1.  Why have you been given this Privacy Notice?

Ashton Fire is a ‘data controller’, which means we need to notify you of how we will process your personal data during the application and recruitment process. This notice explains how we collect your personal data, its use, storage, transfer and security. We will also explain what rights you have in relation to how we process your personal data. It is important that you read this notice, so you are aware of how and why we are processing your data.

2.  What are our obligations to you in relation to how we process your personal data?

We are required by law to ensure that when processing any of your personal data that it is: 

  • Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way.
  • Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes.
  • Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes.
  • Accurate and kept up to date.
  • Kept in a form which permits you to be identified for only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about.
  • Kept securely.

3.  What personal data will we collect, use and store about you?

To process your job application we will collect the following information about you:

  • your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number
  • information about your entitlement to work in the UK
  • details of your qualifications, skills, experience, and employment history
  • pre-employment screening, disclosure and barring service (where applicable)
  • information about your current level of remuneration, including benefit entitlements
  •  assessment interview, psychometric test (where applicable), technical assessment

We may also collect, store and use the following ‘special categories’ of more sensitive personal information:

  • Equal opportunities monitoring information
  • Whether or not you have a disability for which we need to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process.

4.  How do we collect your personal data?

We will collect this information from a range of sources, which will include

  • your application form, CV, your passport or other identity documents, or information provided directly by you through interviews or other forms of assessment.
  • The Disclosure and Barring Service in respect of criminal convictions (if applicable) and/or other employment background check providers.
  • Your named referees.

5.  How will we use your personal data?

Throughout the recruitment process we will need to process your personal data for one or more of the following lawful bases:

  • Where we need to process your personal data to take specific steps at your request before entering into a contract with you or we need to process data to enter into a contract with you. This may include making reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process to accommodate disabilities as and when requested.
  • Where we need to process your personal data to comply with a legal obligation, for example if your application is successful, we will check your right to work in the UK before a job offer is made.
  • Our legitimate reason for processing your personal data is to enable us to gather data so that we can assess which candidate’s skills and experience is the best match with our job role requirements and therefore suitable for employment. We also need to process job application information to respond to and defend against legal complaints. We will process your personal data for these legitimate reasons provided that your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
  • Where we need to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests).
  • Where it is needed in the public interest, or for official purposes.

6.  When will we use your personal data?

During the application and recruitment process, and for a short period of time after the recruitment process, we will use your personal information for specific purposes. The list below describes the purpose of our processing, the personal data involved and the lawful basis for our processing:

  • Assessing suitability to perform the role
  • Interview
  • Checking your right to work in the UK.
  • Equal opportunities monitoring
  • Seeking out information relating to criminal convictions and offences

7.  How do we use your sensitive personal information data?

We will only use your particularly sensitive personal information in the following ways:

  •  To comply with employment and other laws when processing and managing situations connected with absences arising in relation to your sickness or family/ dependent related leave. 
  • To ensure we meet our health and safety obligations towards you and other employment related obligations we will use information about your physical or mental health or disability status to assess your capability to perform your role, monitor and manage your sickness absence, provide appropriate workplace adjustments and administer health related benefits.
  • Where it is needed in the public interest, for example for equal opportunity monitoring and reporting.

8.  Do we need your consent to use sensitive personal data?

If we are using your personal sensitive data in accordance with our written policy to perform our legal obligations or exercise specific rights connected to your employment, in these circumstances we do not need your written consent to use sensitive personal data.

However, in limited circumstances, we may request your written consent to allow us to process your sensitive personal data. For example, your written consent will be required before we instruct a medical practitioner to prepare a medical report.  If, it becomes necessary to request your consent to process your sensitive personal data, we will provide you with details of the information that we require and why we need it, so that you can decide whether you wish to provide your consent. It is not a condition of your contract of employment with us that you must agree to any request for consent. Giving consent will always be a decision made by your freewill/choice.

9.  Criminal convictions

We envisage that we will process information about criminal convictions. We will collect information about your criminal convictions history if we would like to offer you the role (conditional on checks and any other conditions, such as references, being satisfactory). We are entitled to carry out a criminal record check in order to satisfy ourselves that there is nothing in your criminal convictions history which makes you unsuitable for the role.

10.    Automated Decision making

It is our intention that you will not be subject to automated decision making, unless we have a lawful reason for doing so and we have notified you.

11.    Third party service providers and data security

We will only share your personal information with third parties, such as your named referees, for the purposes of processing your application. All our third-party service providers and other entities in the group are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information in line with our policies. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

12.    How do we ensure your personal data is secure?

We take your privacy and protection of data very seriously. Consequently, we have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent unauthorised use of your personal data. Details of the measures which are in place can be obtained from the Managing Director. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of any suspected unauthorised use of your personal data.

13.    How long will we keep your personal data?

We will retain your personal information for a period of 6 months after we have communicated to you our decision about whether to appoint you to the role. We retain your personal information for that period so that we can show, in the event of a legal claim, that we have not discriminated against candidates on prohibited grounds and that we have conducted the recruitment exercise in a fair and transparent way. After this period, we will securely destroy your personal information in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

14.  What rights do you have in respect of how we use your personal data?

Subject to legal limitations you have the right to:

  • Request access to your data: You can ask us to provide a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
  • Request corrections to be made to your data: If you think that your personal data is incomplete, inaccurate you can ask us to correct it.
  • Request erasure of your data: If you consider there is no lawful basis for us to continue processing your data you can ask for that data to be deleted or removed.
  • Object to the processing of your data: If our lawful basis for processing your data relates to a legitimate business interest (or third-party interest) you can raise an objection to that interest. You can also object to us using your information for direct marketing purposes.
  • Request that processing restrictions be put in place: If you believe that your information is being processed without a lawful reason or that the information is incorrect you can request that a freeze/restricting is placed on the processing of the information until your concerns are addressed.  
  • Request a transfer of your personal data: You can ask us to transfer your personal data to a third party.

If you wish to exercise any of the above rights please contact the HR Team.

15.  Right to withdraw your consent

You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. To withdraw your consent please contact the HR Team. Once we receive your notice of withdrawal, we will cease processing your data unless we have any other lawful basis on which to continue processing that data.

16.  Important information about this privacy notice

We reserve the right to amend or update this privacy notice at any time, and will provide you with a new notice when we make any updates.

17.  How to make a complaint

To exercise all relevant rights, queries or complaints please in the first instance contact our Managing Director. If this does not resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113 or via email https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/ or at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, England.