Privacy Policy

Introduction

The Simon Community cares about your privacy and is committed to processing your personal information fairly and transparently and in accordance with data protection law, including the Data Protection Act 2018 which implements the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

 This notice explains how The Simon Community processes the personal data of its current and former volunteers, employees, trustees, residents, job applicants, volunteer applicants, contractors, consultants, temporary agency staff, employees of suppliers and third parties, and any other individuals who provide The Simon Community with personal data during the course of their volunteering, residency or employment and for the purposes set out in this notice.

This notice does not form part of The Simon Community employee’s employment contract or other contract to provide services and may be amended from time to time. This notice may also be supported by other statements as needed to comply with the UK’s requirements, which shall be notified to you when necessary.

1.   Collection of Personal Information

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data). There are "special categories" of more sensitive personal data which require a higher level of protection.

To ensure that The Simon Community operates efficiently we may collect, store and use the following types of personal information:

Volunteers, Employees, Trustees and Residents

·      Personal identification information, such as your name, home address, date of birth, gender, email address, personal contact number and photographs taken of you during volunteering or as part of your employment;

·      Ethnic origin and nationality;

·      Immigration and Right to Work documentation and information on your residence status, including passport information, visa details, immigration permissions and travel information;

·      Details of your family and friends for the purposes of your next of kin details and emergency contact details;

·      Application correspondence such as CVs, covering letters, and interview notes;

·      Reference checks and other background checks required for volunteering or for your employment with The Simon Community.

The Simon Community Employees only

·      National Insurance number and bank account details for payroll and tax purposes;

·      Medical, health and disability related information, including absence records, medical reports, fit notes, correspondence with medical advisers including occupational health, accident records, medical insurance arrangements;

·      Details of your family and friends for the purposes of your next of kin details and emergency contact details;

·      Job-related information, such as years of service, work location, payroll code, employment history, absence information (including sickness, holiday, any type of statutory leave), references and any information relating to you captured on your contract of employment;

·      Educational and training information, such as your educational achievements, certificates and professional accreditations, and records of your in-house training and supervision;

·      Information related to your usage of The Simon Community equipment such as mobiles, PCs, systems such as email, internet and telephone;

·      Disciplinary and grievance information, including letters, notes of meetings, notes of investigations, decisions and appeals;

·      Personal information captured for the purposes of processing salary;

·      Information about activities outside work where time off is required (e.g. jury service);

·      Information relating to work done, including work-related e-mail correspondence, notes of meetings, phone records, travel records, supervision;

·      Family related information, including records of maternity/paternity/adoption /shared parental/parental leave and pay, details of time off for dependents, compassionate leave records;

·      Equal opportunities monitoring information, such as information relating to your gender, age, marital or civil partnership status, race or ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, sexual orientation, disability, gender reassignment or pregnancy or maternity, education or caring responsibilities.

We may collect, use and transfer your personal information through the use of computer systems and/or paper-based data processing systems (such as manual forms).

2.   Use of Personal Information

The Simon Community needs to carry out certain activities with your personal data in order to run our services; this applies to volunteers, employees, trustees and residents.

For employees of The Simon Community processing of personal data is required to manage and administer the employee/employer relationship, such as creating your employee file, using your bank information in order to pay your salary, providing information about you to HMRC as per our legal obligations, etc.

More specifically, we process personal information for the following purposes:

·      Recruitment of volunteers, employees and trustees

·      Welcoming residents into the community

·      Operating The Simon Community day to day (e.g. by maintaining records of work-related information)

·      Administration of payroll

·      Performance management and addressing any training or development needs

·      Legal compliance, including compliance with government authority requests for information and tax compliance and carrying out, and maintaining records of, immigration right to work checks

·      Accident reporting including contacting you or your next of kin in an emergency

·      Being able to contact you when you are away from the Community

·      Workplace management, such as travel expenses and health and safety

·      Reporting to protect The Simon Community and the public against injury, theft, legal liability, fraud or abuse; and other legal related purposes

·      Investigating and/or addressing any disciplinary or grievance issues or concerns raised.

In most cases, we process your personal information because it is necessary for us to comply with our legal obligations. In other cases, we may need to process your personal information for our legitimate interests namely: efficient operation of The Simon Community and maintaining standards of service for our guests.

We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal information for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so. In limited circumstances, we may approach you for your written consent to allow us to process certain specific information, in which case we will provide you with full details and request your consent at that time.  

3.   How is your personal information collected?

We collect personal information either directly from you or from third parties including former employers, other referees, qualifications bodies, credit reference agencies or other background check agencies or publicly available information e.g. on LinkedIn.

We also collect personal information on an ongoing basis during your time with The Simon Community either directly from you, or sometimes from third parties such as volunteers, residents or colleagues.

4.   Disclosures

We may disclose your personal information for legitimate purposes in the following circumstances:

·      If we are legally obligated to by law i.e. to HMRC, Immigration Officials, Court Order or as part of a police investigation;

·      On request, and with your consent, for a reference to verify information such as your employment, or time spent volunteering for The Simon Community;

·      If it becomes necessary in an emergency or life-threatening scenario. 

We share your information with third-party service providers, where they reasonably require it to perform their obligations or in order to enable us to achieve the objective of our processing.

5. Accuracy

We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is accurate, complete, and current. Please note that it is your responsibility to ensure that you keep us informed of any changes to your personal information. Any changes should be sent to rcullen@simoncommunity.org.uk

6. Access

You have the right to request us to:

·      Give you details of your personal information and a copy of it (commonly known as a "Subject Access Request");

·      Correct your personal information if it is inaccurate;

·      Delete your personal information in certain circumstances, for example where we no longer need the information;

·      Stop, or limit, our processing of your personal information in certain circumstances, for example where you believe that we do not have a legal basis to do so;

·      Send you, or another organisation, certain types of personal information about you in a format that can be read by computer.

You may also withdraw your consent to our processing your personal information, where our processing is based on your consent.

If you wish to make a Subject Access Request then please contact rcullen@simoncommunity.org.uk All requests will be actioned within one month of the request being made.

Please note your right to access your personal information may be subject to certain restrictions, for example, access may be denied: (i) in the case of manifestly unfounded or excessive requests, or (ii) where providing such access could compromise the privacy of another person.

7. Security

The Simon Community takes precautions to protect personal information from loss, misuse and unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. We have taken appropriate measures to protect the information systems on which your personal information is stored.

8. Data Breach Notification Procedures

Any actual or suspected data protection breaches must be reported to the Community Manager. All reported breaches will be investigated by the Community Manager (with any necessary support from the Board of Trustees) and the Community Manager will ensure the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is notified within 72 hours of identification, where applicable.

9. Retention

Your personal information will be retained for as long as necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements and for as long as we have a reason for doing so.

10. Handling Privacy Concerns

If you have any questions about this notice, if you believe that your data has been breached or handled incorrectly or if you have any concerns regarding the use, processing and storage of your personal information, then please contact rcullen@simoncommunity.org.uk

We hope that we will be able to address any questions or concerns you may have. However, you also have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner's Office (www.ico.org.uk), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues.

This privacy notice was published in 2018 and last updated on 28.11.22.