Data Controller:  Interchange and Consort Hotels Ltd

Contact:  DPO@bestwestern.co.uk

The organisation collects and processes personal data relating to its employees to manage the employment relationship. The organisation is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations.

What Information is Collected?

The company collects a range of information about you, including:-

• Your name and address
• Your contact details
• Information regarding your qualifications, skills, experience and employment history
• Details about your current level of renumeration including benefits;
• Information about your right to work in the UK
• Whether or not you have a disability which the Company needs to be aware of and made reasonable adjustments to accommodate during the recruitment process
• Equal opportunities monitoring information, including information about your ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health, religion or belief

The organisation collects this information in a variety of ways including through application forms; CVs; passports (identity document) or other information collected at interviews- forms of assessment including online tests.

The organisation will also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references from former employers.  The company will only seek information from third parties once a job offer to you has been made and will also inform you that it is doing so.

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).

Why is it collected?

The organisation needs to process data to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract with you. It also needs to process your data to enter into a contract with you.

In some cases, the organisation needs to process data to ensure that it is complying with its legal obligations. For example, it is required to check a successful applicant’s eligibility to work in the UK before employment starts.

The organisation has a legitimate interest in processing personal data during the recruitment process and for keeping records of the process. Processing data from job applicants allows the organisation to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm a candidate’s suitability for employment and decide to whom to offer a job. The organisation may also need to process data from job applicants to respond to and defend against legal claims.

Who has access to data?

Your information will be shared internally for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes [members of the HR and recruitment team, interviewers involved in the recruitment process, managers in the business area with a vacancy and IT staff if access to the data is necessary for the performance of their roles].

The organisation will not share your data with third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and it makes you an offer of employment. The organisation will then share your data with [former employers to obtain references for you, employment background check providers to obtain necessary background checks and the Disclosure and Barring Service to obtain necessary criminal records checks].

The organisation will not transfer your data outside the European Economic Area.

How is my data protected?

The organisation takes the security of your data seriously. It has internal policies and controls in place to ensure that your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessed except by our employees in the proper performance of their duties

How long is my data kept for?

If your application for 6 months for  employment is unsuccessful, the organisation will hold your data on file for [time period] after the end of the relevant recruitment process. At the end of that period, or once you withdraw your consent your data is deleted or destroyed.

If your application for employment is successful, personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your personnel file and retained during your employment. The periods for which your data will be held will be provided to you in a new privacy notice.

What rights do I have?

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;
• object to the processing of your data where the organisation is relying on its legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing; and
• ask the organisation to stop processing data for a period if data is inaccurate or there is a dispute about whether or not your interests override the organisation’s legitimate grounds for processing data.

You can make a subject access request by contacting DPO@bestwestern.co.uk   Please note, any subject access requests that are for individual hotels will be passed to the hotel to deal with.

What if you do not provide personal Data?

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to the organisation during the recruitment process. However, if you do not provide the information, the organisation may not be able to process your application properly or at all.

You are under no obligation to provide information for equal opportunities monitoring purposes and there are no consequences for your application if you choose not to provide such information.