Job Applicant Privacy Policy

What this policy covers

Hillier Nurseries Limited collect and process personal data relating to job applicants as part of our recruitment process.  We are committed to being transparent about we collect and use that data in order to meet our data protection obligations. This policy sets out the basis on which we collect, use and disclose the personal data of our job applicants as well as your entitlements in respect of how we use your personal data.

What information do we collect and how?

Hillier Nurseries Limited collect a range and processes 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 interviews and phone-screenings you may have;
• information about your current level of remuneration, including benefit entitlements;
• information about your eligibility to work in the UK

This information is obtained in a variety of ways. For example, data is collected through CVs (including when these are sent to us speculatively), obtained from your passport or other identity documents such as your driving licence; or collected through interviews or other methods of assessment. The company will collect personal data concerning you from third parties, for example via references supplied by former employers.  We will only seek information from a third party once a job offer has been made to you. Data will be stored in different places including on your application record, in HR management systems and other IT systems (including email).

Why do we process personal data?

Hillier Nurseries Limited collect and process your data for a number of reasons and where we have a legal basis to do so as follows: Hillier Nurseries Limited has a legitimate interest in processing personal data during the recruitment process and for keeping records of the process.  Processing data from job applicants enables us to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm a candidate’s suitability for employment and decide to whom we offer a role.  We may also need to process data from job applicants to respond to and defend against legal claims. In some circumstances, we need to process data to ensure that we are complying with our legal obligations.  For example, we are required to check a successful candidate’s eligibility to work in the UK before employment starts. Hillier Nurseries Limited may process health information if it needs to make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process for candidates who have a disability.  This is to ensure we meet our employment law obligations or (only where applicable) to enable us to establish, exercise or defend legal claims. We will not use your data for any purpose other than the recruitment process of which you are a part.

Who has access to data?

Your information will be shared internally within the company for the purposes of the recruitment process.  This includes members of the HR team, hiring managers involved in the selection and interviewing process and managers in the business area with the vacancy. We will not share your information with third parties unless your application for employment is successful and an offer of employment is made.  We will then share your data with former employers to secure references and depending on the nature of the role to be performed, Credit Reference Agencies.  On occasion, we may share your data with senior management for other types of monitoring and business management purposes. We may also need to share your personal information with a regulator or otherwise to comply with the law. In limited and necessary circumstances your data may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) or to an international organisation to comply with our legal or contractual requirements.  We have in place a series of safeguards to ensure the security of your data and have undertaken thorough checks with any companies we work with to ensure the processing of any data is in line with our expectations and the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation.

How will we protect data?

The company takes the security of your data seriously. The organisation has internal policies and IT controls in place to ensure that your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessed except by those who need to do so in the proper performance of their duties.

How long do we keep data?

If your application for employment is unsuccessful (including when you have speculatively applied to us in respect of a role which is not available), we will hold your data on file for 6 months.  At the end of that period, your data is deleted or destroyed (unless we need to retain it for longer to exercise or defend any legal claims). If your application for employment is successful, personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your personnel record and retained during your employment.  The periods for which employee data is held will be provided to you in a separate privacy notice.

Your rights

As a data subject you have a number of rights under data protection law.  You can:

• Access and obtain a copy of your data on request;
• Require Hillier Nurseries Limited to change incorrect or incomplete data;
• Require Hillier Nurseries Limited 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 Hillier is relying on its legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing or
• Ask us to transfer your data to another organisation.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights or if you have any questions about this policy please contact: hr@hillier.co.uk You can make a subject access request by contacting: sar@hillier.co.uk.  A form will then be sent to you for completion. If you believe the company has not complied with your data protection rights, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

What if you do not provide personal data?

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to Hillier Nurseries Limited during the recruitment process.  However, if you do not provide the information, we may not be able to process your application.