PRIVACY STATEMENT FOR JOB APPLICANTS - OCTOBER 2024
At Barchester Healthcare we are committed to protecting your personal data and handling it responsibly. Our Privacy Statement for Job Applicants explains how we collect and manage your data. The changes we have made are in line with data protection laws, known as the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”), effective from 31st January 2021, and the Data Protection Act 2018 (“Data Protection Laws”). This is part of our ongoing commitment to be transparent about how we use your personal data and keep it safe.
1.1 Under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, we are required to explain to job applicant you why we collect your information, how we intend to use that information and whether we will share this information with anyone else. This statement applies to all persons who have applied to work for Barchester.
1.2 This statement does not form part of any contract of employment or other contract to provide services.
1.3 It is important that you read this Privacy Statement for Job Applicants so that you know how and why we use your information. We may update this Privacy Statement for Job Applicants at any time.
1.4 It is also important that you inform us of any changes to the personal information we hold about you so that the information is accurate and up to date.
2.1 We are Barchester Healthcare Homes Limited (Barchester), a company registered in England and Wales under company number 02849519 and with our registered office at 3rd Floor, The Aspect, Finsbury Square, London, United Kingdom, EC2A 1AS.
2.2 Barchester is the "Data Controller" for the information which we hold about you. This means that we are responsible for deciding how and why we hold your personal information.
3.1 Our Data Protection Officer (DPO) is responsible for overseeing what we do with your information and monitoring our compliance with the Data Protection Laws.
3.2 Our DPO is Michael O’Reilly who is assisted by the Legal Team. If you have any concerns or questions about our use of your personal data, you can contact raise these by emailing dpo@barchester.com or writing to Data Protection Officer, 3rd Floor, The Aspect, Finsbury Square, London, United Kingdom, EC2A 1AS. Alternatively, if you wish to make contact but are unable to use any of the above methods, please contact your relevant Barchester contact who will be able to put your queries forward to the team.
4.1 We process your personal information for a number of reasons, but are primarily collecting information about you which is relevant to our consideration of your application for employment. Without this information, we may not be able to consider your suitability for a job with us.
4.2 In accordance with the Data Protection Laws, we need a lawful basis for collecting and using information about you. These lawful bases are set out in Article 6 of the UK GDPR and, depending on the type of data, may require reliance on additional safeguards set out in Articles 9 and 10 of the UK GDPR and within the Data Protection Act 2018.
Standard personal data:
4.3 We will process standard personal data about you. Please refer to the Appendix to see the types of data we might process about you.
4.4 Our Article 6 UK GDPR lawful bases for processing this type of data are:
4.4.1 You have given us clear consent to process your personal data (in the circumstances where consent is the only available lawful basis) (Article 6(1)(a)) of the UK GDPR); or
4.4.2 It is necessary in order for us to perform our contract of employment with you (Article 6(1)(b) of the UK GDPR) (should an offer for employment be made); or
4.4.3 It is necessary to meet legal / regulatory obligations (Article 6(1)(c) of the UK GDPR); or
4.4.4 It is necessary for our legitimate interests (where they are not overridden by your rights) (Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR).
Special categories of personal data:
4.5 Some of the information which we may process about you will be “special category personal data” and criminal activity data. Special category personal data and criminal activity data (see further below) require a greater level of protection than standard personal data. Please refer to the Appendix to see the types of special category personal data and criminal activity data we might process about you.
4.6 Our Article 6 UK GDPR lawful bases for processing this type of data are:
4.6.1 You have given us consent to process your personal data (in the circumstances where consent is the only available lawful basis) (Article 6(1)(a)) of the UK GDPR); or
4.6.2 It is necessary in order for us to perform our contract of employment with you (should an offer for employment be made) (Article 6(1)(b) of the UK GDPR); or
4.6.3 It is necessary to meet legal / regulatory obligations (Article 6(1)(c) of the UK GDPR); or
4.6.4 It is necessary to protect your life (Article 6(1)(d) of the UK GDPR); or
4.6.5 It is necessary for our legitimate interests (where they are not overridden by your rights) (Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR).
4.7 We also require an Article 9 UK GDPR basis and must meet other additional conditions specified within the Data Protection Act 2018 to process this type of data.
Criminal activity data:
4.8 We may process information about you in relation to details of criminal activity in relation to proven and unproven criminal offences (including allegations of criminal activity, investigations into criminal activity, details of proceedings and outcomes of proceedings). Please refer to the Appendix for more details of the data we might process about you.
4.9 Our Article 6 UK GDPR lawful bases for processing this type of data are:
4.9.1 You have given us consent to process your personal data (in the circumstances where consent is the only available lawful basis) (Article 6(1)(a)) of the UK GDPR); or
4.9.2 It is necessary in order for us to perform our contract of employment with you (should an offer for employment be made) (Article 6(1)(b) of the UK GDPR); or
4.9.3 It is necessary to meet legal / regulatory obligations (Article 6(1)(c) of the UK GDPR); or
4.9.4 It is necessary for our legitimate interests (where they are not overridden by your rights) (Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR).
4.10 We also require an additional Article 10 UK GDPR condition for processing this type of data, and must meet other additional conditions specified within Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 to process this type of data.
5.1 The information described at section 4 which we collect about you will be obtained through a variety of sources which may include:
5.1.1 from you directly as part of the recruitment process;
5.1.2 from third parties as part of the recruitment process (such as employment agencies or job sites, background check providers, former employers, credit reference agencies and agency companies);
5.1.3 information which you have otherwise made public;
5.1.4 from social media activity (such as Facebook, Linkedin etc.);
5.1.5 from credit reference agencies and agency companies;
5.1.6 from safeguarding authorities / commissioning bodies and Integrated Care Boards / other regulators (such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Information Commissioner’s Office) (and in some circumstances, their professional advisors or authorised representatives);
5.1.7 from the Police and other law enforcement agencies (for example, the Home Office), the courts, the Office of the Public Guardian and coroners;
5.1.8 from your professional advisors (including solicitors);
5.1.9 from other entities/persons which fall outside of this list which is made known to us relation to your potential employment or your right or fitness to work; and
5.1.10 because circumstances are variable and change with time there may in some instances be situations outside the list above and we regularly review our Privacy Statement for Job Applicants to assess whether any updates are required.
6.1 We will comply with the Data Protection Laws when using your personal information. At the heart of the Data Protection Laws are the data protection principles (Article 5(1) of the UK GDPR) which say that the personal information we hold about you must be:
6.1.1 processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way;
6.1.2 collected only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes;
6.1.3 adequate and relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes;
6.1.4 accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date;
6.1.5 kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about; and
6.1.6 processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security.
7.1 We will share your personal information with third parties where we have a lawful basis for doing so.
7.2 The types of organisations/persons with which we may share your personal data with are as follows:
7.2.1 External healthcare providers such as your GP, hospital staff, dentists, other care providers etc;
7.2.2 Safeguarding authorities / commissioning bodies and Integrated Care Boards / other regulators (such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Information Commissioner’s Office) (and in some circumstances, their professional advisors or authorised representatives).
7.2.3 The Police and other law enforcement agencies (for example, the Home Office), the courts, the Office of the Public Guardian and coroners.
7.2.4 IT service providers: we may use external IT or software providers who may have access to your personal data from time to time as is necessary to perform their services.
7.2.5 Attorneys/Deputies or others who are acting in your best interests.
7.2.6 Auditors / professional advisors (including solicitors and insurers).
7.3 Some third parties are service providers (including contractors and designated agents) carrying out activities on our behalf (data processors). Other third parties will be data controllers in their own right. This means that they are not required to act on our instructions and they are solely responsible for ensuring that they comply with the law when using your personal data. We are not responsible for their use of your data if we are acting lawfully whenever we share your data with them.
7.4 The following activities are carried out by third-party service providers:
7.4.1 IT services (including Mimecast email gateway; Digital e-learning platforms; and OneFile);
7.4.2 e-recruitment and job applicant tracking (including World Careers Network; and Allocate, where relevant);
7.4.3 apprentice providers (including Hart L&D; HIT Training; and Smart Training where relevant);
7.4.4 risk management system.
7.4.5 Criminal background checking (including Due Diligence Checking Ltd, UCheck, and Protection Vulnerable Groups).
8.1 We strive to ensure that any data necessary to be shared with the companies we work with (i.e. our supply chains) remains within the UK or the EEA in the first instance. However, some companies that provide services to us are located in, or run their services from, countries outside of these areas and resultantly, on occasion, your personal data may be transferred to countries outside of these areas.
9.1 We typically will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collect it. It is possible that we will use your information for other purposes as long as those other purposes are compatible with those set out in this Privacy Statement for Job Applicants. If we intend to do so, we will provide you with information relating to that other purpose before using it for the new purpose.
10.1 To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements. We will only retain your personal information in line with periods calculated using such criteria and in consideration of how long it is reasonable to keep records to show we have met the obligations we have to you and by law, any time limits for making a claim, any periods for keeping information which are set by law or recommended by regulators, professional bodies or associations.
10.2 In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal information so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use such information without further notice to you.
11.1 Under certain circumstances, you have the right to:
11.1.1 Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
11.1.2 Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
11.1.3 Request erasure of your personal information in certain circumstances. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
11.1.4 Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) or public interest as our lawful basis for processing and there is something about your particular situation which leads you to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object if we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
11.1.5 In the limited circumstances where we are relying on your consent as our lawful basis to process your data for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. If you withdraw your consent, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another lawful basis for doing so.
11.1.6 Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
11.2 If you wish to exercise any of the above rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer whose details are set out in section 3.
12.1 You will not be subject to decisions that will have a significant impact on you based solely on automated decision-making.
