Pre-employment checks - data protection issues

The Data Protection Act 1998 applies to personal information - data about living, identified or identifiable individuals, including information such as names and addresses, bank details, and opinions expressed about an individual.

There are eight data protection principles. Information should be:

• processed fairly and lawfully
• processed for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and not further processed in any way that is incompatible with these purposes
• adequate, relevant and not excessive
• accurate and - where necessary - up to date
• kept for no longer than is necessary for the purpose for which it is being used
• processed in line with the rights of individuals
• kept secure with appropriate technical and organisational measures taken to protect the information
• not transferred outside the European Economic Area (the European Union member states plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), unless there is adequate protection for the personal information being transferred

The use of sensitive information - including information that might be disclosed during a criminal records check - is more tightly controlled.

There are some guidelines you should keep in mind in relation to pre-employment checks. You should:

• only carry out checks which are necessary
• think carefully about the best point in the process to carry out the different checks
• where possible, only check the successful applicant
• let applicants know what checks will be made and how they will be carried out
• make sure that checks are carried out for a specific purpose
• only use sources which will reveal relevant information
• only rely on information that comes from sources you trust
• give the candidate the chance to explain if a check reveals adverse information about them
• if a third party is to be involved in the process - eg a previous employer not listed as a referee - let the applicant know

Any information you gather in the process of making your pre-employment checks must be kept securely and confidentially. The candidate has the right to ask to see any information you hold on them which you must supply within one month of receiving the request.

A request will normally be complied with free of charge. However, you may charge a reasonable fee if the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, or if it is repetitive. In addition, you may be able to charge a reasonable fee if they request further copies of the same information. You can base the fee charged on the administrative cost of providing the information requested.