MAGRATH LLP HUMAN RESOURCES UPDATE
Employment Practices - Data Protection Code

The Information Commissioner (formerly the Data Protection Registrar) has published a consolidated and updated version of the Employment Practices Data Protection Code (“the Code”).  The Code was previously available in four separate parts which had been published over a three year period.  The new Code consolidates into a 91 page document the following:

· Recruitment and Selection;
· Employment Records;
· Monitoring at Work; and
· Information about Workers’ Health.

The Code aims to help employers comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 (“DPA”), which is designed to ensure that personal data is processed in a fair manner.  The Code, although it is not legally binding, embodies principles of good practice. 

The new Code has also been updated to take account of the Court of Appeal decision in Durant v Financial Services Authority (2004).  Prior to the decision, the concept of “personal data” was thought to be extremely wide.  Now, in accordance with the decision, the definition of personal data under the Code is as follows:

“information which is about a living person and affects that person’s privacy in the sense that the information has the person as its focus or is otherwise biographical in nature”.

The Durant case also focused the Court of Appeal’s attention on what constitutes a “relevant filing system” under the DPA.  Computerised data will almost always be protected under the DPA, but manual filing systems must be structured and referenced in such a way so as to clearly indicate whether they hold personal data in order to be covered.  The new Code confirms that a simple bundle of documents held about a worker and only filed in date order will not be caught under the DPA. 

In addition to the Code, the Information Commissioner has also published further guidance for small businesses.  The guidance is imaginatively entitled “Quick Guide to the Employment Practices Code: Ideal for the Small Business”.

For quick access to the Code and supplementary guidance, click here.

5th July 2005