This privacy notice is designed to help you understand how and why North Yorkshire Council processes your personal data. This notice should be read in conjunction with our corporate privacy notice.
Who are we?
North Yorkshire Council is a ‘data controller’ as defined by Article 4(7) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The HR and payroll services comprise of the following teams who deal with and advise on all employment and HR-related matters for the council:
- employment support service
- HR shared service team
- pay and reward
- resourcing solutions
- NYHR (Schools)
- directorates HR business partners (HRBP’s)
The council has appointed Veritau to be its data protection officer. Their contact details are:
Information Governance Office
Veritau
West Offices
Station Rise
York
North Yorkshire
YO1 6GA
Email: infogov@northyorks.gov.uk
Tel: 01904 552848
What personal information do we collect?
We process your information to fulfil our obligations associated with your employment contract. This includes recruiting you to employment and undertaking pre-employment checks, the information required to maintain employment records and ensure you are paid correctly and information around your work performance and conduct in line with North Yorkshire Council’s published employment policies. This information includes, but is not limited to:
- personal identifiers (your name, address, date of birth, personal email address etc.)
- previous job experience and qualifications (including copies of certificates and employment references)
- information about your employment attendance and performance (including information collected through appraisal processes and workplace investigations for example, witness statements, e-mail correspondence, CCTV, interview notes, etc.)
- information about your right to work in the UK
- emergency contact information of those individuals you identify
- financial information, including bank account information, tax, national insurance and pension contributions to facilitate salary payments
- driving licence status, including any penalties or endorsements associated with the license
We also collect the following sensitive/ special category data:
- information about your ethnicity, religious beliefs and trade union membership (for the purposes of equality monitoring)
- relevant medical information which affects your employment
- criminal conviction data
In line with workplace substance misuse policy employees who are involved in an incident and/or who are suspected of being unfit due to intoxication/impairment and/or where there is reasonable suspicion of substance misuse will be subject to substance testing. As defined in the policy those individuals who undertake safety-critical roles may also be subject to random substance testing.
Why do we collect your personal information?
We process your information to fulfil our obligations associated with your employment contract as below:
- to manage the recruitment process and conduct pre-employment checks required to begin your employment with the council
- to maintain employee records throughout your employment for example, training records
- to be able to contact you throughout your employment
- to record and monitor leave and absence taken during your employment
- to monitor your work performance and conduct for example, disciplinary
- to manage council payroll
- to meet our health and safety obligations, for example, occupational health to assess working capacity
- to process the termination of your contract
- to contact you following the termination of your contract, if expressly required (for example, to obtain your consent to share reference details with another organisation if a request is made in your name; to resolve any ongoing investigations related to your employment; to rectify any salary overpayments which may have occurred during your employment at the council)
- if you are employed as a driver of council vehicles your license will need to be routinely checked to ensure the council’s legal obligations in relation to fleet management are met
- to protect and maintain the health, safety and welfare of employees and others in the workplace
Who do we obtain your information from?
We obtain information from various external organisations including, but not limited to, the following;
- HMRC
- Department of Work and Pension, if applicable
- North Yorkshire pension fund
- local government pension scheme
- any salary sacrifice arrangement you sign up to
- your trade union, if applicable
- disclosure and barring service in order to conduct criminal record checks, if applicable
- occupational health providers
- Medigold Health – Hampton Knight
- Experian (in the event that we need to contact you following the termination of your employment. We may need to confirm your up to date contact address to avoid sending any correspondence to an incorrect address. In order to facilitate this we may perform an Experian credit check using your name and last known address). Please see our credit control privacy notice for further information.
Who do we share this information with?
Your information will only be made available to those who need it to do their job in relation to your employment. This includes your line manager(s), as well as our employment and business support teams and HR and legal services when necessary.
In the event that you are involved in an employee relations issue which is being formally investigated or proceeds to a hearing or appeal, then some information will be shared with the officers or councillors who have a role within that process, either through the investigation, hearing or appeal stages.
Should you work in a role involving access to children or vulnerable adults, we may share your data with safeguarding leads, social care professionals and the police, in the event that an allegation is made against you.
Your name, job title, work email address, telephone number, photograph and office base will be available in our internal telephone directory which is accessible to council employees, members and organisations which we work closely or in partnership with. Please be assured your photograph and office base will not be distributed publicly.
Your information may be shared with prospective future employers, landlords, letting agents, or mortgage brokers where you have asked them to contact the council to seek a reference and the council provides this.
