Ashtons Holdings Ltd and its affiliates and subsidiaries (“Ashtons”, “we”, “us”, “our”) are committed to protecting your privacy and meeting our legal obligations when you apply for a job or you (or an agent acting on your behalf) share your employment details with us.
This privacy notice explains what personal data we collect and use relating to employee, worker, consultant, contractor and intern candidates (“you”, “your”) during the recruitment process.
The following Ashtons Holdings Ltd affiliates and subsidiaries are registered as Controllers in the UK with the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), with the following registration numbers:
Ashtons (Estate Agents) Limited (incorporating Aitchisons Residential Limited) - Z6786586
Ashtons Residential Lettings Limited - Z8383249
Ashtons (Land & New Homes) Limited - ZB358322
Ashtons (Commercial) Limited - ZB358301
Ashtons (Equestrian) Limited - ZB358332
Putterill's of Hertfordshire (Land and Development) Limited - ZA282623
As an information-led business, we place great importance on ensuring the quality, confidentiality, integrity and availability of the data we hold, and in meeting our data protection obligations. We are committed to protecting the security of your personal data. We use a variety of technical and organisational measures to help protect your personal data from unauthorised access, use or disclosure.
We update this privacy notice from time to time in response to changes in applicable laws and regulations, to our processing practices and to the products and services we offer. When changes are made, we will update the effective date at the top of this document.
What personal data do we process?
Personal data means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified, therefore does not include data where the identity of the person has been removed (anonymous data).
When you apply for a position (whether as an employee, worker, consultant, contractor or intern) or submit your CV (or similar employment information) to us, whether directly or through an agency, or attend an interview in person or by remote means, we will collect your personal data. This includes:
Name and contact details (address, mobile phone number and email address)
Company details (where applicable)
Date of birth and gender
Work history and employment positions held
Salary, other compensation, and benefits information
Passport / visa / right to work information (where applicable)
Academic and professional qualifications, education, and skills
Photographs you may submit with your application
Demographic information
Records we create during interviews or correspondence with you
Results of pre-employment screening checks, including references and psychometric tests (where applicable)
Any other information you choose to give us
We may also process “special categories” of more sensitive personal data in accordance with the Equality Act 2010, which require a higher level of protection. We will only do this to make reasonable adjustments to enable all candidates to apply for vacancies, attend interviews and to commence employment. This is also necessary to ensure we meet our legal obligations when recruiting.
Purposes and bases for using your personal data
We will process your personal information for the following purposes and under the following lawful bases:
Responding to correspondence from you
It is in our legitimate interest to respond to you when you make an employment or general enquiry.
Processing your application to assess suitability for employment
When processing your personal data for the purposes of administering your job application or assessing your candidacy for a role, we do so with your consent. This consent may be withdrawn at any time by emailing privacy@ashtons.co.uk
When processing your special category data, we do so with your explicit consent.
Assessing suitability for employment
It is our legal obligation under the Equality Act 2010 to protect all applicants from discrimination in the workplace at all stages of pre-employment and employment.
When processing your special category data, we do so with your explicit consent.
Arranging and conducting recruitment interviews, either in person, via telephone or other means
We rely on your consent to process your personal data in order to facilitate our recruitment process. This consent may be withdrawn at any time by emailing privacy@ashtons.co.uk
When processing your special category data, we do so with your explicit consent.
Obtaining necessary references from third parties and conducting pre-employment screening checks, where required
We rely on your consent to process your personal data in order to complete our recruitment process. This consent may be withdrawn at any time by emailing privacy@ashtons.co.uk
When processing your special category data, we do so with your explicit consent.
Contacting unsuccessful applicants about future suitable vacancies and storing details for future recruitment opportunities
It is our legitimate interest to contact unsuccessful applicants as a courtesy, to archive applications, maintain the details of, and stay in contact with, suitable candidates for future roles.
Sharing personal data with third parties including government agencies, law enforcement agencies and others for the purposes of recruitment, pre-employment checks or when required by law
It is our legitimate interest to carry out relevant pre-employment checks, to ensure we are hiring the most suitable candidates.
It is our legal obligation to cooperate fully as and when required by law.
When processing your special category data, we do so with your explicit consent.
Sensitive personal data
We will only process sensitive ‘special category’ personal data where we meet one of the conditions required by law for doing so, such as complying with our legal obligations. We may also ask for your explicit consent to process some special categories of personal data.
We process special categories of personal data when we collect or process information about your physical or mental health, or disability status, to ensure your health and safety in the workplace and to assess your fitness to work and to provide appropriate workplace adjustments.
Sharing your information
We are a UK company although we may transfer or store your personal data outside the UK or European Economic Area (the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) (the “EEA”). If we do, the personal data is safeguarded using the International Data Transfer Agreement, approved by the UK government, which contractually obliges our group entities in those third countries to comply with the same data protection standards as legislated within the UK.
We may share your data with service providers and suppliers to our business who process data on our behalf. In such cases, our service providers and suppliers are data processors and may only use the data in line with our instructions and not for any other purpose. This and other obligations are agreed in the contract between us and the service providers and suppliers.
Within Ashtons, your personal data will only be shared with those who need to have access to it, which will primarily be our internal HR personnel and hiring managers.
How long will we retain your information?
We will retain your personal data for only as long as is necessary for the recruitment process. If your candidacy is successful and you are employed or hired by us, your data will be processed and retained as set out in our employee privacy notice, provided to you with your employment paperwork.
If your candidacy is unsuccessful, we will retain your CV, application details and interview notes for a period not exceeding 6 months, after which time they will be securely destroyed.
We may retain a very limited amount of your personal data where it is necessary to comply with our legal obligations or as necessary in relation to legal claims. This is rare but may mean we need to retain your data for 12 months or more.
Your rights
Individuals whose personal data we process have the following rights:
You have the right of access to your personal data and can request copies of it and information about our processing of it (a “Subject Access Request”);
If the personal data we hold about you in incorrect or incomplete, you can ask us to rectify or add to it;
Where we are using your personal data with your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time;
Where we are using your personal data because it is in our legitimate interests to do so, you can object to us using it this way; and
In some circumstances, you can restrict our processing of your data, request a machine-readable copy of your personal data to transfer to another service provider and compel us to erase your personal data.
If you wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at privacy@ashtons.co.uk.
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.
In addition to the above, please note that you have the right to make a complaint at any time to the ICO, if you are concerned about the way in which we are handling your personal data.
Contact
You can contact us in relation to data protection and this privacy notice by emailing privacy@ashtons.co.uk