This privacy notice explains to applicants (“you/your”) why and how Smart Metering Systems plc and each of our group companies (“we, our, us, SMS”) will hold and use personal information we receive about you during the application process. We are required to notify you of this information, under data protection legislation.

Data protection principles

We will comply with the data protection principles when gathering and using personal information, as set out in our Data Protection Policy.  

Information we collect and hold

We may collect the following information up to and including the shortlisting stage of our recruitment process:

• Your name and contact details (address, home and mobile phone numbers, email address);
• Details of your qualifications, experience, employment history (including job titles, salary if and where relevant and working hours) and interests;
• Information regarding your criminal record if and where relevant; and
• Details of your referees.

We may collect the following information after the shortlisting stage, and before making a final decision to recruit:

• Information about your previous academic and/or employment history, including details of any conduct, grievance or performance issues, appraisals, time and attendance, from references obtained about you from previous employers and/or education providers;
• Information regarding your academic and professional qualifications;
• Information regarding your criminal record, in criminal records certificates (CRCs) and enhanced criminal records certificates (ECRCs) where relevant;
• Your nationality and immigration status and information from related documents, such as your passport or other identification and immigration information; and
• A copy of your driving licence where relevant.

You are required (by law or in order to enter into your contract of employment) to provide the categories of information set out above to us to enable us to verify your right to work and suitability for the position.

How we collect the information

We may collect this information from you, your referees (details of whom you will have provided), your education provider, the relevant professional body, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and the Home Office. If you are applying for an engineering position or a position which will require you to drive in the course of your employment, we will collect information from assessments that you may be required to complete as part of the interview process.  

Why we collect the information and how we use it

We will typically collect and use this information for the following purposes (other purposes that may also apply are explained in our Data Protection Policy:

• to take steps to enter into a contract;
• for compliance with a legal obligation;
• for the purposes of our legitimate interests or those of a relevant third party (such as a benefits provider), but only if these are not overridden by your interests, rights or freedoms;
• to contact you about other suitable vacancies where you have indicated your consent for us to do so;
• because it is necessary for carrying out obligations or exercising rights in employment law.

We seek to ensure that our information collection and processing is always proportionate. We will notify you of any changes to information we collect or to the purposes for which we collect and process it.

How we may share the information

We may also need to share some of the above categories of personal information with other parties, such as HR consultants and professional advisers, or a third party that we use to provide a recruitment portal for us. Where it can be, information will be anonymised, but this may not always be possible. In any case, the recipient of the information will be bound by confidentiality obligations.

We may also be required to share personal information with our regulators or as required to comply with the law, including where this is required for particular roles, e.g. the DVLA and a third party who carries out CRB checks for example.

Sensitive personal information and criminal records information

Further details on how we handle sensitive personal information and information relating to criminal convictions and offences are set out in our Data Protection Policy, available from our HR department.

Where information may be held

Information may be held at our offices and those of our group companies, and third-party agencies, service providers, representatives and agents as described above.

How long we keep your information

We keep the personal information that we obtain about you during the recruitment process for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed. How long we keep your information will depend on whether your application is successful and you become employed by us, the nature of the information concerned and the purposes for which it is processed.

We will keep recruitment information (including interview notes) for no longer than is reasonable, taking into account the limitation periods for potential claims such as race or sex discrimination (as extended to take account of early conciliation), after which they will be destroyed. If there is a clear business reason for keeping recruitment records for longer than the recruitment period, we may do so but will first consider whether the records can be pseudonymised, and the longer period for which they will be kept.

If your application is successful, we will keep only the recruitment information that is necessary in relation to your employment. For further information, see our privacy notice for our employees, available from our HR department.

Your right to object to us processing your information

Where our processing of your information is based solely on our legitimate interests (or those of a third party), you have the right to object to that processing if you give us specific reasons why you are objecting, which are based on your particular situation. If you object, we can no longer process your information unless we can demonstrate legitimate grounds for the processing, which override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Please contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO) (dpo@sms-plc.com) if you wish to object in this way.

Your rights to correct and access your information and to ask for it to be erased

Please contact our DPO if (in accordance with applicable law) you would like to correct or request access to information that we hold relating to you or if you have any questions about this notice. You also have the right to ask our DPO for some but not all of the information we hold and process to be erased (the ‘right to be forgotten’) in certain circumstances. Our DPO will provide you with further information about the right to be forgotten, if you ask for it.

Keeping your personal information secure

We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

How to complain

We hope that our DPO can resolve any query or concern you raise about our use of your information. If not, contact the Information Commissioner at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ or telephone: 0303 123 1113 for further information about your rights and how to make a formal complaint.