Privacy Notice for staff, councillors and role holders

Data Controller

Wirral Council is the data controller. This means it decides how your personal data is processed and for what purposes.

Wirral Council

PO Box 290

Brighton Street

Wallasey

Wirral

CH27 9FQ

Personal Data

Personal data relates to a living individual who can be identified from that data. Identification can be by the information alone or in conjunction with any other information in the data controller’s possession or likely to come into such possession.

Covered by this Policy

“Staff” means employees, workers, agency staff and those retained on a temporary or permanent basis

**Includes, volunteers, contractors, agents, and other role holders within the council including former employees and former councillors.

This also includes applicants or candidates for any of these roles.

Your personal data – what is it?

“Personal data” is any information about a living individual which allows them to be identified from that data (for example a name, photograph, video, email address, or address).

Identification can be directly using the data itself or by combining it with other information which helps to identify a living individual (e.g. a list of staff may contain personnel ID numbers rather than names but if you use a separate list of the ID numbers which give the corresponding names to identify the staff in the first list then the first list will also be treated as personal data). The processing of personal data is governed by legislation relating to personal data which applies in the United Kingdom including the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) and other legislation relating to personal data and rights such as the Human Rights Act.

Who are we?

This Privacy Notice is provided to you by Wirral Council which is the Data Controller for your data.

The council works together with:

other data controllers, such as local authorities, public authorities, central government and agencies such as HMRC
schools
occupational Health providers
pension providers
former and prospective employers
DBS services suppliers
payroll services providers
recruitment Agencies
credit reference agencies

We may need to share personal data we hold with them so that they can carry out their responsibilities to the council and our community. The organisations referred to above will sometimes be “joint data controllers”. This means we are all responsible to you for how we process your data where for example two or more data controllers are working together for a joint purpose. If there is no joint purpose or collaboration then the data controllers will be independent and will be individually responsible to you.

The council will comply with data protection law. This says that the personal data we hold about you must be:

used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way
collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes
relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes
accurate and kept up to date
kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about
kept and destroyed securely including ensuring that appropriate technical and security measures are in place to protect your personal data to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure

What data do we process?

names, titles, and aliases, photographs
start date and leaving date Contact details such as telephone numbers, addresses, and email addresses
where they are relevant to our legal obligations, or where you provide them to us, we may process information such as gender, age, date of birth, marital status, nationality, education/work history, academic/professional qualifications, employment details, family composition, and dependants
non-financial identifiers such as passport numbers, driving licence numbers, vehicle registration numbers, employee personal numbers, tax reference codes, and national insurance numbers
financial identifiers such as bank account numbers, payment/transaction identifiers
financial information such as National Insurance number, pay and deduction records, tax code, tax and benefits contributions, expenses claimed
other operational personal data created, obtained, or otherwise processed in the course of carrying out our activities, including but not limited to, CCTV footage, recordings of telephone conversations, IP addresses and website visit histories, logs of visitors, and logs of accidents, injuries and insurance claims
next of kin and emergency contact information
recruitment information (including copies of right to work documentation, references and other information included in a CV or cover letter or as part of the application process and referral source (e.g. agency, staff referral))
location of employment or workplace
other staff data (not covered above) including; level, performance management information, languages and proficiency; licences/certificates, immigration status; employment status; information for disciplinary and grievance proceedings
CCTV footage and other information obtained through electronic means such as swipe card records
information about your use of our information and communications systems

We use your personal data for some or all of the following purposes: -

Please note: We need all the categories of personal data in the list above primarily to allow us to perform our contract with you and to enable us to comply with legal obligations.

making a decision about your recruitment or appointment.
determining the terms on which you work for us
checking you are legally entitled to work in the UK. Paying you and, if you are an employee, deducting tax and National Insurance contributions
providing any contractual benefits to you
liaising with your pension provider
administering the contract we have entered into with you
management and planning, including accounting and auditing
conducting performance reviews, managing performance and determining performance requirements
making decisions about salary reviews and compensation
assessing qualifications for a particular job or task, including decisions about promotions
conducting grievance or disciplinary proceedings
making decisions about your continued employment or engagement
making arrangements for the termination of our working relationship
education, training and development requirements
dealing with legal disputes involving you, including accidents at work
ascertaining your fitness to work in partnership with our Occupational Health provider
managing sickness absence
complying with health and safety obligations
to prevent fraud
to monitor your use of our information and communication systems to ensure compliance with our IT policies
to ensure network and information security, including preventing unauthorised access to our computer and electronic communications systems and preventing malicious software distribution
to conduct data analytics studies to review and better understand employee retention and attrition rates
equal opportunities monitoring
to undertake activity consistent with our statutory functions and powers including any delegated functions
to maintain our own accounts and records
to seek your views or comments
to process a job application
to administer councillors’ interests
to provide a reference

Our processing may also include the use of CCTV systems for monitoring purposes.

Some of the above grounds for processing will overlap and there may be several grounds which justify our use of your personal data.

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use Personal data in the following circumstances:

where we need to perform the contract we have entered into with you
where we need to comply with a legal obligation

We may also use your personal data in the following situations, which are likely to be rare:

where we need to protect your interests (or someone else’s interest)
where it is needed in the public interest (or for official purposes)

How we use sensitive personal data

We may process sensitive personal data relating to staff, councillors and role holders including, as appropriate:

information about your physical or mental health or condition in order to monitor sick leave and take decisions on your fitness for work
your racial or ethnic origin or religious or similar information in order to monitor compliance with equal opportunities legislation
in order to comply with legal requirements and obligations to third parties

These types of data are described in the GDPR as “Special categories of data” and require higher levels of protection. We need to have further justification for collecting, storing and using this type of personal data.

