Legal
Data Protection (GDPR) Policy and Procedure
- Purpose
ASL is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses the personal data of its workforce, and to meeting its data protection obligations. This policy sets out ASL's commitment to data protection, and individual rights and obligations in relation to personal data.
This policy applies to the personal data of job applicants, employees, workers, apprentices and former employees, referred to as HR-related personal data. This policy does not apply to the personal data of clients or other personal data processed for business purposes.
ASL has appointed Gareth Balshaw as the person with responsibility for data protection compliance within ASL. He can be contacted at Gareth.Balshaw@assembly-solutions.com; Questions about this policy, or requests for further information, should be directed to him.
- Definitions
"Personal data" is any information that relates to a living individual who can be identified from that information. Processing is any use that is made of data, including collecting, storing, amending, disclosing or destroying it.
"Special categories of personal data" means information about an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, health, sex life or sexual orientation and genetic and biometric data.
"Criminal records data" means information about an individual's criminal convictions and offences, and information relating to criminal allegations and proceedings.
- Data Protection Principles
ASL processes HR-related personal data in accordance with the following data protection principles:
- ASL processes personal data lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner.
- ASL collects personal data only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes.
- ASL processes personal data only where it is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purposes of processing.
- ASL keeps accurate personal data and takes all reasonable steps to ensure that inaccurate personal data is rectified or deleted without delay.
- ASL keeps personal data only for the period necessary for processing.
- ASL adopts appropriate measures to make sure that personal data is secure, and protected against unauthorised or unlawful processing, and accidental loss, destruction or damage.
ASL tells individuals the reasons for processing their personal data, how it uses such data and the legal basis for processing in its privacy notices. It will not process personal data of individuals for other reasons. Where ASL relies on its legitimate interests as the basis for processing data, it will carry out an assessment to ensure that those interests are not overridden by the rights and freedoms of individuals.
Where ASL processes special categories of personal data or criminal records data to perform obligations or to exercise rights in employment law, this is done in accordance with a policy on special categories of data and criminal records data.
ASL will update HR-related personal data promptly if an individual advises that his/her information has changed or is inaccurate.
Personal data gathered during the employment relationship is held in the individual's personnel file in electronic format on BreatheHR. The periods for which ASL holds HR- related personal data are contained in its privacy notices to individuals and within the relevant HR policy.
ASL keeps a record of its processing activities in respect of HR-related personal data in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
- Individual Rights
As a data subject, individuals have a number of rights in relation to their personal data.
- Subject Access Requests
Individuals have the right to make a subject access request. If an individual makes a subject access request, ASL will tell him/her:
- whether or not his/her data is processed and if so why, the categories of personal data concerned and the source of the data if it is not collected from the individual;
- to whom his/her data is or may be disclosed, including to recipients located outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and the safeguards that apply to such transfers;
- for how long his/her personal data is stored (or how that period is decided);
- his/her rights to rectification or erasure of data, or to restrict or object to processing;
- his/her right to complain to the Information Commissioner if he/she thinks ASL has failed to comply with his/her data protection rights; and
- whether or not ASL carries out automated decision-making and the logic involved in any such decision-making.
ASL will also provide the individual with a copy of the personal data undergoing processing. This will normally be in electronic form if the individual has made a request electronically, unless he/she agrees otherwise.
To make a subject access request, the individual should send the request to Gareth.Balshaw@assembly-solutions.com In some cases, ASL may need to ask for proof of identification before the request can be processed. ASL will inform the individual if it needs to verify his/her identity and the documents it requires.
ASL will normally respond to a request within a period of one month from the date it is received. In some cases, such as where ASL processes large amounts of the individual's data, it may respond within three months of the date the request is received. ASL will write to the individual within one month of receiving the original request to tell him/her if this is the case.
If a subject access request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, ASL is not obliged to comply with it. Alternatively, ASL can agree to respond but will charge a fee, which will be based on the administrative cost of responding to the request. A subject access request is likely to be manifestly unfounded or excessive where it repeats a request to which ASL has already responded. If an individual submits a request that is unfounded or excessive, ASL will notify him/her that this is the case and whether or not it will respond to it.
- Other Rights
Individuals have a number of other rights in relation to their personal data. They can require ASL to:
- rectify inaccurate data;
- stop processing or erase data that is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing;
- stop processing or erase data if the individual's interests override ASL's legitimate grounds for processing data (where ASL relies on its legitimate interests as a reason for processing data);
- stop processing or erase data if processing is unlawful; and
- stop processing data for a period if data is inaccurate or if there is a dispute about whether or not the individual's interests override ASL's legitimate grounds for processing data.
