Privacy Policy
 

Privacy Policy 

Welcome to Committed HR's Privacy Policy. We appreciate you taking the time to read all our notices carefully.

Committed HR Limited (“Committed HR”) is committed to protecting your privacy by ensuring that any personal data is collected and used lawfully and transparently. When delivering our professional services such as employment law advice, learning and development or HR consultancy services, we are the Data Controller of the personal data that you supply to us under your contract with us. 

This Privacy Notice explains:

• Who we are
• Personal data we collect
• Our legal basis for processing
• Who we may share information with and why
• Where we may transfer data to
• How we keep information secure and deal with security incidents
• How long we may keep your data for
• Your data privacy rights
• How to contact us about your data and the ICO

Who we are

Committed HR specialises in the provision of HR, Employment law and Training consultancy services to businesses within the UK and Ireland. We provide to a diverse range of clients with access to products and services covering a broad spectrum of legal compliance within the employment field.

When providing these services, we take our responsibilities regarding data protection very seriously and are bound by all applicable data protection laws in respect of the handling, processing and collection of data. All employees who handle personal and business data are fully trained to ensure that the data is processed in line with the General Data Protection Regulations 2018 (GDPR) as well as The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

Personal data we collect 

The type and frequency of any personal data collected will always depend on how our services are used. If you do not wish to provide us with certain categories of personal data, you may not be able to use our services in their entirety.

Personal Data provided to us:

We use electronic contact details gathered through our interactions with clients and queries submitted through our website. These details will enable us to generate service quotes, provide newsletter updates and respond to enquiries. You may also provide data to us when registering for an event, seminar or vacancy or when corresponding with us by phone, email, letter or social media. It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. You should keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.

Personal Data collected by us:

Where you ask us to provide services, we may be required to process additional categories of personal data relating to you or other parties to ensure the provision of informed advice.  

Personal Data from other sources:

We may receive information about you and/or your company from specific third parties such as business partners, sub-contractors, advertising networks, analytics providers, hosting providers and search information providers. 

Special Categories of Data:

There may be instances where we need to process Special Category Data provided by you or other users of our services during the lifetime of our service. Special category data is a more sensitive type of data which reveals insights about a person’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, health data, sex life, or sexual orientation. We may also process data that relates to criminal and/or civil offences as well as child data in some very limited circumstances, usually in connection with Legal advice or Employee Assistance programs. Sensitive data collection will only take place where it is applicable to the provision of the services that we are contracted to provide. The fundamental rights of the data subjects are always assessed to ensure that the processing is fair, transparent and lawful.

Online Identifiers:

When you visit our website, a record of your device’s IP address is retained which is used anonymously in order to determine website and page visitors. 

Our legal basis for processing

Before processing any personal data, we ensure that at least one lawful basis under GDPR is met. We will not disclose personal data for any purpose other than what the data was originally collected for; unless there is an overriding legal basis that enables this processing.

We may collect, hold, use and disclose the information collected to compile statistical data and to maintain our data; to develop or improve our website; respond to any queries; notify you of any upcoming marketing, training or other events that we think may be of interest to you; provide you with publications; manage quality control and compliance issues; provide you or your organisation with advice; notify you about important changes or developments to our services; contact you for your views on our services or to determine the suitability for employment.

We may also process your personal data in the following circumstances:

To Perform Our Service Under the Contract:

We process information in order to support and maintain our existing or potential contractual relationships under the lawful basis ‘performance of a contract’. We may process personal data in order to provide various supporting client services, take payments and to make improvements to our website.  The lawful basis which we often rely on to process data for the duration of servicing on your account and for the decision to enter an initial or any subsequent contract is under our ‘legitimate interests’. Ensuring our administrative systems are secure and robust against unauthorised access also falls under this basis.

For Fraud Prevention:

Due to the products we offer to companies, we also have a ‘legal obligation’ to validate the status of companies we work with which may involve identifying and verifying individual data subjects as part of our ‘legitimate interests’ to safeguard against criminal or fraudulent activities. We also need to ensure that VAT and premium tax is paid.

To Defend Legal Issues:

We have a ‘legitimate interest’ to process data which may assist us in connection with the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

To Process Sensitive Data:

In some cases, where the processing is deemed high risk or highly sensitive, we may ask for your ‘consent’ before we undertake the processing. For example, when providing information on reasonable adjustments before an interview. Where consent is used as the lawful basis for the processing, you will be entitled to withdraw that consent at any time as well as exercise your data privacy rights.

When you apply for a vacancy:

You provide several pieces of data to us directly during the recruitment exercise. In some cases, and to facilitate our ‘Legitimate Interests’ we will collect data about you from third parties, such as employment agencies and former employers when gathering references or credit reference agencies. Should you be successful in your job application, we will gather further information from you, for example, your bank details and next of kin details, once your employment begins. We have a Legal Obligation to ensure you have a right to work in the UK and make reasonable adjustments for you if you have a disability. The ongoing lawful basis we rely on to process your data will be under our legal obligations or legitimate interests which may include assessments made on salary.

Data Retention

We only keep your data for as long as necessary, unless there is an overriding legal ground. We will not retain data if it is deemed unlawful to do so. Data may be held for purposes relating to the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims which the we or our clients may face. We will also typically keep data concerning your account for at least seven years from the date you end your contract with us. Some data may be deleted before this time period depending on the category of that data in line with our commercial legitimate interests and retention schedule, for example, data provided to us in the course of an unsuccessful job application will be retained no longer than 6 months after the recruitment exercise.

Personal data that is no longer necessary is deleted securely.

All data subjects have individual rights. On a case by case basis, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data processed by Committed HR:

• The right to be informed about how your personal data is collected and used
• The right to request access to a copy of any personal data that we hold about you
• The right to rectify personal data we may hold which is identified as incorrect or misleading
• The right to erasure of any personal data; also known as ‘the right to be forgotten’
• The right to restrict further processing of your personal data
• The right to data portability where technology allows us to send personal data onto a new controller
• The right to object to the processing or certain processing activities
• Rights in relation to automated decision-making including profiling.

As an organisation we do not operate any automated decision-making systems. Please be aware that the rights listed in this section only apply to individuals and cannot be used to request data relating to business entities. Please be aware that your rights of access do not entitle you to physical or digital copies of any documentation we hold.

Queries and Complaints

We welcome communication around our policies and practices and you can directly contact us via our contacts page on our website.

If you’re not satisfied with our response, or believe we’re not processing your personal data in accordance with the law, you can approach the UK regulator for further guidance at www.ico.org.uk/concerns

Additional Information

This version was last updated and reviewed September 2023

We regularly review and monitor regulatory guidance for any industry changes which may impact our business operations or your rights and freedoms.

In this privacy notice, “personal data” means any information relating to an individual who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data or an online identifier.