13.1 You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (the "ICO") if you are not satisfied with the way we use your information. You can contact the ICO by writing to Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF or ico.org.uk.
14.1 We reserve the right to update this Privacy Statement for Job Applicants at any time where appropriate.
APPENDIX
DATA TYPES
- The standard personal data we may process about you includes:
- personal details (such as name, date of birth, gender, nationality, marital status, national insurance number), contact details (such as your address, personal telephone number and personal email address), and confirmation of your identity (such as a copy of your passport, birth certificate, driving licence) in order to confirm your identity, for recruitment and ongoing employment purposes and in order to communicate with you in relation to the recruitment process, to allow us to assess that you are a fit and proper person to work for us and for the purposes of communicating with you throughout the recruitment process for reasons connected to your potential employment;
- recruitment information (such as copies of right to work documents, references and other information included in a CV/job application form or cover letter or as part of the application process) in order for us to assess your lawful right to work in the UK and for statistical and equal opportunities monitoring purposes;
- information about your family and others (such as dependants, next of kin and emergency contact numbers) so we know who to contact if there is an emergency;
- details and evidence of professional qualifications (for example, if you are a nurse, your NMC PIN number) so we can verify these are required for your job role and to ensure you are a fit and proper person to work within that role and to assess your skills and qualifications for the role you are applying for;
- information relating to your remuneration (such as bank account details, payroll records, tax status information, salary history, pension and benefits, information about your previous employment (such as job titles, work history, working hours, training records, professional memberships, salary / compensation history) so that we are able to pay and provide any benefits to you, as well as deducing National Insurance contributions, for the purposes of fulfilling our requirements in respect of your pension and for making decisions about your salary;
- disciplinary and grievance information (including with any third party organisations, such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council);
- security information images/audio of you (such as CCTV footage, etc.) and photographs in order to ensure public safety i.e. the safety and security of our residents and job applicants and those who visit our premises, as well as identify and help to deter criminal activity (such as vandalism/damage to the property and theft) and create an overall secure living and working environment;
- we may also process your data by sending you email or text message communications in relation to your potential employment/the business and ask for your views on the ways in which we could improve our services and improve the recruitment services pursuant to our contact with you; and
- because circumstances are variable and change with time, there may in some instances be situations outside the list above, and we regularly review our privacy statements to assess whether any updates are required.
- The special category personal data which we may process about you (in order to analyse the workforce and monitor to ensure meaningful equal opportunity monitoring and reporting, identify protected characteristics and comply with legal obligations) includes:
- information about your racial or ethnic origin;
- information about your religious beliefs;
- information about your sex life and sexual orientation and political opinions; and
- trade union membership (in order to make trade union premiums);
- information about your health, including any disabilities or special requirements which you may have, medical condition or disability, health and sickness records applying to the time you have spent with us, your medical history, vaccination status and history (in order to allow us to determine any workplace adjustments, to ensure your health and safety and the health and safety around you within the workplace and to assess your fitness to work should an offer for employment be made);
- We may process criminal activity data about you. This may include information in relation to allegations of criminality, investigations and proceedings. We will only this type of information if it is appropriate given the nature of the role and where we are legally able and / or required to do so. Where appropriate, we will collect information about criminal convictions as part of the recruitment process, or we may be notified of such information directly by you/others in the course of you working for us. We will use information about criminal convictions and offences in the following ways:
- To assess whether you are a fit and proper person to work for us.
- To protect our residents/others within the workplace from the risk of assault, abuse, theft or possession or any other detriment at the hands of unsuitable job applicants.
- We have a duty of care to ensure that the people we employ have no history that would indicate they are unsuitable to work with vulnerable people.
- We are allowed to use your personal information in this way to carry out our obligations as your prospective employer and because it is necessary to meet legal / regulatory obligations.
- Less commonly, we may use information relating to criminal convictions where it is necessary in relation to legal claims, where it is necessary to protect your interests (or someone else's interests) and you are not capable of giving your consent, or where you have already made the information public.
- We may also process such information in the course of legitimate business activities with the appropriate safeguards.
CAREERS AT BARCHESTER
When you join the Barchester family, we don’t just want you to feel valued, we want you to truly love what you do. With so many career paths and learning and development opportunities available, discover the crucial part you could soon be playing in the teams that keep our homes and hospitals thriving.
ABOUT BARCHESTER
We’re proud to have over 260 care homes and six independent hospitals nationwide, that continually meet and exceed all relevant regulatory compliance standards. Join one of our fantastic teams and you’ll make sure our residents and patients get the outstanding quality of care, support, services and facilities they deserve.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
We know each day as a nurse is unique. And we understand your role is filled with life-changing moments. That’s why here at Barchester, we’re committed to rewarding your amazing work and dedication. With the autonomy to deliver the highest quality care and support to our residents and patients, you’ll feel truly empowered in your career.