Privacy Policy for Job Applicants

Introduction

Protecting your personal data is very important; including making sure it is only used and shared when appropriate. This policy outlines how the personal data of job applicants and prospective employees of Green Element Limited and Compare Your Footprint Limited (herein referred to as “Green Element Group”) will be used, and your associated legal rights.  Personal data is defined as information from which individuals may be identified.

This policy applies to all job applicants to Green Element Group in the UK and is in line with the UK GDPR and other data protection laws.

1. Types of Personal Data

Green Element Group obtains personal data relating to job applicants and prospective employees including, but not limited to:

• name, address, and other contact details;
• information about previous employment, educational details, skills, and experience;
• details of training and qualifications;
• information relating to your health and health conditions;
• race and ethnicity;
• unspent criminal convictions;
• communications and correspondence;
• publicly available information, including via social networking sites and public profiles;
• other biographical and personal data; and
• salary expectations and information on preferred working arrangements.

Green Element Group will not retain your data for any longer than is necessary and we will delete it once it is no longer needed. If you become an employee of Green Element Group, your data will be stored in line with our Data Protection Policy which is available on our employee sharepoint page.

For unsuccessful job applicants we will hold your data for 1 year after the decision not to offer you a position within Green Element Group, unless you specifically request that we hold if for a longer, or shorter, period.

2. Uses of Personal Data

Green Element Group will use your personal data for a variety of purposes. These include, but are not limited to:

• recruitment, screening, and assessment;
• activities relating to interviewing and selecting job applicants and prospective employees (and maintaining related records);
• identifying and selecting possible candidates for employment opportunities which may arise in the future;
• compliance with statutory and regulatory obligations;
• managing legal disputes;
• exercising or fulfilling Green Element Limited’s legal rights and responsibilities; and
• in the prevention or detection of fraud, crime, or other unlawful or inappropriate conduct.

By submitting your CV and/or submitting a job application to Green Element Group you are giving your consent to process your application data.   You may withdraw this consent at any time by contacting us via one of the methods set out in section 8 below.

3. Legal Basis for Using Job Applicant Data

In general, we may process your data as part of your application to us on the basis of:

• it is necessary to fulfil our obligations or exercise our rights relating to employment, social security, and social protection law;
• it is necessary for equal opportunities;
• it is necessary in connection with legal claims; or
• it is necessary for preventing or detecting unlawful acts.

Where data is collected and used solely on the basis of consent, you have the right to withdraw consent at any time.

4. Disclosures of Data

Where necessary and lawful, your personal data may be disclosed, for example, to:

• Green Element Group management, colleagues, staff, or contractors involved in recruitment and talent management;
• other Green Element Group companies or joint ventures;
• our professional advisers, such as solicitors, accountants, and consultants;
• government departments and agencies;
• police and law enforcement agencies;
• courts and tribunals; and
• partners, suppliers, agents, and service providers.

Green Element Group may use cookies to monitor the success of its recruitment campaigns when applying for advertised roles.

5. Automated Decision-Making

We do not use automated decision-making for any roles within Green Element Group.

6. International Transfers of Data

In the event it is necessary for Green Element Group to transfer some personal data outside of the European Economic Area, including to countries where local legislation does not provide adequate safeguards regarding the protection and security of personal data, we will make sure that the transfer is compliant with data protection law and that personal data is secure.  This will typically occur when service providers used by Green Element Group are located outside the EEA.

Where appropriate and lawful, we may exceptionally transfer data outside the EEA without relying on the standard data protection clauses, including where:

• the individual has explicitly consented to the transfer;
• it is needed as part of the contract between Green Element Group and an employee; or
• it is necessary in connection with legal disputes and claims.

7. Your Rights

You have a number of statutory rights under UK GDPR and other data protection laws.  This includes the right to request that Green Element Group:

• provides you with a copy of your personal data held;
• corrects information which is incorrect, out of date, or incomplete; and
• deletes information which Green Element Group does not have a legitimate basis to hold, for example, when you withdraw consent or object, and we have no legitimate overriding interest, or once the purpose for which we hold the data has come to an end.

You also have rights to restrict the processing of data relating to you, object to processing and in certain circumstances to ‘data portability’ (this means that data is provided in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format).

Detailed information on these rights can be found on the website maintained by the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk.

These rights can be exercised free of charge and Green Element Group will normally respond within a month to a request.  If you wish to exercise your rights in relation to any information you have submitted to Green Element Group then please contact us via one of the methods set out in section 8 below.

8. Queries or Complaints

For any queries about the way we handle your personal data, please contact William Richardson, Data Protection Officer by phone at 0131 677 0183, by email at william@greenelement.co.uk or by post to: Green Element Limited, The Station House, 15 Station Road, St Ives, PE27 5BH.

If you feel that your data has not been handled correctly, or you are unhappy with our response to any requests you have made to us regarding the use of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.  You can contact them by calling 0303 123 1113 or go online to www.ico.org.uk/concerns.

Last updated: July 2024