How we use your information
As part of Aberdeen City Council’s recruitment process, we ask you to provide information about yourself, and we also create records about you. This is so we can assess your suitability for the vacancy/vacancies you have applied for, and so we can communicate with you during the recruitment process.
We also invite you to tell us personal characteristic information as defined in the Equality Act 2010 and other equalities related information. This information is not used as part of the recruitment process. We only use this information for statistical monitoring of the composition of our workforce and to help us ensure that we are complying with our Equalities duties. You do not have to provide this information if you don’t want to.
The types of information we hold will include information you provide in your application as well as information we capture throughout the recruitment process, including: your name and contact details, and information about your employment history, including references, and qualifications. We may also ask you to provide evidence of any training, certification, qualifications and licenses (such as a driving license) so we can validate that you are appropriately qualified to undertake the activities of the role. We also gather information required to check your eligibility to live and work in the UK.
Some posts require members of staff to have Disclosure checks or PVG checks undertaken. In these cases, the Council will process information regarding criminal convictions (and any police intelligence regarding suspected criminality included in a PVG check) to assess your suitability for the post in question. Candidates applying for a post which does not require a PVG check will be asked to complete a Criminal Convictions Declaration form, which the Council will process to assess suitability for that post.
Information about your health may be gathered as part of a health assessment. Candidates for care related posts will be asked to complete a ‘Fitness to Work’ declaration. This information is necessary so we can make sure you are medically fit for the role.
As part of our selection process, the Council uses several methods to evaluate candidates’ suitability. This may include interviews, practical tests and exercises related to the skills, competencies and behaviours required for the role, and in some cases, psychometric testing.
The Council will keep records of the selection process you undertake to inform and evidence our decision-making.
How long we keep recruitment and selection information for
If your application is unsuccessful, your information, generated by the recruitment and selection processes, including your application and any interview records, will be kept for six months for most posts. For statutory roles we will keep recruitment information for two years.
If your application is successful, your information generated by the recruitment and selection process will be added into your Employee Record.
Your rights
Aberdeen City Council is the Data Controller for your information. You’ve got legal rights about the way the Council handles and uses your data, which include the right to ask for a copy of it, and to ask us to stop doing something with your data. Please contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer by email at DataProtectionOfficer@aberdeencity.gov.uk or in writing at: Data Protection Officer, Marischal College, Aberdeen, AB10 1AB. You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office. They are the body responsible for making sure organisations like the Council handle your data lawfully.
Our legal basis
Whenever the Council processes personal data we need to make sure we have a basis for doing so in data protection law. We understand our basis in data protection law to be Article 6(1)(b) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) because processing your personal information is necessary for us to assess your application to work for us and to undertake a proper recruitment process.
As part of the recruitment and selection processes, the Council is also likely to process special categories of personal data. The Council understands our legal basis for doing so as Article 9(2)(b) of the GDPR as processing is necessary for carrying out our obligations in the field of employment.