Privacy Notice
We, the Company, MASS Consultants Ltd, known as MASS, are a member of the Cohort Plc Group and any company that is a subsidiary or subsidiary undertaking, as defined in section 1159 of the Companies Act 2006, of Cohort Plc are the controllers. This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal information about you.
What will we do with your information?
All of the information you provide during the application process will only be used for the purpose of progressing your application, or to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements if necessary.
We will not share any of the information you provide during the recruitment process with any third parties for marketing purposes or store any of your information outside of the United Kingdom or the European Union. The information you provide will be held securely by us whether the information is in electronic or physical format.
We will use the contact details you provide to us to contact you to progress your application. We will use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role you have applied for.
What information do we ask for, and why?
We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil our stated purposes and will not retain it for longer than is necessary.
The information we ask for is used to assess your suitability for employment. We are taking steps at your request prior to potentially entering into an employment contract – this is our legal basis for processing your personal data. You don’t have to provide what we ask for but it might affect your application if you don’t.
Application Stage
At the application stage we ask you for:
- your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number;
- your gender and date of birth;
- details of your qualifications, skills, experience and employment history, including start and end dates with previous employers;
- security vetting details;
- information about your current level of remuneration, including benefit entitlements;
- details of your marital status and dependents;
- your nationality and entitlement to work in the UK;
- candidate photographs.
- referees and answers to questions relevant to the role you have applied for.
High risk personal data
- Details of your bank account and national insurance number.
- Passport and driving license information.
Special category and criminal offence data
- Where permitted by law, equal opportunities monitoring information, including information about your ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health and religion or belief.
- Whether or not you have a disability for which the organisation needs to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process and interviews.
- Where permitted by law, we may hold information from criminal record or vetting checks.
We may collect this personal data in a number of ways. For example, identity information might be collected through application forms, CV’s or resumes; obtained from your passport or other documents such as your driving license; from the correspondence with you; or through interviews, meetings or other assessments.
Personal data provided by third parties
The organisation will also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by former employers, recruitment agencies or social media such as LinkedIn. The organisation will seek information from third parties only once a job offer to you has been made and will inform you that it is doing so.
Our HR Recruitment staff, hiring and interview panel managers, Health & Safety and Security Vetting officers will have access to all of this information.
Consent
Cohort Plc / MASS do not make use of Consent as a Lawful Basis to process Personal Data belonging to job applicants.
Contract
Cohort Plc / MASS needs to process your Personal Data to take steps at your request, prior to entering into a potential employment contract with you.
Legal Obligation
In some cases, the organisation needs to process data to ensure that it is complying with its legal obligations. For example, it is required to check a successful applicant's eligibility to work in the UK before employment starts.
Legitimate Interest
In other cases, Cohort Plc / MASS has a legitimate interest in processing Personal Data during and after the end of the recruitment process., including:
- Running the recruitment processes;
- Responding to and defending against legal claims;
- Maintaining and promoting equal opportunities within the workplace.
You will also be asked to provide equal opportunities information. This is not mandatory information – if you don’t provide it, it will not affect your application. This information will not be made available to any staff outside of our recruitment and HR team in a way which can identify you. Any information you do provide, will be used only to produce and monitor equal opportunities statistics.
Selection Stage
Our hiring managers shortlist applications for interview. They will not be provided with your equal opportunities information if you have provided it.
We might ask you to participate in assessment days, complete tests or occupational personality profile questionnaires and/or to attend an interview – or a combination of these. Information will be generated by you and by us. For example, you might complete a written test or we might take interview notes. This information is held by us. You may be required to fill in vetting forms, this information is required by government bodies to enable you to fulfil the contractual role.
If you are unsuccessful following assessment for the position you have applied for, we may ask if you would like your details to be retained in our talent pool for a period of six months, either within MASS or another part of Cohort Plc. If you say yes, we would proactively contact you should any further suitable vacancies arise.
How long is the information retained for?
If you are unsuccessful at any stage of the process, the information you have provided until that point will be retained for 6 months from the closure of the campaign.
Information generated throughout the assessment process, for example interview notes, is retained by us for 6 months following the closure of the campaign.
Equal opportunities information is retained for 6 months following the closure of the campaign whether you are successful or not.
If you are successful in your application, we will retain your information in accordance with our Privacy Notice for Employees, Workers and Contractors. A copy of this Notice will be provided to you with your offer letter.
If you have any queries about the process or how we handle your information please contact us at
- Data Protection Officer
- New Horizons, Teal Park, Lincoln. LN6 3AD.
- dpo@mass.co.uk
Please address any questions, comments and requests regarding our data processing practices to us in this way in the first instance.
Please remember to include your name, address and postcode along with any correspondence reference you may have.
If you have any concerns regarding our processing of your personal data, or are not satisfied with our handling of any request by you in relation to your rights, you also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office. Their address is:
- First Contact Team
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF