Responding to requests for employee information

Skills you'll practise

• Triage a request for employee information by identifying the requester, verifying identity or authority, and deciding the basis for sharing
• Process an employee's request for their own data within the UK time limits, including clarification, extension and identity checks
• Identify information about other people in a response and decide whether to redact, seek consent or withhold, recording the reason
• Draft a reference or verification response that is accurate, fair, consistent with policy and limited to what is needed
• Route police, legal and union requests to the right person and record the decision and what was shared
• Explain when a US employee may have access rights under state law, using California as an example, and when to ask legal

Course outline

1. 1.Responding to requests for employee informationVideo · 3 min
2. 2.Who's asking, and a routine for every requestLesson · 14 min
3. 3.Employees asking for their own dataLesson · 18 min
4. 4.References and employment verificationLesson · 14 min
5. 5.Managers, police, legal and union requestsLesson · 14 min
6. 6.Responding to requests for employee information: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 22 questions
7. 7.Responding to requests for employee information: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
8. 8.Two phone calls about NadiaScenario
9. 9.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out

Sources it draws on

The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.

• ICO (UK example): Subject access request Q&As for employers
• ICO (UK example): A guide to subject access
• ICO (UK example): Employment practices and data protection, using employment records (sharing, references)
• ICO (UK example): Can I share personal data with a law enforcement authority, such as the police?
• Acas (UK example): Providing a job reference
• Acas (UK example): What employers can say in a reference
• Acas (UK example): Code of Practice on disclosure of information to trade unions for collective bargaining purposes
• California Labor Code section 1198.5: employee access to personnel records (US state example)
• California Attorney General: California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) (US state example)
• General HR practice: fair process, confidentiality and documentation. Your own policies and local law apply; involve HR or legal advisers