Job Applicant Privacy Statement

Middleton Co-operating - Job Applicant Privacy Notice

As part of the recruitment process, Middleton Cooperating will collect and process personal data relating to job applicants. We are committed to being transparent about how we collect and use that data and to meeting our data protection obligations.

What information will we collect?

We will collect a range of information about you. This includes:

  • your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number;
  • details of your qualifications, skills, experience and employment history;
  • information about your current level of remuneration, including benefit entitlements;
  • whether you have a disability for which the organisation needs to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process;
  • information about your entitlement to work in the UK.

We collect this information in a variety of ways. For example, data might be contained in CVs or resumes, obtained from your passport or other identity documents, or collected through interviews or other forms of assessment.

We will also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by former employers. We will only seek information from third parties once a job offer has been made to you, and we will inform you that we are doing so.

Data will be stored in a range of different places, including on your application record, and on other IT systems (including email).

Why does Middleton Co-operating process personal data?

We need to process data to enter into an employment contract, and to ensure that we are complying with our legal obligations. For example, we are required to check a successful applicant's eligibility to work in the UK before employment starts.

We have a legitimate interest in processing personal data during the recruitment process and for keeping records of the process. Processing data from job applicants allows us to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm a candidate's suitability for employment and decide on which applicant we will offer the job to. We may also need to process data from job applicants to respond to and defend against legal claims.

We will process health information if we receive requests to make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process for candidates who have a disability. This is to carry out our obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.

For some roles, we are obliged to seek information about criminal convictions and offences. Where we seek this information, we do so because it is necessary for us to carry out our obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.

Who has access to data?

Your information will be shared internally for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes the recruitment team and interviewers involved in the recruitment process.

We will not share your data with third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and we make you an offer of employment. We 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.

We will not transfer your data outside the UK.

How does Middleton Co-operating protect data?

We take the security of your data seriously. We have 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 members of our management committee in the proper performance of their duties.

How long does Middleton Co-operating keep data?

If your application for employment is unsuccessful, we will hold your data on file for one year 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.

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 us to change incorrect or incomplete data;
  • require us 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 we are relying on our legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing; and
  • ask us to stop processing data for a period if data is inaccurate or there is a dispute about whether your interests override our organisation's legitimate grounds for processing data.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact Phill Worthington at phillpersonal@gmail.com

If you believe that the organisation has not complied with your data protection rights, you can complain to the Information Commissioner.

What if you do not provide personal data?

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to us during the recruitment process. However, if you do not provide the information, we may not be able to process your application properly or at all. If your application is successful, it will be a condition of any job offer that you provide evidence of your right to work in the UK and satisfactory references.

Automated decision-making

Recruitment processes are not based on automated decision-making.