Candidate privacy notice

Introduction

North Tyneside Council (the Authority) respects your right to privacy and is committed to complying with data protection law. As part of the recruitment process, the Authority collects and processes personal data from candidates. This privacy notice sets out the details of the information that we may collect and how we will use that information.

What kind of personal data do we process?

In connection with your application for work with us, we will collect, store, and use the following categories of personal information about you:

  • The information you have provided on our application form or associated documentation, including name, title, address, telephone number, personal email address, date of birth, sex, employment history, qualifications. This also includes “special categories” of more sensitive personal information. See further details below of the types of information and their usage.
  • Any information you provide to us during an interview.
  • The outcome of any tests we may ask you to undertake as part of the recruitment process.

We will seek information from third parties only once a job offer has been made.

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). We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil the requirements of the recruitment process.

How we will use data about you

We will use the personal information we collect about you to:

  • Assess your skills, qualifications, and suitability for the role
  • Carry out background and reference checks, where applicable
  • Communicate with you about the recruitment process
  • Keep records related to our recruitment and selection processes
  • Comply with legal or regulatory requirements such as establishing your right to work.

We process your personal information to decide whether to enter into a contract of employment with you.

When we receive your application form, we will process that information to decide whether you meet the basic requirements to be shortlisted for the role. If you do, we will decide whether your application is strong enough to invite you for an interview.

If we decide to call you for an interview, we will use the information you provide to us at the interview to decide whether to offer you the role.

If we decide to offer you the role we will then use the information you provide to us to; take up references, carry out a criminal record check (where appropriate), confirm your right to work in the UK, and carry out a pre-employment medical assessment, before confirming your appointment.

Special category information

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

  • Information about your race or ethnicity, nationality, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, caring responsibilities, and political opinions to ensure meaningful equal opportunity monitoring and reporting
  • Information about your health, including any medical condition, health and sickness records to. This allows us to, for example, consider whether we need to provide appropriate adjustments during the recruitment process. or for future employment
  • Information about criminal convictions and offences where we are required to satisfy ourselves that there is nothing in your criminal convictions history which makes you unsuitable for specific roles which require this level of checks.

Who has access to my data?

Your information will be shared internally for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. We will also share information with the following third parties: Engie who provide the HR administration service for the Authority and Optima Health who carry out the pre-employment health assessment on behalf of the Authority.All our third-party service providers 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. Further information can be found in Council Finances.The Authority uses a recruitment platform to process data in relation to recruitment campaigns. This is operated by NE Jobs who are the data processor for this information.

How do we protect your data?

We have in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being either accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, or altered or disclosed.

In addition, we limit access to your personal information to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need-to-know. They will only process your personal information on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

How long will you keep my data?

If your application for employment is unsuccessful, the organisation will hold your data on file for 7 months after the end of the relevant recruitment process. We retain your personal information for that period so that we can demonstrate, if challenged, 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 our data retention policy.

If your application for employment is successful, personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your personal file and retained during your employment. The periods for which your data will be held will be provided in the Authority’s employee privacy notice.

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.

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to North Tyneside Council during the recruitment process. If you do not provide the information, however, we will not be able to process your application properly or at all.

Right to withdraw consent

When you apply for a role you provide consent to our processing your personal information for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. You have the right to withdraw your consent for processing for that purpose at any time. To withdraw your consent, please contact the Data Protection Officer (details below). Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your application and, subject to our retention policy, we will dispose of your personal data securely.

Where to find more information

If you would like to know more about how we use your information, contact:

Data Protection Officer
North Tyneside Council
The Silverlink North
Cobalt Business Park
North Tyneside
NE27 0BY

Email: information.governance@northtyneside.gov.uk
Tel: 0191 643 2333

For further guidance about data protection rights, see https://ico.org.uk/