK
• Details of your disability status, for which the organisation needs to assess reasonable adjustments during this process

We collect data about you in a variety of ways, including the information you would normally include in a CV or a job application cover letter, or notes made by our recruiting partners, hiring managers or interview panels, during a recruitment interview. Further information will be collected directly from you when completing forms at the start of your employment, for example, your bank and next of kin details. Other details may be collected directly from you in the form of official documentation such as your driving licence, passport or other right to work evidence.

In some cases, we will collect data about you from third parties, such as employment agencies, former employers when gathering references, or credit reference agencies.

Personal data is kept in personnel files or within the Company’s HR and IT systems.

If your application for employment is unsuccessful, the organisation will keep your data on file for one year following the end of the relevant recruitment process. At the end of this period, we will irretrievably delete your data, unless we have sought consent from you to keep your records on file for a defined period.

We keep your personal data for this period, to enable us to build a talent pool, and contact you again regarding any new, relevant posts that might be suitable for you.

If you wish your application and information to be removed sooner than this, please notify us in writing.

If your application is successful, personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your employment file and retained for the duration of your employment, and will be covered

We may make some decisions about you based on automated decision making (where a decision is taken about you using an electronic system without human involvement). These decisions would relate to the presence of key words within a CV or application, that would suggest your suitability for a role, on the basis of qualification, location or experience.

GDPR defines a data subject as “an identified or identifiable natural person.” Data subjects have the following rights:

• Right to be informed: Data subjects must be given easy-to-understand information about how their personal data is collected and processed
• Right to data portability: Data subjects can transfer their data from one data controller to another
• Right of access: Data subjects have the right to obtain a copy of collected personal data
• Right to rectification: Data subjects can correct inaccurate data about themselves
• Right to erasure: Data subjects can request that their data be deleted (also called the right to be forgotten)
• Right to restrict processing: Under certain circumstances, data subjects can limit the way their personal data is being processed
• Right to object: Data subjects have the right to object to the processing of their personal data, and under certain circumstances the data controller or data processor will be obligated to comply with the data subject’s objection
• Right to object to automated processing: Data subjects can object to a decision that legally affects them that is based solely on automated data processing

Where you have provided consent to our use of your data, you also have the unrestricted right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing your consent means that we will stop processing the data that you had previously given us consent to use. There will be no consequences for withdrawing your consent. However, in some cases, we may continue to use the data where so permitted by having a legitimate reason for doing so.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights explained above, please contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO).