What is data protection?

It’s the system in place that aims to safeguard personal information from compromise.

Be it through corruption, theft or loss.

Employers, you have a legal obligation of transparency when it comes to how you’ll process, use and store the information you collect.

 While at work, it's important for employers to ensure their workforce operates in a way that complies to these laws.

What is the Data Protection Act?

In May 2018, the government enacted an update to the Data Protection Act 1998 to control how business and government institutions use personal information and to include wording related to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

According to the Data Protection Act 2018, employees have the right to know:

• What data you hold about them.

• How you use the information.

Employees also have a right to:

• Update incorrect date.

• Have their data removed.

• Restrict or stop the processing of data.

• Object to how you use their data.

• Obtain and re-use their data for a different purpose

You can submit a Subject Access Request (SAR) to your employer at anytime to obtain the material they hold about you on their computer systems - sometimes the SAR is called a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR).

We produce a template for you, should you wish to make a SAR to your employer - click below for a link to the template:

Subject Access Request

Once your employer receives your request then they have usually one month to provide you with access to the information that you have requested. In some circumstances such as complicated or multiple requests, your employer can take a further two months to provide it. You can make a SAR whether you are still employed or have left your employer. A SAR is a useful tool to help you to build a picture of whether there is a sufficient evidence for you to pursue a claim to tribunal. It's a good place to start before filing your ET1.