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Recruitment Privacy Notice

As part of any recruitment process, Freeways collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants. Freeways is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to metting its data protection obligtations.

What information does Freeways Collect?

Freeways Collects 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;
  • whether or not you have a disability for which Freeways needs to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process;
  • information about your entitlement to work in the UK; and 
  • equal opportunities monitoring information, including information about your ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health and religion or belief.

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

Freeways may also collect personal data about you from thrid parties, such as references supplied by former employers, information from employment background check providers and information from criminal record checks. We will seek information from third parties only once a job offer to you has been made.

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 does Freeways process personal data?

Freeways needs to process data to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract with you. It may also need to process your data to enter into a contact with you.

In some cases, Freeways 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. Freeways 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 Freeways to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm a candidate's suitability for employment and decide to whom to offer a job. Freeways may also need to process data from job applicants to respond to and defend against legal claims.

If your application for employment is successful, personal data gatheredd during the recruitment process will be trainsferred to your personnel file and retained during your employment. You will be sent a new employee privacy notice.

Freeways may process information about whether or not applicants are disabled to make reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability. This is to carry out its obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.

Where Freeways processes other special categories of data, such as information about ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health or religion or belief, this is for equal opportunities monitoring purposes.

For some roles, Freeways is obliged to seek information about criminal convictions and offences. Where Freeways seeks this information, it does so because it is necessary for it to carry out its obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.

Freeways will not use your data for any purpose other than the recruitment exercise for which you have applied.

If your application is unsuccessful, Freeways may keep your personal data on file in cases there are future employment opportunities for which you may be suited. Please let us know if you do not wish to be contacted about future vacancies.

Who has access to data?

Your information may 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.

Freeways will not share your data with third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and it maes you an offer of employment. Freeways 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. Freeways will not transfer your data outside the European Economic Area.

How does Freeways protect data?

Freeways 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.

For how long does Freeways keep data?

If your application for employment is unsuccessful, Freeways will hold your data on file for a maximum of  9 months after the end of the relevant recruitment process. At the end of that period, 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. You will be sent a new employee privacy notice.

What if you do not provide personal data?

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

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 Freeways to change incorrect or incomplete data;
  • require Freeways to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing; and
  • object to the processing of your data where Freeways is relying on its legitimate interest as the legal ground for processing.

If you would like to exercise and of these rights, please contact Freeways Head Office, Leigh Court Day Centre, Pill Road, Abbots Leigh, Bristol BS8 3RA.

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