We may share your information with the following organisations:
- HMRC
- Department of Work and Pension, if applicable
- North Yorkshire pension fund/teachers’ pensions scheme
- any salary sacrifice arrangement you sign up to such as a Vivup or everybody benefits
- trade unions recognised by North Yorkshire Council for the purposes of collective bargaining and ensuring effective consultation and employee representation including during restructuring and redundancy processes
- examining bodies, if applicable
- disclosure and barring service to conduct criminal record checks, if applicable
- professional bodies relevant to the role in which you are employed for example, health and care professions council, teaching regulation agency or the disclosure and barring service if an issue is raised regarding your suitability to continue working in your role
- occupational health providers
- prospective future employers, landlords, letting agents, or mortgage brokers where you have asked them to contact the council to seek a reference
- Veritau who provides business assurance and information governance services to the council
- organisations with which the council works closely or in partnership with
- Experian (for current address check)
- Medigold Health – Hampton Knight
We have duties under the freedom of information act 2000 to disclose the information we hold unless there are legal grounds on which to withhold it. Therefore, we may disclose your name and work email address publicly in response to a request if we are required to do so.
We may also be required to share personal data with organisations working to detect or prevent crime, such as the police.
How long do we keep your information for?
| Data held | Retention period | |
|---|---|---|
Payroll |
||
| P45 | 6 years from the end of the tax year in which the employee left North Yorkshire Council | |
| Wisdom (personal) file – includes application forms, clearances, contract, HR letters, sick notes | 6 years from the end of the tax year in which the employee left North Yorkshire Council. In circumstances where an active safeguarding enquiry is being conducted it may be necessary to retain records for a longer period. | |
| LAGAN cases (workload management system) – includes any pay or HR related queries or cases | 6 years from the end of the tax year in which the employee left North Yorkshire Council unless there is an active safeguarding enquiry as above | |
| Payroll record | 6 years from the end of the tax year in which the employee left North Yorkshire Council, a skeleton record will be retained after this time | |
| Payslip and claims information | 6 years from the end of the tax year in which the employee left North Yorkshire Council | |
Pensions(This applies to the pension information held by the payroll teams of North Yorkshire Council. Information held by NYPF is subject to their own privacy notice) |
||
| Teachers’ Pensions Information | 20 years after leaving North Yorkshire Council | |
| LGPS scheme information | 20 years after leaving North Yorkshire Council | |
HR casework |
||
| Casework records (not safeguarding/involving children/vulnerable adults) | Sanctions will be disregarded for disciplinary purposes on their expiry. A summary of the case and the actions taken will be retained on personnel file for six years from the end of the tax year in which the employee left North Yorkshire Council | |
| Records relating to safeguarding investigations/involving children/vulnerable adults | Allegations which are found to have been malicious will be removed from personnel files. A clear and comprehensive record of all other allegations, how the allegation was followed up and resolved and a note of any action taken and decisions reached will be kept on personnel files until the employee has reached normal retirement age or for 10 years - whichever is longer. In circumstances where an active safeguarding enquiry is being conducted it may be necessary to retain records for a longer period. | |
| Resolving Issues at Work (including where proven to be unfounded) | 6 years from date of last action | |
| Job Evaluations | 6 years | |
Occupational health |
||
| Occupational health (OH) information – includes referrals, medical reports etc. | 6 years after termination of employment or until 75th Birthday (whichever is sooner) | |
| Health surveillance records | 40 years after leaving North Yorkshire Council | |
Training records |
||
| Training records – includes data held on Training Admin System (TAS)/Learning Zone | 6 years after leaving North Yorkshire Council | |
Recruitment |
||
| Recruitment selection paperwork – successful applicants | Following appointment recruitment paperwork and clearances will be uploaded onto Wisdom (see above). | |
DBS |
||
|
DBS positive clearances DBS negative clearances |
6 years from the end of the tax year in which the employee left North Yorkshire Council | |
Substance testing |
||
|
Positive alcohol and drug test results Negative alcohol and drug test results |
Retained for an investigation under the organisation's disciplinary procedure. Securely destroyed immediately by the testing service. |
|
What is our lawful basis for processing your information?
North Yorkshire Council relies on the following lawful basis to process your personal data:
- UK GDPR Article 6(1)(b)- processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract
In connection with certain job roles, the council may need to collect criminal information. For the processing of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences, processing meets schedule 1, part 1 of the data protection act 2018 as below:
- (1) Employment, social security, and social protection
For the processing of data related to substance use testing the council will rely on the following lawful basis:
UK GDPR Article 6(1)(e) – processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.
When processing special category data, the council will rely on the following lawful basis.
UK GDPR Article 9(2)(b) - 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 in so far as it is authorised by law meeting schedule 1, part 1 of the data protection act 2018 as below:
- (1) employment, social security, and social protection
- (2) health and social care purposes
UK GDPR Article 9 (2)(g) – processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest with processing meeting schedule 1, part 2 of the data protection act 2018 as below:
- (8) Equality of opportunity or treatment
You may wish to read the following in relation to your employment:
- occupational health
- pensions
- resolving Issues at Work
- disciplinary proceedings
- disclosure and barring service (DBS) checks
For more information about how we use your data, including your privacy rights and the complaints process, please see our corporate privacy notice.