Who will own my data once I submit it?
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Why do you need my information?
- Purpose of collecting this data
Collecting employee Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) monitoring data is essential to ensure we understand the makeup of our workforce so we can constantly improve our employee offer whilst tailoring to our staff and ensuring borough-to-workforce representation. Best practice clearly demonstrates that understanding employee demographics allows the council to tailor policies, practices and procedures to suit the needs of employees. Having knowledge of employee demographic data plays a huge part in ensuring the workforce is representative of the borough we serve. The 2021 Census shows us that, as a borough, we are becoming more diverse, it is our responsibility as an employer that we reflect that within our organisation. This intelligence will form an essential part of our EDI and People Strategy, and it will be a common practice amongst other local authorities when striving for workforce-to-borough representation.
- Why we need to collect data and what will it be used for
We need to collect this data for a number of reasons, one being our obligation under The Equality Act 2010. The public sector equality duty is a duty on public authorities to consider, or think about, how their policies or decisions affect people who are protected under the Equality Act. Therefore, as a council, we have a public duty to consider the welfare of employees with protected characteristics. As an organisation it is best practice to collect employee demographics to use for equality and diversity planning.
Another reason of collecting equality data is there is no reliable way of knowing:
- Whether discrimination is taking place
- Whether policies to prevent or tackle discrimination are working; and
- When we should amend policy or practice to cater for social change
Information from equality monitoring will help us to ensure fair access to employment and services. Monitoring can also help us find out why and how discrimination takes place.
In essence, employee’s equality data will be used to shape policies, procedures and practices with the sole aim of creating a more inclusive and diverse workforce.
On HCM, there is always an option for employees to click ‘prefer not to say’. The problem we are encountering currently is that there are a high number of ‘unknowns’, this means that the field has simply not been ticked at all. The main aim of this data campaign is to reduce the number of unknowns, so we have a clearer idea of the demographic of our workforce. This is already reported on annually in the workforce monitoring report.
To encourage staff to fill in their data, employees will be entered into a prize draw. If employees do not enter their data, they will not be entered into the draw. The prize is to win a £10 voucher to be used in Knowsley. There will be 3 names drawn.
What Personal Information do we collect?
As a Local Authority, we have a legal obligation under the Equality Act 2010 to monitor customers and staff on their:
- Age
- Disability
- Ethnicity (Race)
- Religion, Belief or non-belief
- Gender (Sex)
- Gender Identity
- Sexual Orientation
- We also ask employees to let us know their carer’s status and whether or not they have served in the armed forces.
What allows you to use my information?
The lawful basis for processing the data is:
Article 6 (1) (e) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) states that processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.
Article 9 (2) (b) of the UK GDPR which states that processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or the data subject in the field of employment.
Article 9 (2) (g) of the UK GDPR which states that processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.
The relevant lawful conditions for processing under the Data Protection Act 2018 are as follows:
Schedule 1, part 2 (8). Equality of opportunity or treatment.
Schedule 1, part 1 (1). Employment, social security or social protection.
The legislation underpinning this is the Equality Act 2010. The public sector equality duty is a duty on public authorities to consider, or think about, how their policies or decisions affect people who are protected under the Equality Act. Therefore, as a council, we have a public duty to consider the welfare of employees with protected characteristics. As an organisation it is best practice to collect employee demographics to use for equality and diversity planning. The employee survey will allow all staff, including those with protected characteristics, to share their views. This will strengthen the fulfilment of our duties under this act because it allows us to better understand the experience at work of these employees, both what is working well and what can be improved, and how the experience across the different protected characteristic groups compares to the organisation overall (where there are more than ten responses)
Who will my information be shared with?
All data imputed to HCM (Oracle) will only be accessible by HR professionals or employees via their own accounts.
A small team of human resources staff will analyse the data. They will then draw a report and save it in a secure folder only accessible by HR professionals.
Do I have to provide this information and what will happen if I don’t?
Filling out employees' information is entirely voluntary.
If employees do not enter their data, they will not be entered into the draw.
If employees do not wish to be entered into the prize draw, they can contact Organisational.DevlopmentTeam@knowsley.gov.uk and their name will not be included in the draw.
The prize is to win a £10 voucher to be used in Knowsley. There will be three names drawn.
Employees can complete the survey by choosing ‘prefer not to say’ however if no response is provided then they will not be entered into the prize draw.
How long will you keep this data for and why?
Personal data will be kept on the HR system (HCM) for as long as they are employed by us, and after they have left.
Prize draw data will be deleted when the prize draw is complete?
How will my information be stored?
Data will be stored on the Council’s secure HCM systems.
Data from the report will be stored on a secure SharePoint site that is only accessible to HR professionals.
Will this information be used to take automated decisions about me?
No
Will my data be transferred abroad and why?
No
What rights do I have when it comes to my data?
Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights with regard to your personal data:
- The right to subject access – you have the right to see a copy of the personal data that the council holds about you and find out what it is used for.
- The right to rectification – you have the right to ask the council to correct or remove any inaccurate data that we hold about you.
- The right to erasure (right to be forgotten) you have the right to ask the council to remove data that we hold about you.
- The right to restriction – you have the right to ask for your information to be restricted (locked down) on council systems.
- The right to data portability – you have the right to ask for your data to be transferred back to you or to a new provider at your request.
- The right to object – you have the right to ask the council to stop using your personal data or to stop sending you marketing information or complain about how your data is used.
- The right to prevent automated decision-making – you have the right to ask the council to stop using your data to make automated decisions about you or to stop profiling your behaviour (where applicable).
To find out more about your rights under the DPA 2018/UK GDPR, please visit the Information Commissioner’s website.
To request a copy of your data or ask questions about how it is used, please download a copy of our form and send it to:
Data Protection Officer
Knowsley Council
Municipal Building
Archway Road
Huyton
Liverpool
L36 9YU
Or email: Inforights@knowsley.gov.uk
Who can I complain to if I am unhappy about how my data is used?
You can complain directly to the Council’s Data Protection Team by writing to:
Data Protection Officer
Knowsley Council
Municipal Building
Archway Road
Huyton
Liverpool
L36 9YU
Or email: data.protection.officer@knowsley.gov.uk
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office using the following details:
The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45
Website: www.ico.org.uk