Recruitment and Selection

Q? How does the Act affect recruitment and selection?

• If you collect or use information about people as part of a recruitment or selection exercise, the Data Protection Act will apply. For example, you might obtain information about people by asking them to complete an application form or to e-mail their CV to you.
• The Act does not prevent you recruiting staff effectively. What it does is help strike a balance between an employer’s need for information and an applicant’s right to respect for their private life.
• The Act requires openness. Applicants should be aware what information about them is being collected and what it will be used for. Gathering information about an applicant covertly is unlikely to be justified.

Q? If I want to collect or use information about job applicants, what must I do?

• Make sure that when you place a recruitment advert you identify your organisation properly – people should know who they are applying to. If you are using a recruitment agency, make sure the agency identifies itself.
• Use the information you collect for recruitment or selection only. If you are going to use the information for any purpose that goes beyond this, such as to add names to your company’s marketing list, you must explain this clearly.
• Ensure that those involved in recruitment and selection are aware that data protection rules apply and that they must handle personal information with respect.
• Do not collect more personal information than you need. It is a breach of data protection rules to collect personal information that is irrelevant or excessive. Design your application forms with this in mind.
• Do not collect from all applicants information that you only need from the person that you go on to appoint, such as banking details, or information you only need from applicants for particular jobs, such as details of motoring offences.
• Keep the personal information you obtain secure; it should not normally be disclosed to another organisation without the individual’s consent.
• Only ask for information about criminal convictions if this is justified by the type of job you are recruiting for. Don’t ask for ‘spent’ convictions unless the job is covered by the Exceptions Order to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
• If you are going to verify the information a person provides, make sure they know how this will be done and what information will be checked.
• If you need to verify criminal conviction information, only do this by getting a ‘disclosure’ about someone from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). Make sure you are entitled to receive this information and that you follow the CRB’s procedures strictly. Only keep a record that a satisfactory/unsatisfactory check was made; do not hold on to detailed information.
• Only keep information obtained through a recruitment exercise for as long as there is a clear business need for it.