This privacy notice explains:
- how personal information is going to be used
- what it is used for
- who it might be shared with and why
- how long it is kept.
The information you provide helps us to enter into an employment contract with you and meet the obligations under the terms and conditions of that contract. For example, the County Council needs to process your data to pay you, maintain your employment history and administer your pension.
Personal and special category data
The categories of personal data we are processing are:
- information you provide to us in your curriculum vitae and covering letter or on our application form (both in paper and electronic form) - this includes name, title, address, telephone number, personal email address, date of birth, gender, ethnicity, employment history with previous employers including with this council and your qualifications
- information you provided to us during your interview
- terms and conditions of your employment such as information about your pay, including entitlement to benefits such as your pension benefits
- details of your bank account and national insurance number
- information about your marital status and emergency contacts
- information about your nationality and entitlement to work in the UK
- details of your working hours and days work including any flexible work arrangements
- details of your pension contributions
- details of periods of leave taken by you, including holiday, sickness absence, family leave and sabbaticals and the reasons for the leave
- details of any disciplinary or grievance procedures in which you have been involved, including any investigations, warnings issued to you and related correspondence
- assessments of your performance, including appraisals, performance reviews and ratings, training you have participated in, practice and performance improvement plans and related correspondence
- information about medical or health conditions, including whether or not you have a disability for which the organisation needs to make reasonable adjustments
- details of trade union representatives and membership relating to ‘check off’ arrangements where union subscriptions are paid direct from your salary
- any information received from third parties in connection with your employment, such as from the police if there has been a conviction and there is a public protection risk.
Data Controller
West Sussex County Council (WSCC) complies with the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is registered as a ‘Data Controller’ with the Information Commissioner’s Office (Reg. No. Z6413427).
You can find details for the WSCC Data Protection Officer (DPO) on our Privacy Policy.
We ensure that your personal data is processed fairly and lawfully, accurate, kept secure and retained for no longer than is necessary.
The legal basis for processing personal data
- The processing is necessary for the performance of a contract or to take steps to enter into a contract.
- The processing is required by law or regulation.
- The processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by WSCC, for example recording training details, collecting/storing bank account details for the legitimate purposes of paying you, to provide you with West Sussex Choices or the Staff App.
- The processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of employment and social security and social protection law.
- During the course of your employment it may also be necessary to process your sensitive personal information; this will usually only be for a release of medical information as part of an occupational health referral. This processing will be carried out on the basis of consent.
How we use your personal information
Our Privacy Policy determines how we use personal data. We use it specifically to:
- maintain accurate and up-to-date employment records and contact details (including details of who to contact in the event of an emergency), and records of employee contractual and statutory rights
- produce annual benefit pension statements, calculation of benefits for retirement, redundancy and any other discretionary benefits
- operate and keep a record of disciplinary and grievance processes, to ensure acceptable conduct within the workplace
- operate and keep a record of employee performance, practice and related processes, to ensure safe practice and acceptable levels of performance, plan for career development, succession planning and workforce management purposes
- operate and keep a record of absence and absence management procedures, to allow effective workforce management and ensure that employees are receiving the pay or other benefits to which they are entitled
- respond to and defend against legal claims
- obtain occupational health advice to ensure that it complies with duties in relation to individuals with disabilities, meet its obligations under health and safety law and ensure that employees are receiving the pay or other benefits to which they are entitled
- operate and keep a record of other types of leave (including maternity, paternity, adoption, parental and shared parental leave), to allow effective workforce management to ensure that the organisation complies with duties in relation to leave entitlement and that employees are receiving the pay or other benefits to which they are entitled
- provide references on request for current or former employees
- maintain and promote equality in the workplace
- share information as a result of a transfer of undertaking (TUPE)
- run recruitment and promotion processes
- ensure effective general HR record keeping and business administration
- be able to provide you with access to employee benefits such as employee discounts
- use information about your disability status to consider whether we need to provide reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process and/or your employment
- use information about your race or national or ethnic origin, religious, philosophical or moral beliefs, or your sexual life or sexual orientation, to ensure meaningful equal opportunity monitoring and reporting and consider making accommodation for any possible disadvantages.
Who we share your information with
- Members of the HR/Organisational Change team
- Payroll
- Pensions
- Your line manager
- Other senior managers in the County Council
- Elected county councillors
- IT staff if access to the data is necessary for performance of their roles
- The Health and Care Professional Council (or other relevant professional body)
- The Disclosure and Barring Service
- HM Revenue and Customs
- UK Border or other public authority
- Other third-party organisations, as allowed by law
- Third parties, who provide employment services on behalf of the County Council
See our Privacy Policy if you require more information about how we use this data.
Transfer outside the European economic area
If your data needs to be transferred we will make sure that an adequate level of protection is in place.
How long we will keep your personal data
Personal data will not be retained for longer than necessary in relation to the purposes for which it was collected and in accordance with the Employee File Retention and Management Policy.
Your rights
See our Privacy Policy for more information on your rights.
Complaints
See our Privacy Policy for information about making a complaint.