Candidate Data Privacy Notice

What is the purpose of this document?

As part of any search process, Forme Partners collects and processes personal data relating to candidates. Forme Partners is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations.

What information does Forme Partners collect?

Forme Partners collects a range of information about you. This may include:

• your name, address, date of birth, gender, marital status and dependants, nationality and contact details, including email address and telephone number;
• details of your qualifications, skills, aptitude, experience and employment history (including job titles, work history, working hours, training records and professional memberships);
• information about your current level of remuneration, including benefit entitlements;
• information about any medical conditions that you have for which reasonable adjustments need to be made during the search process;
• information about your entitlement to work in the UK.

Forme Partners collects this information in a variety of ways. For example, some data might be obtained from publicly available sources, for example LinkedIn or company websites. Data might be contained in CVs or resumes that you provide, or obtained from you via conversations or email communications. Forme Partners will also collect personal data about you from employment referees. Forme Partners will inform you if it intends to seek information from referees and will do based on information that you provide.

Data will be stored in a range of different places, including in our case management systems and on other IT systems (including email).

Why does Forme Partners process personal data?

We believe that it is in the legitimate interests of you, Forme Partners and our clients to process your personal data. Processing personal data from candidates allows Forme Partners and its clients to manage the search process, identify prospective candidates, assess candidates’ suitability for roles, progress candidates’ interest in roles and ultimately place candidates into roles. Forme Partners may also need to process personal data relating to candidates to respond to and defend against legal claims.

Where Forme Partners relies on legitimate interests as a reason for processing data, it has considered whether or not those interests are overridden by the rights and freedoms of candidates and has concluded that they are not.

Forme Partners may process health information relating to candidates if either it, or its clients, needs to make reasonable adjustments to the search process for candidates who have a disability. This is to allow both Forme Partners and its clients to carry out their legal obligations in relation to employment.

Who has access to data?

Your information will be shared internally within Forme Partners and with our partner organisations Albany and Altima, for the purposes of search processes.

Forme Partners will share your data with other third parties in limited circumstances and only after notifying you that we will do so. For example, Forme Partners will share your data with our client in order to progress your interest in a role, and will also share your data with your referees nominated by you in order to obtain references for you.

Your data may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) when it is stored in our cloud based IT and case management systems. Data is transferred outside the EEA in accordance with the conditions set out in the GDPR and only to countries that have been certified by the European Commission as having an adequate level of data protection in place. For example, where our cloud service providers hold your data on servers in the United States, they are certified under the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework.

How does the organisation protect data?

Forme Partners 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 and our partner organisations’ employees in the proper performance of their duties.

For how long does Forme Partners keep data?

Subject to the rights set out below, Forme Partners will hold personal data relating to prospective and actual candidates for the duration of the search process and for an indefinite period of time after the search process in order that we can provide ongoing support to candidates by assessing their suitability for any future roles and bringing potentially suitable roles to their attention.

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 Forme Partners to change incorrect or incomplete data;
• require Forme Partners to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing;
• object to the processing of your data where Forme Partners is relying on its legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing; and
• ask Forme Partners to stop processing data for a period if data is inaccurate or there is a dispute about whether or not your interests override Forme Partners's legitimate grounds for processing data.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact Kate Zatland, Managing Partner by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

If you believe that Forme Partners 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 Forme Partners. However, if you do not provide the information, Forme Partners may not be able to progress your interest in a role properly or at all.

Automated decision-making

Forme Partners does not operate search processes based solely on automated decision-making.

Data Protection Policy

Introduction

Purpose

Forme Partners is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses the personal data of all individuals that it comes into contact with in the course of its business, and to meeting its data protection obligations. This policy sets out Forme Partners's commitment to data protection, and individual rights and obligations in relation to personal data.

This policy applies to the personal data of potential candidates and candidates, referees, client contacts and other individuals that it comes into contact with in the search process, referred to below as ‘search-related personal data’.

Forme Partners has appointed Kate Zatland, Managing Partner, as the person with responsibility for data protection compliance within the organisation. She can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Questions about this policy, or requests for further information, should be directed to her.

Definitions

"Personal data" is any information that relates to an individual who can be identified from that information. Processing is any use that is made of data, including collecting, storing, amending, disclosing or destroying it.

"Special categories of personal data" means information about an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, health, sex life or sexual orientation and biometric data.

"Criminal records data" means information about an individual's criminal convictions and offences, and information relating to criminal allegations and proceedings.