To ask ASL to take any of these steps, the individual should send the request to Gareth.Balshaw@assembly-solutions.com.
- Data Security
ASL takes the security of HR-related personal data seriously. ASL has internal policies and controls in place to protect personal data against loss, accidental destruction, misuse or disclosure, and to ensure that data is not accessed, except by employees in the proper performance of their duties.
All data is secured each night to local backups to usb hard drives which is the responsibility of ASL to rotate the drives and take off site or place in a secure fireproof safe for example. ICU will monitor these each day to ensure success and rectify any issues.
All ASL data is controlled by username/password on the ASL network. Different users will have different level of permissions to each folder based on their login at the request of ASL.
To access any ASL data – you would need to be either on the ASL network in the office OR connected via a VPN which is controlled by username and password.
Where ASL engages third parties to process personal data on its behalf, such parties do so on the basis of written instructions, are under a duty of confidentiality and are obliged to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the security of data. ASL have a yearly contract with an IT Support company called ICU Group Ltd.
- Impact Assessments
Some of the processing that ASL carries out may result in risks to privacy. Where processing would result in a high risk to individual's rights and freedoms, ASL will carry out a data protection impact assessment to determine the necessity and proportionality of processing.
This will include considering the purposes for which the activity is carried out, the risks for individuals and the measures that can be put in place to mitigate those risks.
- Data Breaches
If ASL discovers that there has been a breach of HR-related personal data that poses a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals, it will report it to the Information Commissioner within 72 hours of discovery. ASL will record all data breaches regardless of their effect.
If the breach is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals, it will tell affected individuals that there has been a breach and provide them with information about its likely consequences and the mitigation measures it has taken.
- International Data Transfers
ASL will not transfer HR-related personal data to countries outside the EEA.
- Individual Responsibilities
Individuals are responsible for helping ASL keep their personal data up to date. Individuals should let ASL know if data provided to ASL changes, for example if an individual moves house or changes his/her bank details by updating their BreatheHR record.
Individuals may have access to the personal data of other individuals and of our customers and clients in the course of their employment. Where this is the case, ASL relies on individuals to help meet its data protection obligations to staff and to customers and clients.
Individuals who have access to personal data are required:
- to access only data that they have authority to access and only for authorised purposes;
- not to disclose data except to individuals (whether inside or outside ASL) who have appropriate authorisation;
- to keep data secure (for example by complying with rules on access to premises, computer access, including password protection, and secure file storage and destruction);
- not to remove personal data, or devices containing or that can be used to access personal data, from ASL's premises without adopting appropriate security measures to secure the data and the device;
- not to store personal data on local drives or on personal devices that are used for work purposes; and
- to report data breaches of which they become aware to Gareth Balshaw Gareth.balshaw@assembly-solutions.com immediately.
Failing to observe these requirements may amount to a disciplinary offence, which will be dealt with under ASL's disciplinary procedure. Significant or deliberate breaches of this policy, such as accessing employee or customer data without authorisation or a legitimate reason to do so, may constitute gross misconduct and could lead to dismissal without notice.
- Training
ASL will provide training to all individuals about their data protection responsibilities as part of the induction process.
Individuals whose roles require regular access to personal data, or who are responsible for implementing this policy or responding to subject access requests under this policy, will receive additional training to help them understand their duties and how to comply with them.
- Retention and Access to your Personal Information
Why do we need to retain your personal information?
All personal information will be retained for 6 years after you leave ASL's employment as per the guidance from the Information Commissioners Office
Where do we retain your personal information?
Any records relating to breaches of this Policy could result in Disciplinary Action. All relevant paperwork will be retained in the Discipline and Grievance Section of your BreatheHR record. At the conclusion of the Discipline / appeal the record will be updated, associated documents will be scanned and added, and the originals will be destroyed.
Who has access to your personal information?
You will have access to all your personal information via your Personal Profile on BreatheHR. Your HR user and People Matters HR will also have access to all your personal information. Your Line Manager will only have access to certain information and this will be outlined to you at Induction.
How do you make a request to have your personal information amended or deleted?
You will have access to update certain information on BreatheHR via your Personal Profile page. For other information to be amended or deleted, this will need to be put in writing to your Line Manager who will respond with a decision accordingly.
Please note that you must keep all your personal data and emergency contact information up to date.