Privacy Notice (How we use your personal information).

This privacy notice explains how The Sixth Form College, Colchester collects, uses and shares your personal data including special categories of personal data or criminal conviction and offences data, and your rights in relation to the personal data we hold. This concerns our processing of personal data of past and present staff. It applies to all, permanent, temporary or peripatetic employees of the College.  It will also apply to Governors, volunteers and those undertaking work experience at the College

We are committed to ensuring that the personal data of our employees is handled in accordance with the principles set out in the ICO’s Guide to Data Protection.

The Sixth Form College, Colchester is the data controller of your personal data and is subject to UK Data Protection Legislation currently in force

How we collect your information

We may collect your personal data in a number of ways, for example:

  • from the information you provide to us when you apply for a job at the College.
  • from other bodies as part of our recruitment processes i.e. DBS check 
  • by completion of the annual personal data collection form.
  • in various other ways as you interact with us during your time as an employee of the college, for the various purposes set out below
  • from third parties, for example from your previous or current employer, who may provide a reference about you
  • from pension administrators and other government departments i.e., tax details from HMRC

The type of employee information that we collect:

Information related to your employment

We use the following information to carry out the contract we have for you, provide you access to college services required for your role and manage our human resources processes.  Whilst the majority of information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is provided to us on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), we will inform you whether you are required to provide certain College workforce information to us or if you have a choice in this. We may collect the following types of personal data about you:

  • personal information such as your name, D.O.B, employee or DfE, national insurance number, nationality
  • your photograph
  • personal contact information such as address, email address and phone number.
  • special categories of data including characteristics information such as gender, age, nationality, ethnic group, disabilities.
  • contract information (such as start dates, hours worked, post, roles and salary information)   
  • your next of kin, emergency contacts and their contact information.
  • work absence/ attendance information (such as the reasons and number of occasions)
  • qualifications (and, where relevant, subjects taught)
  • information required for the purpose of processing payroll
  • information required by statutory bodies in order to fulfil our obligations as an employer i.e. HMRC, DfE, Pension Bodies
  • medical information such as relevant medical information etc.
  • pre-employment checks i.e. safeguarding and ID check information and any criminal convictions that you declare to us
  • information regarding your employment history (where applicable) including education, training and development information
  • CPD and performance management forms including Lesson Observation information.
  • data on the use of email and access to the internet.
  • any content featuring you produced for use on our website, SharePoint or social media outlets.

Information related to your salary, pensions etc.

We process this information for the payment of your salary, pension and other employment related benefits.  We also process it for the administration of statutory and contractual leave entitlements such as holiday or maternity leave.

  • Information about your job role and your employment contract including; your start and leave dates, salary (including grade and salary band), any changes to your employment contract, working pattern (including any requests for flexible working).
  • Details of your time spent working and any overtime, expenses or other payments claimed.
  • Details of any leave including sick leave, holidays, special leave etc.
  • Pension details including membership of relevant Teachers Pension or LGPS scheme.
  • Your bank account details, payroll records and tax status information.
  • Trades union membership for the purpose of the deduction of subscriptions directly from salary.
  • Details relating to Maternity, Paternity, Shared Parental and Adoption leave and pay. This includes forms applying for the relevant leave, copies of MATB1 forms/matching certificates and any other relevant documentation relating to the nature of the leave you will be taking.

Information related to your performance and training

We use this information to support your performance and when conducting pay and grading reviews. We also use it to meet the training and development needs required for your role and to deal with any employer/ employee issues.

  • Information relating to your performance at work e.g. probation reviews, PDRs, promotions.
  • Grievance and dignity at work matters and investigations to which you may be a party or witness.
  • Disciplinary records and documentation related to any investigations, hearings and warnings/penalties issued.
  • Capability records relating to any processes undertaken during your employment.
  • Whistleblowing concerns raised by you, or to which you may be a party or witness.
  • Information related to your training history and development needs.

Information relating to your health and wellbeing and other special category data

We use the following information to comply with our legal obligations and for equal opportunities monitoring. We also use it to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees.

  • Health and wellbeing information either declared by you or obtained from health checks, eye examinations, occupational health referrals and reports, sick leave forms, health management questionnaires or fit notes i.e. Statement of Fitness for Work from your GP or hospital.
  • Accident records if you have an accident at work.
  • Details of any desk audits, access needs or reasonable adjustments.
  • Information you have provided regarding Protected Characteristics as defined by the Equality Act and s.75 of the Northern Ireland Act for the purpose of equal opportunities monitoring. This includes racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, disability status, and gender identification and may be extended to include other protected characteristics.

How we use this information

The purposes for which we may use personal data (including special categories of data) we collect during an employee’s association with us are to enable us to: 

  • make reasoned decisions regarding recruitment and employment at the College
  • enable the development of a comprehensive picture of the workforce and how it is deployed
  • produce a college photo ID/lanyard
  • maintain employee records in an accurate manner
  • inform the development of recruitment and retention policies
  • enable individuals to be paid
  • make decisions regarding pension and other legal payroll deductions
  • make relevant returns to Ofsted, DfE as legally required
  • manage and develop the workforce appropriately
  • make relevant management decisions throughout the duration of employment
  • use of photos on website/notice boards etc. as appropriate to your job
  • take appropriate action i.e. in dealing with grievances, disciplinary and competency issues.
  • give access to College systems and services, i.e. for library use
  • meet our compliance and regulatory obligations, such as compliance with safeguarding requirements;
  • in order to assist with investigations (including criminal investigations) carried out by the police and other competent authorities.
  • for compulsory returns to government departments i.e. DfE

We may also process your personal data where: 

  • it is necessary for medical purposes (e.g. medical diagnosis, provision of health or social care or treatment, or a contract with a health professional);
  • it is necessary to protect your or another person’s vital interests; or
  • we have your specific or, where necessary, explicit consent to do so. 

