Privacy notice for job applicants, employees and ex-employees
What we do with your personal information – for people who are/have been or apply to be an employee of our charity.
Perennial – Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Society is the UK’s only charity dedicated to helping people who work in horticulture when times get tough.
We recognise and understand that privacy is very important. We want our employees, ex-employees or job applicants to be confident that we will handle your personal information with care and respect.
To prevent unauthorised access to your personal and sensitive information, maintain data accuracy and ensure the correct use of information in accordance with this privacy notice, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect.
Controllers contact details
Perennial is the controller for the personal information we process.
Our registration number on the Data Protection Register run by the Information Commissioner’s Office is Z8659551.
You can contact us by phone, email and post:
Telephone: 01372 373962
Email: info@perennial.org.uk
Address: Perennial, 115-117 Kingston Road, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 7SU
How do we get your information?
Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you for one of the following reasons:
- You have made an application for a job
- You are an employee of Perennial
- You have been an employee of Perennial in the past.
We also receive personal information indirectly, in the following scenarios:
- We may receive a reference from a previous employer or another referee. We will never contact anyone for a reference without your permission and you can request to see any references we have received.
- We have received a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) report on you. We can only apply for this with your permission.
Processing your information
We use your information for the following purposes:
- To assess your application for a job vacancy
- To maintain business records on our employees and ex-employees
- To verify your identity, employment history or suitability for work
- For internal administration purposes to statistically analyse operations or conduct service reviews.
- To provide you with the services, productions or information you have requested or to fulfil individual employment contracts with your employees.
- We may use photographs/videos of you in our promotional and marketing materials, if you have given us consent to do so.
We will not use your information for direct marketing or to ask for donations.
Sharing your information
Perennial will only share your information with third parties with your permission e.g. if you ask us to provide a reference.
We use data processors who are third parties who provide services for us, with whom we hold data contracts. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us. They will hold it securely and retain it for the period we instruct.
Perennial may need to disclose information if required to do so by law. Your personal information will never be sold or passed to any third party for any other purpose.
Storing your information
Personal and other information (including any information provided about your family, personal finances or health) is stored securely on a database that can only be accessed by staff or Perennial and its database managers, with whom we hold data contracts. Where information is kept in paper format for the purposes of a personnel file, it is kept locked away at all times and only available to those staff with the correct permissions.
Job applicants
We will store your information for one month after you apply for a vacant post. We will ask your permission to keep your details on file and retain your information for a longer period if we think there may be another suitable vacancy in the near future.
Ex-employees
We will retain your personnel records for six years after you have left Perennial. After six years the records will be permanently deleted.
Changes to this privacy notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review to make sure it is up to date and accurate.
Last reviewed: April 2021
Further information
For further information about your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation, visit the Information Commissioners Office website