Job applicant privacy notice

Last updated: 12/12/2023

What this notice covers

Prime Horizon Group is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information.

This Privacy Notice describes how we collect and use personal information about you during our recruitment process, in accordance with data protection legislation.

Identity of the data controller

Prime Horizon Group is a “data controller”. This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal information about you. We are required under data protection legislation to notify you of the information contained in this privacy notice.

This notice does not form part of any contract of employment or other contracts to provide services. We may update this notice at any time.

It is important that you read this notice, together with any other privacy notice(s) we may provide in the future, so that you are aware of how and why we are using such information when collecting or processing personal information about you.

Categories of personal data we process

We will collect, store, and use the following categories of personal information about you:

personal contact details (including name, title, addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses)
details of your qualifications, skills, experience and employment history
information about your current level of remuneration, including benefit entitlements
whether you have any disabilities for which we need to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process
information about your entitlement to work in the UK
other information included in a CV or cover letter or as part of the application process
equal opportunities monitoring information, including information about your race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation and political opinions
information about professional or regulatory registrations
information about criminal convictions and offences

Sources of personal data

We collect personal information about you through the application and recruitment process, either directly from you or from an employment agency or background check provider. We may sometimes collect additional information from third parties including former employers and credit reference agencies.

Our lawful basis for processing your data

We will use your personal information in the following circumstances:

where we need to take steps at your request prior to and when entering into a contract with you
where we need to comply with a legal obligation
where it is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests

We will process health information if we need to make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process for candidates who have any disabilities.

We will process other special categories of data, such as information about ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health or religion or belief, for equal opportunities monitoring purposes as permitted by data protection legislation.

For some roles, we will be obliged to seek information about criminal convictions and offences. We will only seek this information if it is necessary to do so - such as to comply with a regulatory requirement to establish whether or not an individual has committed an unlawful act.

Our purposes for processing your data

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
administering the contract we are proposing to enter into with you
assessing qualifications to determine your suitability for a particular job or task
checking you are able to undertake regulated work with vulnerable groups
education, training and development requirements
complying with health and safety obligations
to prevent fraud
equal opportunities monitoring

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

We will not use your data for any purpose other than the recruitment exercise for which you have applied. If your application is unsuccessful, and we would like to keep your personal data on file in case there are future employment opportunities for which you may be suited, we will ask for your consent before we keep your data for this purpose and you are free to withdraw your consent at any time.

Who has access to your data?

Your information will be shared internally with employees involved in the recruitment process and decision making, employees within our HR team, and IT employees only if access to the data is necessary for the performance of their roles.

We will not share your data with third parties unless your application for employment is successful and we make you an offer of employment. We may then share your personal information with third parties if required by law or where we have a legitimate reason for doing so.

Recipients of your data may include former employers whom we obtain references from, organisations who carry out employment background checks, and any regulatory bodies where enhanced checks are needed.

When sharing your information with third parties, we will ask that they respect the security of your data and treat it in accordance with the law.

We may transfer your personal information outside the UK. If we do, you can expect a similar degree of protection in respect of your personal information.

Security of your data

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we ensure that access to your personal information is limited to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to access this.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.

How we decide how long to retain your data

We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data. We also consider the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means.

Your rights

You have the right to:

request access to, and a copy of, your personal information
request correction of the personal information that we hold about you
request that we delete your personal information
object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground
- you also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.

If you believe the Prime Horizon Group has not complied with your rights, you can complain to the Information Commissioner.

What if you do not provide personal data?

There is no statutory or contractual requirement on you to provide us with personal data, however, if you do not provide personal data, it is likely to be impossible for Prime Horizon Group to progress with your job application or enter into an employment relationship with you.

Automated decision-making

Prime Horizon Group may make use of electronic automated decision-making systems. We would only do so in the following circumstances:

where we have notified you of the decision and given you 21 days to request reconsideration
where it is necessary to perform the contract with you and appropriate measures are in place to safeguard your rights
in limited circumstances, with your explicit written consent and where appropriate measures are in place to safeguard your rights

Employment decisions are not based solely on automated decision–making.

Changes to this privacy notice

Prime Horizon Group reserves the right to update this privacy notice at any time, and we will provide you with a new privacy notice when we make any substantial updates. We may also notify you in other ways from time to time about the processing of your personal information.