Our Legal Bases For Processing Your Data

Legitimate Interests

• Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR is the one that is relevant here – it says that we can process your data where it “is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by [us] or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights or freedoms of [you] which require protection of personal data.”
• We don’t think that any of the following activities prejudice individuals in any way. However, you do have the right to object to us processing your personal data on this basis. If you would like to learn know more about how to do so, please email us by clicking here.

Candidate Data:

• We think it’s reasonable to expect that if you are looking for employment or have posted your professional CV information on a job board or professional networking site, you are happy for us to collect and otherwise use your personal data to offer or provide our recruitment services to you, share that information with prospective employers and assess your skills against our bank of vacancies. Once it’s looking like you may get the job, your prospective employer may also want to double check any information you’ve given us (such as the results from psychometric evaluations or skills tests) or to confirm your references, qualifications and criminal record, to the extent that this is appropriate and in accordance with local laws. We need to do these things so that we can function as a profit-making business, and to help you and other Candidates get the jobs you deserve.
• We want to provide you with tailored job recommendations and relevant articles to read to help you on your job hunt. We therefore think it’s reasonable for us to process your data to make sure that we send you the most appropriate content.
• We also think that it might help with your job search if you take part in our specialist online training or some of our more interactive services, if you have the time. These are part of our service offering as a business, and help differentiate us in a competitive marketplace, so it is in our legitimate interests to use your data for this reason.
• We must make sure our business runs smoothly, so that we can carry on providing services to Candidates like you. We therefore also need to use your data for our internal administrative activities, like payroll and invoicing where relevant.
• We have our own obligations under the law, which it is a legitimate interest of ours to insist on meeting! If we believe in good faith that it is necessary, we may therefore share your data in connection with crime detection, tax collection or actual or anticipated litigation.

Client Data:

• To ensure that we provide you with the best service possible, we store your personal data and/or the personal data of individual contacts at your organisation as well as keeping records of our conversations, meetings, registered jobs and placements. From time to time, we may also ask you to undertake a customer satisfaction survey. We think this is reasonable – we deem these uses of your data to be necessary for our legitimate interests as an organisation providing various recruitment services to you.

Supplier Data:

• We use and store the personal data of individuals within your organisation to facilitate the receipt of services from you as one of our Suppliers. We also hold your financial details, so that we can pay you for your services. We deem all such activities to be necessary within the range of our legitimate interests as a recipient of your services.

Other People (whose data we receive from candidates and staff, such as referees and emergency contacts):

• If you have been put down by a Candidate or a prospective member of Staff as one of their referees, we use your personal data to contact you for a reference. This is a part of our quality assurance procedure and so we deem this to be necessary for our legitimate interests as an organisation offering recruitment services and employing people ourselves.
• If a Candidate or Staff member has given us your details as an emergency contact, we will use these details to contact you in the case of an accident or emergency. We are sure you will agree that this is a vital element of our people-orientated organisation, and so is necessary for our legitimate interests.

CONSENT

• In certain circumstances, we are required to obtain your consent to the processing of your personal data in relation to certain activities. Depending on exactly what we are doing with your information, this consent will be opt-in consent or soft opt-in consent.
• Article 4(11) of the GDPR states that (opt-in) consent is “any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject’s wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her.” In plain language, this means that:
  • you must give us your consent freely, without us putting you under any type of pressure;
  • you must know what you are consenting to – so we’ll make sure we give you enough information;
  • you should have control over which processing activities you consent to and which you don’t. We provide these finer controls within our privacy preference centre; and
  • you need to take positive and affirmative action in giving us your consent – we’re likely to provide a tick box for you to check so that this requirement is met in a clear and unambiguous fashion.

We will keep records of the consents that you have given in this way.

• We have already mentioned that, in some cases, we will be able to rely on soft opt-in consent. We can market products or services to you which are related to the recruitment services we provide if you do not actively opt-out from these communications.
• As we have mentioned, you have the right to withdraw your consent to these activities. You can do so at any time, by contacting us here.

Establishing, Exercising or Defending Legal Claims

• Sometimes it may be necessary for us to process personal data and, where appropriate and in accordance with local laws and requirements, sensitive personal data in connection with exercising or defending legal claims. Article 9(2)(f) of the GDPR allows this where the processing “is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or whenever courts are acting in their judicial capacity”.

This may arise for example where we need to take legal advice in relation to legal proceedings or are required by law to preserve or disclose certain information as part of the legal process.