Job Applicants

This section of our Privacy Notice applies to prospective, current & former employees, applicants, volunteers, trainees, apprentices & those carrying out work experience. Not all of the information referred to will be relevant to some of these roles.

If you are a student on placement with the Trust please see your college's privacy notice which will explain what information is shared with the Trust for the purposes of your placement.

The Trust is the data controller for the information you provide during a recruitment process unless otherwise stated. If you have any queries about the process or how we handle your information please contact us at jobs@UHBristol.nhs.uk.

What will we do with the information you provide to us?

All of the information you provide during the 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 European Economic Area. The information you provide will be held securely by us and/or our data processors 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 and to determine your eligibility to work in the United Kingdom.

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. You don't have to provide everything we ask for but it might affect your application if you don't.

Application stage

If you use our online application system, this will be collected by a data processor on our behalf (please see below).

We ask you for your personal details including name and contact details. We will also ask you about your previous experience, education, training, referees and for answers to questions relevant to the role you have applied for. Our recruitment team will have access to all of this information.

You will also be asked to provide equal opportunities information including gender, race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religious or other beliefs. 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 team, including hiring managers, in a way which can identify you. Any information you do provide will be used only to produce and monitor equal opportunities statistics.

In addition the Trust is a "Disability Confident" scheme employer. You will be invited to provide information about any disabilities so that we can offer a guaranteed interview if you meet the essential criteria for the post.

Information may also be collected from external sources such as NHS Jobs, your professional body, current or previous employers, the Disclosure and Barring Service, or government bodies like HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions, or the UK Visas and Immigration.

Shortlisting

Our hiring managers shortlist applications for interview. They will not be provided with your name or contact details or with your equal opportunities information if you have provided it. "Disability Confident" information may be presented to the lead short-lister before they make the final decision on who to invite to interview.

Assessments

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 the Trust.

In some cases where we think it appropriate for the role we may look at any job related profiles you may have on public social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook or posts you have made on public services such as Twitter

Conditional offer

If we make a conditional offer of employment we will ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. You must successfully complete pre-employment checks to progress to a final offer. We are required to confirm the identity of our staff, their right to work in the United Kingdom and seek assurance as to their trustworthiness, integrity and reliability.

You will therefore be required to provide:

Proof of your identity - you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.
Proof of your qualifications - you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.
You will be asked to complete a criminal records declaration to declare any unspent convictions.

We will provide your email address to the Government Recruitment Service who will contact you to complete an application for any required Criminal Record check via the Disclosure and Barring Service, which will verify your declaration of unspent convictions.

We will contact your referees, using the details you provide in your application, directly to obtain references

We will also ask you to complete a questionnaire about your health. This is to establish your fitness to work. This is done through the Avon Partnership NHS Plus Occupational Health Service (APOHS). The Trust is data controller for APOHS but health data provided to them remains confidential and will not be disclosed to anyone else without your consent other than to confirm your fitness for work. For further details see Occupational Health section of this Privacy Notice.

If we make a final offer, we will also ask you for the following, either before or after you start:

Bank details - to process salary payments
Emergency contact details - so we know who to contact in case you have an emergency at work
Membership of an NHS Pension scheme - so we can send you a questionnaire to determine whether you are eligible to re-join your previous scheme.

Post start date

Senior Staff may be required to declare if they have any potential conflicts of interest. If you complete a declaration, the information will be held on your personnel file.

A "fit and proper person" enquiry may be made with Experian for appointments at Executive level. Please see Experian's Privacy Policy.

How long is the information retained for?

If you are successful, the information you provide during the application process will be retained by us as part of your employee file for the duration of your employment plus 10 years following the end of your employment.

If you are unsuccessful at any stage of the process, the information you have provided until that point will be retained for 400 days from the date of your application.

Information generated throughout the assessment process, for example interview notes, is retained on your employment file for successful candidates. For unsuccessful candidates the information is retained for the purposes of providing feedback if required but in any event for no more than six months after the interview.

Equal opportunities information is retained for six months following the closure of the campaign whether you are successful or not.

Trac Systems Ltd

If you use our online application system, you will provide the requested information to Trac Systems Ltd, who provide this online service for us. Once you click 'Apply Online Now' you will be taken to Trac's website and they will hold the information you submit but the Trust will have access to it.

You can view the Trac Privacy Policy here.