Guidance

Employee and contractor privacy notice

Updated 13 November 2024

Applies to England

This privacy notice:

• describes how Natural England or its service providers collect and use your personal data for recruitment and employment purposes
• applies to current and former employees, contractors and candidates for recruitment

Who collects your personal data

The data controller is Natural England at:

Foss House, Kings Pool, 1-2 Peasholme Green, York, YO1 7PX

Send questions about how Natural England uses your personal data and your associated rights to the Data Protection Manager at [email protected] or:

Natural England, County Hall, Spetchley Road, Worcester, WR5 2NP

The Data Protection Officer for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) group is responsible for checking that Natural England complies with legislation. You can contact them at [email protected] or:

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, SW Quarter, 2nd floor, Seacole Block, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF

What personal data Natural England collects

Natural England or its service providers store and use the following types of personal data:

• contact details, such as name, address, telephone number and email address
• dates of birth, marriage, civil partnership and divorce
• gender, marital status, dependants, next of kin, emergency contact and death benefit nominee
• any caring responsibilities which might prevent you working your contracted hours if an event caused Natural England to work in different ways
• National Insurance number
• bank account details and tax status information
• copy of driving licence, passport, birth and marriage certificates, decree absolute
• secondary employment, register of interests and volunteering information
• recruitment information, such as right-to-work documentation, references and details in a curriculum vitae (CV)
• evidence of how you meet nationality rules, your right to work in the UK and immigration status, such as passport and nationality details

We store and use the following types of personal data relating to your employment:

• salary, payroll records, annual leave, pension and benefits information
• confirmation of your security clearance
• start and leave dates
• location of workplace
• employment records, such as your contract, job title, working hours and attendance
• performance, appraisal, disciplinary and grievance information
• information about your designation as a key or critical worker
• CCTV footage and other information obtained through electronic means, such as swipe-card records
• your use of Natural England’s information and communications systems
• accident book, first aid records, injury at work and third-party accidents

Special category personal data

You may provide more sensitive personal data on a voluntary basis, such as:

• socio-economic background, such as type of school attended, parents’ highest qualification and main job
• race or ethnicity
• religious beliefs
• sexual orientation
• political opinions
• trade union membership
• health data, such as medical conditions and sickness records, which may include genetic and biometric data

Criminal conviction data

We only collect information about criminal convictions or allegations of criminal behaviour:

• where it’s appropriate to your role
• if it’s legally possible to do so
• as part of the recruitment process
• if you tell us during your employment or contract

Where Natural England collects your personal data from

Natural England or its service providers collect personal data about employees and contractors through the recruitment process. This data comes directly from candidates or sometimes from an employment agency or background check provider.

We sometimes collect information from third parties including:

• former employers
• credit reference agencies or other background check agencies
• doctors, medical and occupational health professionals
• Disclosure Barring Service
• United Kingdom Security Vetting
• UK Visas and Immigration
• consultants and other professionals who advise us

We may collect additional personal data during job-related activities throughout your employment.

How Natural England uses your personal data

Natural England or its service providers use your personal data to:

• manage your contract of employment
• make a decision about your recruitment or appointment, such as assessing qualifications for a role
• pay you and deduct tax and National Insurance contributions
• provide you with employment-related benefits
• give information to your pension provider, such as a promotion or change in working hours
• conduct performance reviews, manage performance and set performance goals
• help plan your education, training and development requirements
• monitor equal opportunities and diversity
• comply with health and safety regulations
• monitor your use of Natural England’s information and communication systems and check you follow its IT and security policies
• provide you with the security clearance appropriate for your role
• deal with Freedom of Information Act or Environmental Information Regulations requests

We may also use your personal data to:

• make a decision about your promotion or suitability for level transfer to another role
• check you’re legally entitled to work in the UK
• gather evidence for grievance or disciplinary matters
• make decisions about your continued employment or engagement and termination of contract
• deal with legal disputes involving you and other employees or contractors, including accidents at work
• decide if you’re fit to work or to manage sickness absence
• prevent fraud
• make decisions about salary reviews and compensation
• gather data to review and better understand employee retention and attrition rates
• carry out business management and planning, for example accounting, auditing or for business continuity

Use of special category personal data

We may use your more sensitive personal data to:

• carry out our legal obligations or employment-related legal rights
• manage leave of absence
• carry out our statutory duties or for official purposes
• decide if you’re fit to work or to manage sickness absence
• ensure your health and safety in the workplace, provide appropriate workplace adjustments and administer benefits
• pay trade union premiums, register the status of a protected employee and to comply with employment law obligations
• administer our pension scheme
• prevent or detect unlawful acts
• protect your interests or those of another person

We’ll carry out equal opportunities monitoring and reporting using information you’ve provided on a voluntary basis about your:

• race or national or ethnic origin
• religious, philosophical or moral beliefs
• sexual orientation

This will include further processing of your data alongside other information, such as your gender, age, pay grade and working pattern.

Use of criminal conviction data

We will use information about criminal convictions or allegations:

• to make decisions regarding suitability for the role
• in possible grievance or disciplinary matters and associated hearings

We will also use this information to refer to relevant policy or operational instructions, the code of conduct and any terms and conditions which form your contract of employment. We only use your personal data in these ways where one of the following applies:

• we need to carry out our legal obligations or employment-related legal rights
• where it’s substantially in the public interest to do so and necessary for official purposes
• to carry out our statutory duties

Use of data for a different purpose

We may need to use your personal data for a purpose that we did not identify when first collected. If this is the case, we will tell you and explain the legal basis for using it for an unrelated or new purpose. We will not tell you if the purpose is compatible with the original purpose.