Data protection principles

Forme Partners processes search-related personal data in accordance with the following data protection principles:

• Forme Partners processes personal data lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner.
• Forme Partners collects personal data only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes.
• Forme Partners processes personal data only where it is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purposes of processing.
• Forme Partners keeps accurate personal data and takes all reasonable steps to ensure that inaccurate personal data is rectified or deleted without delay.
• Forme Partners keeps personal data only for the period necessary for processing.
• Forme Partners adopts appropriate measures to make sure that personal data is secure, and protected against unauthorised or unlawful processing, and accidental loss, destruction or damage.

Forme Partners tells individuals the reasons for processing their personal data, how it uses such data and the legal basis for processing in its privacy notices. It will not process personal data of individuals for other reasons.

Where Forme Partners processes special categories of personal data or criminal records data to perform obligations or to exercise rights in employment law, this is done in accordance with a policy on special categories of data and criminal records data.

Forme Partners will update search-related personal data promptly if an individual advises that his/her information has changed or is inaccurate.

Personal data gathered during the search process is held securely and confidentially in hard copy or electronic format, or both, and on our case management and other IT systems (including email). The periods for which Forme Partners holds search-related personal data are contained in its privacy notices to individuals.

Forme Partners keeps a record of its processing activities in respect of search-related personal data in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Individual rights

As a data subject, individuals have a number of rights in relation to their personal data.

Subject access requests

Individuals have the right to make a subject access request. If an individual makes a subject access request, Forme Partners will tell him/her:

• whether or not his/her data is processed and if so why, the categories of personal data concerned and the source of the data if it is not collected from the individual;
• to whom his/her data is or may be disclosed, including to recipients located outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and the safeguards that apply to such transfers;
• for how long his/her personal data is stored (or how that period is decided);
• his/her rights to rectification or erasure of data, or to restrict or object to processing;
• his/her right to complain to the Information Commissioner if he/she thinks the organisation has failed to comply with his/her data protection rights; and
• whether or not the organisation carries out automated decision-making and the logic involved in any such decision-making.

Forme Partners will also provide the individual with a copy of the personal data undergoing processing upon request. This will normally be in electronic form if the individual has made a request electronically, unless he/she agrees otherwise.

To make a subject access request, the individual should send the request to Kate Zatland at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. In some cases, Forme Partners may need to ask for proof of identification before the request can be processed. Forme Partners will inform the individual if it needs to verify his/her identity and the documents it requires.

Forme Partners will normally respond to a request within a period of one month from the date it is received. In some cases, such as where Forme Partners processes large amounts of the individual's data, it may respond within three months of the date the request is received. Forme Partners will write to the individual within one month of receiving the original request to tell him/her if this is the case.

If a subject access request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, Forme Partners is not obliged to comply with it. Alternatively, Forme Partners can agree to respond but will charge a fee, which will be based on the administrative cost of responding to the request. A subject access request is likely to be manifestly unfounded or excessive where it repeats a request to which Forme Partners has already responded. If an individual submits a request that is unfounded or excessive, Forme Partners will notify him/her that this is the case and whether or not it will respond to it.

Other rights

Individuals have a number of other rights in relation to their personal data. They can require Forme Partners to:

• rectify inaccurate data;
• stop processing or erase data that is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing;
• stop processing or erase data if the individual's interests override Forme Partners’s legitimate grounds for processing data (where Forme Partners relies on its legitimate interests as a reason for processing data);
• stop processing or erase data if processing is unlawful; and
• stop processing data for a period if data is inaccurate or if there is a dispute about whether or not the individual's interests override Forme Partners’s legitimate grounds for processing data.

To ask Forme Partners to take any of these steps, the individual should send the request to Kate Zatland at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Data security

Forme Partners takes the security of search-related personal data seriously. Forme Partners has internal policies and controls in place to protect personal data against loss, accidental destruction, misuse or disclosure, and to ensure that data is not accessed, except by employees in the proper performance of their duties.

Where Forme Partners engages third parties to process personal data on its behalf, such parties do so on the basis of written instructions, are under a duty of confidentiality and are obliged to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the security of data.

Impact assessments

Some of the processing that Forme Partners carries out may result in risks to privacy. Where processing would result in a high risk to individual's rights and freedoms, Forme Partners will carry out a data protection impact assessment to determine the necessity and proportionality of processing. This will include considering the purposes for which the activity is carried out, the risks for individuals and the measures that can be put in place to mitigate those risks.

Data breaches

If Forme Partners discovers that there has been a breach of search-related personal data that poses a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals, it will report it to the Information Commissioner within 72 hours of discovery. Forme Partners will record all data breaches regardless of their effect.

If the breach is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals, it will tell affected individuals that there has been a breach and provide them with information about its likely consequences and the mitigation measures it has taken.

International data transfers

Forme Partners will only transfer data to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) for the purposes of processing it on cloud based IT and case management systems. Data is transferred outside the EEA in accordance with the conditions set out in the GDPR and only to countries that have been certified by the European Commission as having an adequate level of data protection in place.