The lawful basis on which we process and use your information

Depending on the processing activity we rely on the following lawful basis for processing your personal data under UK GDPR  

  • Article 6(1)(b) which relates to processing necessary for the performance of a contract.
  • Article 6(1)(c) so we can comply with our legal obligations as your employer.
  • Article 6(1)(d) in order to protect your vital interests or those of another person.
  • Article 6(1)(e) for the performance of our public task.
  • Article 6(1)(f) for the purposes of our legitimate interest.

Where the information we process is special category data, for example your health data, the additional bases for processing that we rely on are:

  • Article 9(2)(a) your explicit consent.
  • Article 9(2)(b) which relates to carrying out our obligations and exercising our rights in employment and the safeguarding of your fundamental rights.
  • Article 9(2)(c) to protect your vital interests or those of another person where you are incapable of giving your consent.
  • Article 9(2)(f) for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims.
  • Article 9(2)(g) – where processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest
  • Article 9(2)(j) for archiving purposes in the public interest.

In addition, we rely on the processing condition at Schedule 1 part 1 paragraph 1 of the DPA 2018. This relates to the processing of special category data for employment purposes. 

We process information about staff criminal convictions and offences. The lawful basis we rely to process this data are:

Article 6(1)(e) for the performance of our public task. In addition, we rely on the processing condition at Schedule 1 part 2 paragraph 6(2)(a) of the DPA 2018.

  • Article 6(1)(b) for the performance of a contract. In addition, we rely on the processing condition at Schedule 1 part 1 paragraph 1 of the DPA 2018

Storing employee data

We hold College workforce data in both physical and electronic form for the period of employment and for six years after date of termination.  Pension data may be held for longer in line with pension regulations.

A retention schedule relating to employee records and all HR processes is available on sharepoint.

Sharing information with others.

For the purposes referred to in this privacy notice and relying on the bases for processing as set out above, we may share your personal data with certain third parties. You are given the opportunity to opt out of some of these data sharing arrangements, for example when you are referred to Occupational Health. Unless an opt-out is in place, we may disclose limited and relevant personal data to a variety of recipients including: 

  • HMRC
  • The Department of Education (DfE)
  • Teachers’ Pension (TP)
  • Local Government Pension (LGPS)
  • Cintra payroll
  • Essex DBS services
  • Essex Schools HR advisory service.
  • Future employers (reference requests)
  • Regulatory Bodies. i.e. Ofsted
  • Government agencies where there is an obligation to report i.e. Safeguarding 
  • Internal and external Auditors
  • Department for Work and Pension (on case by case request)
  • Office of National Statistics (Annual survey of hours and earnings)

Why we share employee information

We do not share information about our employees with anyone without consent unless the law and our policies allow us to do so or in order to carry out legitimate functions.We share information with HMRC, DfE, TP and LGPS on a statutory basis.

Requesting access to your personal data

Under the UK Data Protection Legislation, you have the following rights:

  • to obtain access to, and copies of, the personal data that we hold about you;
  • to require that we cease processing your personal data if the processing is causing you damage or distress;
  • to require us to correct the personal data we hold about you if it is incorrect;
  • to require us to erase your personal data;
  • to require us to restrict our data processing activities (and, where our processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent, without affecting the lawfulness of our processing based on consent before its withdrawal);
  • to receive from us the personal data we hold about you which you have provided to us, in a reasonable format specified by you, including for the purpose of you transmitting that personal data to another data controller;
  • to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to any of our particular processing activities where you feel this has a disproportionate impact on your rights.

Please note that the above rights are not absolute, and we may be entitled to refuse requests where exceptions apply.

If you have given your consent for a particular data processing activity and you wish to withdraw it, please contact our Data Protection Officer using the contact details set out below. Please note that where our processing of your personal data relies on your consent and where you then withdraw that consent, we may not be able to provide all or some aspects of our services to you and/or it may affect the provision of those services

Under data protection legislation, you have the right to request access to information about you that we hold. To make a request for your personal information, contact the College’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) via email:  dpo@colchsfc.ac.uk

Further information

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, or wish to discuss anything in this privacy notice we ask that you raise your concern with the HR department on humanresources@colchsfc.ac.uk  in the first instance. Alternative you can contact the College’s Data Protection Officer via email: dpo@colchsfc.ac.uk

 

You can also contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Appendix A - Special Categories of Personal Data 

The College collects personally sensitive data on all staff e.g. your age, legal gender, disability, ethnic origin.

We collect and process special categories of personal data under the following conditions for processing special category data

  • Employment, social security and social protection (if authorised by law)
  • Reasons of substantial public interest. On the basis of Employment, social security and for reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law) 

  • This is because it is necessary for the delivery of education for students and in order to fulfil our legitimate tasks including Safeguarding Children and individuals at risk (substantial public interest conditions), 

The College takes care in processing this data and only shares this data when there is an explicit or legal basis for doing so.  In processing the data, the College adheres to the principle of ‘Data Minimisation’, ensuring that what is shared is accurate, relevant and limited to what is necessary.

The College processes this data for reasons of substantial public interest, including: regulatory requirement, equality of opportunity or treatment, support for individuals with a particular disability or medical condition, counselling, safeguarding of children and individuals at risk, Safeguarding of economic wellbeing of certain individual and insurance.

In line with the College retention policy, the College will keep data, including special categories of personal data for a period of six years after a student’s association with the College has come to an end.  For Safeguarding information there is a requirement to keep relevant data until the person is 25 years of age or older, for instances where detailed information about activities in school and/or college may form an important part of safeguarding for that individual.