Candidate Privacy Policy

As part of any recruitment process, Exec Link collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants. Exec Link is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations.

What information does Exec Link collect?

Exec Link collects a range of information about you. This may include:

• your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number; • details of your qualifications, skills, experience and employment history;
• information about your current level of remuneration, including benefit entitlements;
• whether or not you have a disability for which Exec Link needs to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process;
• information about your entitlement to work in the UK; and

Exec Link may collect this information in a variety of ways. For example, data might be contained in application forms, CVs or resumes, obtained from your passport or other identity documents, or collected through telephone registration calls, interviews or other forms of assessment.

Exec Link may also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by former employers, information from employment background check providers and information from criminal records checks. Exec Link will seek information from third parties only once a job offer to you has been made and will inform you that it is doing so.

Data will be stored in a range of different places, including on your application record, in our candidate management systems and on other IT systems (including email).

Why does Exec Link process personal data?

Exec Link needs to process data to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract with you. It may also need to process your data to enter into a contract with you.

In some cases, Exec Link needs to process data to ensure that it is complying with its legal obligations. For example, it is required to check a successful applicant's eligibility to work in the UK before employment starts.

Exec Link has a legitimate business interest in processing personal data during the recruitment process and for keeping records of the process. Processing data from job applicants allows Exec Link to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm a candidate's suitability for employment and decide to whom to offer a job. Exec Link may also need to process data from job applicants to respond to and defend against legal claims.

Exec Link may process information about whether or not applicants are disabled to make reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability. This is to carry out its obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.

Where Exec Link processes other special categories of data, such as information about ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health or religion or belief, this is for equal opportunities monitoring purposes.

For some roles, Exec Link is obliged to seek information about criminal convictions and offences. Where Exec Link seeks this information, it does so because it is necessary for it to carry out its obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.

If your application is unsuccessful, Exec Link may keep your personal data on file in case there are future employment opportunities for which you may be suited. Exec Link will ask for your consent before it keeps your data for this purpose and you are free to withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us.

Who has access to data?

Your information may be shared internally for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes members of the recruitment admin team, consultants involved in the recruitment process, managers in the business area with a vacancy and IT staff if access to the data is necessary for the performance of their roles.

Exec Link will not share your data with third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and it makes you an offer of employment. Exec Link will then share your data with former employers to obtain references for you, employment background check providers to obtain necessary background checks and the Disclosure and Barring Service to obtain necessary criminal records checks.

Exec Link will not transfer your data outside the European Economic Area.

How does Exec Link protect data?

Exec Link takes the security of your data seriously. It has internal policies and controls in place to ensure that your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessed except by our employees in the proper performance of their duties. Please feel free to request a copy of our internal data protection policy at any time.

For how long does Exec Link keep data?

If your application for employment is unsuccessful, Exec Link will hold your data on file for 1 year after the end of the relevant recruitment process. If you agree to allow Exec Link to keep your personal data on file, Exec Link will hold your data on file for a further 2 years for consideration for future employment opportunities. At the end of that period or once you withdraw or re provide your consent, your data is deleted or destroyed.

If your application for employment is successful, personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your personnel file [and retained during your employment]. The periods for which your data will be held will be provided to you in a new privacy notice.

Your rights

As a data subject, you have a number of rights. You can:

• access and obtain a copy of your data on request;
• require Exec Link to change incorrect or incomplete data;
• require Exec Link to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing; and
• object to the processing of your data where Exec Link is relying on its legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact Exec Link at hello@execLink.co.uk

If you believe that Exec Link has not complied with your data protection rights, you can complain to the Information Commissioner.

What if you do not provide personal data?

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to Exec Link during the recruitment process. However, if you do not provide the information, Exec Link may not be able to process your application properly or at all.

Automated decision-making

Recruitment processes are not based solely on automated decision-making at Exec Link.