GDPR issue?

nile145

Registered User
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2
recently interviewed for an internal job and received no feedback? I had asked for feedback by HR was told they would forward on. two months later nothing, so I emailed HR and stated I was looking for written feedback as per policy. I got a response at 8pm that due to custom and practice HR did not give written feedback.

is HR accessing an employees record after hours a GDPR breach (as office closes at 5pm, and was probably accessed after hours from home)

other issue which I am thinking of taking further is HR ignoring printed policy to use custom and practice.

many thanks
 
Why would they need to access your record to advise that they wouldn’t be giving written feedback?

Also, a word to the wise, giving people grief over GDPR probably isn’t a great idea if you want to progress your career.
 
Thanks Gordon.
I think at this stage only way my career will progress is exit.

Thats a good question, HR did make a point to refer to a paperwork issue that came up in the interview were I was to forward on a cert after the interview.
 
giving people grief over GDPR probably isn’t a great idea if you want to progress your career.

100% agree.

You applied for a job. You didn't get it.

You asked for feedback. They didn't give it.

Look for a job elsewhere. You sound like a nightmare employee. You will get a reputation for this. Even if it's not written down, you will get a reputation for it.

Brendan
 
HR departments do not give feedback to candidates because all it does is open them up to argument and litigation.

It does not matter when they access the records, it is not a GDPR issue. There is plenty of information out there on the topic. Educate yourself before you start a complaint.
 
You can issue a data access request and get the records around your application. They have to give these to you. Won’t help your reputation, as has been pointed out.
 
If they are a private company they probably aren't obliged to do anything policy or not. But I've no expertise in this area.

I like others would suggest your focused on the wrong thing. Finding out why you don't get an internal interview would require knowledge of the people, job spec and the business itself.

In most internal interviews you will generally know who is going to get it before hand. Rarely will you be surprised by the choices.

HR seem to exist in their own reality bubble in my opinion. Saying they are there for companies protection in no way explains what they do.
 
I agree with the opinion of others above that you are probably focussed on the wrong things from the experience. It can be frustrating when you don't get feedback, I have experienced this in the past and now I am an employer we make sure to provide feedback because we understand the importance of it. However you can be nearly 100% sure that there was nothing untoward or unusual or personal in not responding, some companies are just busy particularly when recruiting and feedback is not top priority or it can be an explicit policy not to provide feedback. The lack of feedback might just be an indication that the company wouldn't be a good match for as they may not be as people focussed as you expect.

I would suggest not to focus on it or that company and just move on to the next opportunity, keeping focussed and motivated will yield better results than starting a dispute with a company.

Regarding the queries on the the GDPR issues, I have done a GDPR Data Protection Officer course so I am more familiar with the regulations than most but not an expert so I thought I'd clarify some of the points from the little I know.

You can make a data access request and the company would be obliged to give you a copy of any personal information they hold in relation to you within 30 days as long as it is deemed a reasonable request. If there is anything that is confidential to the business or relates to third parties or deemed an inappropriate request then the company can refuse to supply the information. The refusal can be queried by the data commissioner if disputed but if the company has a valid reason (which may not be disclosed to you) they are deemed to be complying.

In this case you may end up getting your emails and CV returned to you but internal memos or emails maybe redacted. For example if an interview noted that they "did not think the candidate would suit the management style of X" or "Candidate X was more qualified than candidate Y" then that could be redacted because it relates to a third party.

The company could also deem that once an interview process is complete that the interviewee information is not relevant any more and is purged. Under GDPR companies should only hold personal information for a limited time and while it still has a business need. If they deem the information not to be necessary anymore then they may have permanently deleted it so there is nothing to be retrieved.

In terms of accessing the data from home or after hours, as long as there is sufficient security and protection taken in accessing the data that would not be an issue. Also the time of access should not be an issue too as long as it is being accessed for valid reasons and in this case there appears to be a valid reason.

Overall I think there would be little or nothing to gain from the GDPR Data Access Request other than reputation damage to you as others have suggested.

Best of luck with the job hunt!
 
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