We may process special categories of personal data in the following circumstances:

in limited circumstances, with your explicit written consent
where we need to carry out our legal obligations
where it is needed in the public interest, such as for equal opportunities monitoring or in relation to our pension scheme
where it is needed to assess your working capacity on health grounds, subject to appropriate confidentiality safeguards

Less commonly, we may process this type of personal data where it is needed in relation to legal claims or where it is needed 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 do not need your consent if we use your sensitive personal data in accordance with our rights and obligations in the field of employment and social security law
in limited circumstances, we may approach you for your written consent to allow us to process certain sensitive personal data. If we do so, we will provide you with full details of the personal data that we would like and the reason we need it, so that you can carefully consider whether you wish to consent
you should be aware that it is not a condition of your contract with us that you agree to any request for consent from us

Information about criminal convictions

We may only use personal data relating to criminal convictions where the law allows us to do so.

this will usually be where such processing is necessary to carry out our obligations and provided we do so in line with our data protection policy
less commonly, we may use personal data relating to criminal convictions where it is necessary in relation to legal claims, where it is necessary to protect your interest (or someone else’s interests) and you are not capable of giving your consent, or where you have already made the information public
we will only collect personal data about criminal convictions if it is appropriate given the nature of the role and where we are legally able to do so. Where appropriate we will collect personal data about criminal convictions as part of the recruitment process or we may be notified of such personal data directly by you in the course of you working for us

What is the legal basis for processing?

Some of our processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation.

We may also process data if it is necessary for the performance of a contract with you, or to take steps to enter into a contract.

We will also process your data in order to assist you in fulfilling your role in the council including administrative support or if processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation.

Your personal data will only be shared with third parties including other data controllers where it is necessary for the performance of the data controllers’ tasks or where you first give us your prior consent. It is likely that we will need to share your data with:

our agents, suppliers and contractors
other persons or organisations operating within local community
other data controllers, such as local authorities, public authorities, central government and agencies such as HMRC
pension providers
occupational health providers
schools
former and prospective employers
DBS services suppliers
payroll services providers
recruitment Agencies
credit reference agencies
professional advisors
trade unions or employee representatives

How long do we keep your personal data?

We will keep some records permanently if we are legally required to do so. We may keep some other records for an extended period of time. For example, it is currently best practice to keep financial records for a minimum period of 6 years to support HMRC audits or provide tax information.

We may have legal obligations to retain some data in connection with our statutory obligations as a public authority. The council is permitted to retain data in order to defend or pursue claims. In some cases the law imposes a time limit for such claims (for example 3 years for personal injury claims or 6 years for contract claims). We will retain some personal data for this purpose as long as we believe it is necessary to be able to defend or pursue a claim.

In general, we will endeavour to keep data only for as long as we need it. This means that we will delete it when it is no longer needed.

Your responsibilities

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your working relationship with us.

Your rights in connection with personal data

You have the following rights with respect to your personal data: -

When exercising any of the rights listed below, in order to process your request, we may need to verify your identity for your security. In such cases we will need you to respond with proof of your identity before you can exercise these rights.

1. The right to access personal data we hold on you

At any point you can contact us to request the personal data we hold on you as well as why we have that personal data, who has access to the personal data and where we obtained the personal data from. Once we have received your request we will respond within one month.

There are no fees or charges for the first request but additional requests for the same personal data or requests which are manifestly unfounded or excessive may be subject to an administrative fee.

2. The right to correct and update the personal data we hold on you

If the data we hold on you is out of date, incomplete or incorrect, you can inform us and your data will be updated.

3. The right to have your personal data erased

If you feel that we should no longer be using your personal data or that we are unlawfully using your personal data, you can request that we erase the personal data we hold.

When we receive your request we will confirm whether the personal data has been deleted or the reason why it cannot be deleted (for example because we need it for to comply with a legal obligation).

4. The right to object to processing of your personal data or to restrict it to certain purposes only

You have the right to request that we stop processing your personal data or ask us to restrict processing. Upon receiving the request we will contact you and let you know if we are able to comply or if we have a legal obligation to continue to process your data.

5. The right to data portability

You have the right to request that we transfer some of your data to another controller.

We will comply with your request, where it is feasible to do so, within one month of receiving your request.

You can withdraw your consent easily by telephone, email, or by post (see Contact Details below).

7. The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

If you remain dissatisfied following an internal complaint, you can lodge a complaint by contacting the Information Commissioners Office:

Phone: 0303 123 1113

Email: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us

By post: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Transfer of data abroad

Any personal data transferred to countries or territories outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”) will only be placed on systems complying with measures giving equivalent protection of personal rights either through international agreements or contracts approved by the European Union. Our website is also accessible from overseas so on occasion some personal data (for example in a newsletter) may be accessed from overseas.

Further processing

If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Privacy Notice, then we will provide you with a new notice explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions. Where and whenever necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing, if we start to use your personal data for a purpose not mentioned in this notice.

Contact us

Please contact us if you have any questions about this privacy notice or the personal data we hold about you or to exercise all relevant rights, queries or complaints to:

Data Protection Officer Jane Corrin by email DPO@wirral.gov.uk

Changes to our privacy notice

We regularly review our privacy notice and encourage you to check it from time to time. This notice was last updated in November 2022.