Keep the right staff records

Staff records: your employees' rights

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, anyone can ask for access to the records you keep on them. The request - a subject access request - must be in writing. An email will do.

You can charge up to £10 for providing the information. You must reply promptly to the request and in any event within 40 calendar days. If necessary you can ask for evidence that the person making the request is who they say they are and for any data that may help to find that information. The 40-day period starts from when you have received a written request, a fee, if you have asked for one, and from the receipt of any additional information you may have asked for to assist you.

When you provide the data, make sure you don't violate anyone else's rights - eg if you get a complaint about a worker, and that worker then requests access to their file, this could lead to the complainant being identified. To avoid this, remove the name of the complainant from the information provided.

There are several exceptions to the right of subject access by the Data Protection Act, including exemptions relating to:

• information held for management planning, eg plans to promote an employee or make an employee redundant
• information as to an employer's intentions in respect of negotiations with the requester
• references given in confidence by the employer - references received by an employer are not exempt
• information about the prevention or detection of a crime, or the arrest or prosecution of offenders
• information that may affect the price of a company's shares
• information that may identify someone else, under most circumstances

Find out more about the Data Protection Act at the Information Commissioner website.

Employees have other rights as well, including:

• the right to have inaccurate personal data corrected
• the right, in certain circumstances, to compensation for damage suffered as a result of a breach of the Act
• the right to prevent processing likely to cause substantial damage or substantial distress
• the right to prevent direct marketing
• the right to know the logic behind any automated decision taken about them, eg psychometric testing decisions

If a worker has reasonable grounds to believe they haven't been paid the National Minimum Wage, they have the right to see their pay records. They must make a written request, and you must then produce the records within 14 days.

Download information about best practice and your obligations under the Data Protection Act from the Information Commissioner website (PDF).

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Benefits of keeping the right staff records
• Set up a staff records system
• How long to keep staff records
• Staff records: your duties to protect data
• Staff records: your employees' rights

 Print This Page

Source - Business Link; Crown Copyright.