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Job Applicant Privacy Notice

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

What information do we collect collect?

Vernalis collects a range of information about you. This includes

  • 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 Vernalis needs to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process; and
  • information about your entitlement to work in the UK.

Vernalis 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 interviews or other forms of assessment, including online tests.

Vernalis may also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by former employers. Vernalis will seek information from third parties as part of a job offer 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 HR management systems and on other IT systems (including email).

Why do we process personal data?

Vernalis 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, Vernalis 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.

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

Vernalis may process special categories of data, such as information about ethnic origin, sexual orientation or religion or belief, to monitor recruitment statistics. It may also collect information about whether or not applicants are disabled to make reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability. Vernalis processes such information to carry out its obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.

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

 

Who has access to data?

Your information may be shared internally for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes members of the HR team, interviewers involved in the recruitment process and managers in the business area with a vacancy.

Vernalis will not share your data with third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and it makes you an offer of employment. Vernalis will then share your data with former employers to obtain references for you.

How do we protect data?

Vernalis 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.

For how long do we keep data?

If your application for employment is unsuccessful, Vernalis will hold your data on file for 6 months after the end of the relevant recruitment process. At the end of that period or once you withdraw 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 Vernalis to change incorrect or incomplete data;
  • require Vernalis 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 Vernalis is relying on its legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact hr@vernalis.com

If you believe that Vernalis 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 Vernalis during the recruitment process. However, if you do not provide the information, Vernalis may not be able to process your application properly or at all.