We will process your personal data without your consent if we’re required or permitted to by law.

The legal basis for processing your personal data

Natural England or its service providers only use your personal data when the law allows them to. They most commonly use your personal data:

• for the performance of a contract, such as your contract of employment
• when it’s in the public interest to do so
• for official purposes
• to carry out its statutory duties
• to comply with a legal obligation
• when you’ve provided personal data on a voluntary basis and consent to Natural England processing it in the agreed way
• to protect your interests or those of another person

We comply with the following legislation:

• Employment Rights Act 1996
• Equality Act 2010
• Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017
• Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
• Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006
• National Minimum Wage Act 1998
• Pension Act 2008
• Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992
• Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006
• Working Time Regulations 1998

Processing special category personal data

We must have further justification for processing your special category personal data. We may process this data to:

• carry out our obligations and exercise our rights in employment
• safeguard your employment rights
• protect your vital interests or those of another person where you are incapable of giving your consent
• establish, exercise or defend legal claims
• archive items that are in the public interest

We rely on the processing conditions in the Data Protection Act 2018 which relate to processing of special category data for employment, statutory and regulatory purposes.

Processing criminal conviction data

We may process personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures to:

• meet our legal obligations, such as employment law, social security law or the law relating to social protection
• exercise our employment-related legal rights
• to protect your interests or those of another person

We rely on the processing conditions in the Data Protection Act 2018 which relate to processing of criminal conviction data for employment and statutory purposes.

Consent to process your data

Natural England or its service providers do not need your consent to use your personal data to carry out their legal obligations or for another reason described in this notice.

We may ask for your written consent to allow us to process certain sensitive data. We will provide you with details of the information that we would like and why we need it. You can consider if you wish to give consent. It’s not a condition of your contract of employment that you agree to give consent.

Providing information about your socio-economic background, race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and political opinions is voluntary. It’s not a condition of your contract that you provide this data. You have the right to:

• remove consent for us to hold or process this personal data
• ask us to delete any of this data that you’ve already provided

Who Natural England shares your personal data with

Natural England or its service providers share your personal data with third parties when:

• required by law
• requested by a regulator
• necessary to manage its working relationship with you
• it’s in the public interest to do so
• necessary for the performance of its functions as a government organisation
• contacted by a new or prospective employer for an employment reference
• asked for a financial reference, such a tenancy or mortgage application
• necessary for fraud and data error investigations

This may involve sharing special category personal data if you chose to provide it.

The third parties include service providers, contractors, agents and other government bodies.

Third party	Purpose
Government organisations	Regular reporting activities on organisational performance, system maintenance support and hosting of data, business planning and talent management initiatives, succession planning, statistical analysis and general management and functioning of the Civil/Public Service.
HM Revenue and Customs	Tax and pay
Disclosure and Barring Service, United Kingdom Security Vetting and UK Visas and Immigration	Visa applications and security vetting
Shared service providers	Administration of your HR, pay and pension records
Pension service providers, and any additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) providers	Pensions administration
The National Archives and any other holder of official records	Where records are of historical interest
The Office of National Statistics	Data relating to special employment conditions, such as apprenticeships and fast-stream.
The National Audit Office	Audits
External auditors	Variety of audit checks to assure compliance with process/policy
Cabinet Office	Equal opportunities and socio-economic background monitoring where the data is pseudonymised. Also to prevent and detect fraud as part of the National Fraud Initiative.
Debt collection agencies	Collection of money owed post-employment
Occupational health providers	Legal obligation to support employees health and wellbeing
Outplacement support providers	Support for at risk employees
Lease and fleet vehicles	Manage lease and fleet vehicles
Travel providers	Travel and accommodation arrangements
Offsite document storage providers	Storage of your HR, pay and pension records

We expect third-party service providers to take appropriate security measures to protect personal data, in line with Natural England’s policies.

We do not allow third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal data for purposes we have specified.

When responding to requests for information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Natural England usually releases the following details for staff at Higher Executive Officer grade and above:

• name
• role
• office location, email address and phone number

Natural England does not release staff details if the work is sensitive, such as wildlife licensing.

How long Natural England holds personal data

Natural England and its service providers only retain personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes they collected it for, such as legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

All data personal data is held in accordance with Natural England’s retention schedule. If you would like more details, email [email protected].

What happens if you do not provide the data

If you do not provide certain data when requested, Natural England may not be able to:

• fulfil its contract with you, such as to pay you or provide benefits
• meet its legal obligations, such as your health and safety

Use of automated decision-making or profiling

The data you provide is not used for:

• automated decision making (making a decision by automated means without any human involvement)
• profiling (automated processing of personal data to evaluate certain things about an individual)

Transfer of data outside the European Economic Area (EEA)

Natural England does not transfer data outside the EEA. Its service provider, Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL) may process some of your personal data offshore. SSCL uses its centres in the UK and India to manage back-office services.

Your personal data receives the same level of protection when processed offshore as it does onshore. Natural England uses the European Commission’s standard data protection clauses in its contract with SSCL to provide this protection.

Your rights

Find out about your individual rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018.

Complaints

You have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office at any time.

Natural England’s personal information charter

Natural England’s personal information charter explains more about your rights over your personal data.