Individual responsibilities

Individuals are responsible for helping Forme Partners keep their personal data up to date, particularly as individuals will be the source of much of the personal data that Forme Partners holds.

Forme Partners staff may have access to the personal data of other individuals, including candidates, clients and referees, in the course of their employment, contract, volunteer period, internship or apprenticeship. Where this is the case, Forme Partners relies on individuals to help meet its data protection obligations to those other individuals.

Individuals who have access to personal data are required:

• to access only data that they have authority to access and only for authorised purposes in accordance with a legitimate business requirement;
• not to disclose data except to individuals (whether inside or outside Forme Partners) who have appropriate authorisation;
• to keep data secure (for example by complying with rules on access to premises, computer access, including password protection, and secure file storage and destruction);
• not to remove personal data, or devices containing or that can be used to access personal data, from Forme Partners’s premises without adopting appropriate security measures (such as encryption or password protection) to secure the data and the device; and
• not to store personal data on local drives or on personal devices that are used for work purposes.

Failing to observe these requirements may amount to a disciplinary offence, which will be dealt with under Forme Partners's disciplinary procedure. Significant or deliberate breaches of this policy, such as accessing candidate or client data without authorisation or a legitimate reason to do so, may constitute gross misconduct and could lead to dismissal without notice.

Training

Forme Partners will provide training to all staff about their data protection responsibilities at regular intervals.

Referee Data Privacy Notice

What is the purpose of this document?

As part of any search process, Forme Partners collects and processes personal data relating to individuals who provide personal and employment references for candidates that it represents. Forme Partners is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations.

What information does Forme Partners collect?

Forme Partners may collect a range of information about you in the course of obtaining a personal or employment reference for a candidate from you. This may include:

• your name and contact details, including email address and telephone number;
• details of your employment history (including job titles and work history);
• information about your personal connection to, and relationship with, a candidate; and
• information about your experience of working with a candidate and your views and opinions in relation to a candidate’s skills, qualifications, aptitude, experience, performance, disciplinary and attendance record and other personal attributes in the context of their work.

Forme Partners may collect this information from you via conversations or other forms of communication. Forme Partners will also collect limited personal data about you from candidates, for example, your name and contact details.

Data will be stored in a range of different places, including in our case management systems and on other IT systems (including email).

Why does Forme Partners process personal data?

Forme Partners needs to process personal data to take steps to obtain personal and employment references in relation to candidates to progress their interest in roles.

Forme Partners, its candidates and its clients have legitimate interests in processing personal data provided by personal and employment referees during the search process and for keeping records of such references. Processing personal data from referees allows Forme Partners and its clients to assess candidates’ suitability for roles, progress candidates’ interest in roles and ultimately place candidates into roles. Forme Partners may also need to process data provided by referees to respond to and defend against legal claims.

Where Forme Partners relies on legitimate interests as a reason for processing data provided by referees, it has considered whether or not those interests are overridden by the rights and freedoms of referees and has concluded that they are not.

Forme Partners will not use your data for any purpose other than progressing a candidate’s interest in a role unless we have your consent to do so.

Who has access to data?

Your information will be shared internally within Forme Partners and with our partner organisations Albany and Altima, for the purposes of search processes.

Forme Partners will share your data with third parties in limited circumstances and only after notifying you that we will do so. For example, Forme Partners will share your data with the relevant client in order to progress the search process and enable us and our client to assess the suitability of the candidate for a role. Forme Partners will not share your data with the relevant candidate unless required to do so in order to comply with a legal obligation.

Your data may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) when it is stored in our cloud based IT and case management systems. Data is transferred outside the EEA in accordance with the conditions set out in the GDPR and only to countries that have been certified by the European Commission as having an adequate level of data protection in place. For example, where our cloud service providers hold your data on servers in the United States, they are certified under the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework.

How does the organisation protect data?

Forme Partners 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 does Forme Partners keep data?

Subject to the rights set out below, Forme Partners will hold personal data relating to referees for the duration of the search process and for an indefinite period of time after the search process in order that we can provide ongoing support to candidates by assessing their suitability for any future roles and bringing potentially suitable roles to their attention.

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 Forme Partners to change incorrect or incomplete data;
• require Forme Partners to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing;
• object to the processing of your data where Forme Partners is relying on its legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing; and
• ask Forme Partners to stop processing data for a period if data is inaccurate or there is a dispute about whether or not your interests override Forme Partners's legitimate grounds for processing data.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact Kate Zatland, Managing Partner, by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you believe that Forme Partners 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 Forme Partners. However, if you do not provide the information, Forme Partners may not be able to progress a candidate’s interest in a role properly or at all.

Automated decision-making

Forme Partners does not operate search processes based solely on automated decision-making.