For Pet Owners and Veterinary Professionals
How we use your personal information
- As a company providing specialist veterinary services, we may need to process your personal data. We will do so only in accordance with this statement.
- Much of the information we collect and hold will be/have been provided by you, but some may come from other sources, such as your primary veterinary surgeon.
- Where you are or enquire about becoming a client, the basis for us processing your personal data will be to enter into and perform the contract between us.
- We may also use your personal data to send you information that we believe will be of interest to you; in these cases the basis for us processing your personal data will be legitimate interest. We will not process your data in this way where these interests are overridden by your own interests. You can at any time contact us (details below) to request us to stop sending you this information if you do not wish to receive it.
- It is our policy to retain clinical records, and as such, personal data for a period of five (5) years to accommodate on-going care and the potential need to refer to clinical records.
- Other than as mentioned below, we will only disclose information about you to third parties if we are legally obliged to do so or where we need to comply with our contractual duties to you, for instance we may need to pass on certain information to your pet insurance provider.
- Personal information may be shared with your insurance company and primary veterinary surgeon, with whom you should already have a relationship. In addition, data (limited to your surname) may be shared with providers of other clinical services (e.g. laboratories) to ensure proper case identification and with third-parties collaborating in clinical research projects; on occasion this data may be sent to a third country.
- In limited and necessary circumstances, your information may be transferred outside of the EEA or to an international organisation providing necessary clinical services. Wherever possible this data will be limited to your surname.
- We confirm that we have in place appropriate security measures to protect your personal data from access by unauthorised persons and against unlawful processing, accidental loss, damage or destruction.
- Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you have a number of rights with regard to your personal data. You have the right to request from us access to and rectification or erasure of your personal data, the right to restrict processing, object to processing as well as, in certain circumstances, the right to data portability.
- You have the right to lodge a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe that we have not complied with the requirements of the GDPR with regard to your personal data.
- Davies Veterinary Specialists Ltd. is the data controller for the purposes of the GDPR.
- If you have any concerns as to how your data is processed you can contact us at [email protected] or write to us at Davies Veterinary Specialists Ltd., Manor Farm Business Park, Higham Gobion, Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG5 3HR
For Job Applicants
As part of any recruitment process, Davies Veterinary Specialists (The Company) collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants. The Company is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations.
What information does the Company collect?
The Company collects a range of information about you. This includes:
- your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number;
- details of your qualifications, skills, experience and employment history;
- information about your current level of remuneration, including benefit entitlements;
- whether or not you have a disability for which the Company needs to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process; and
- information about your entitlement to work in the UK.
The Company may collect this information in a variety of ways. For example, data might be contained in application forms, CVs or resumes, obtained from your passport or other identity documents, or collected through interviews or other forms of assessment, including online tests.
The Company may also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by former employers and information from employment background check providers.
Data will be stored in a range of different places, including on your application record, in HR management systems and on other IT systems including email.
Why does the Company process personal data?
The Company needs to process data to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract with you. It may also need to process your data to enter into a contract with you.
In some cases, the Company needs to process data to ensure that it is complying with its legal obligations. For example, it is required to check a successful applicant’s eligibility to work in the UK before employment starts.
The Company has a legitimate interest in processing personal data during the recruitment process and for keeping records of the process. Processing data from job applicants allows the Company to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm a candidate’s suitability for employment and decide to whom to offer a job. The Company may also need to process data from job applicants to respond to and defend against legal claims.
The Company may process special categories of data, such as information about ethnic origin, sexual orientation or religion or belief, to monitor recruitment statistics. It may also collect information about whether or not applicants are disabled to make reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability. The Company processes such information to carry out its obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.
For some roles, the Company may be obliged to seek information about criminal convictions and offences. Where the Company seeks this information, it does so because it is necessary for it to carry out its obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.
The Company will not use your data for any purpose other than the recruitment exercise for which you have applied.
If your application is unsuccessful, the Company may keep your personal data on file in case there are future employment opportunities for which you may be suited. The Company will ask for your consent before it keeps your data for this purpose and you are free to withdraw your consent at any time.
Who has access to data?
Your information may be shared internally for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes members of the HR team, interviewers involved in the recruitment process, managers in the business area with a vacancy and IT staff if access to the data is necessary for the performance of their roles.
The Company will not share your data with third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and it makes you an offer of employment. The Company will then share your data with former employers to obtain references for you and employment background check providers to obtain necessary background checks.
In certain circumstances it may also be necessary to transfer such personal data (including sensitive personal data) outside the European Economic Area.
How does the Company protect data?
The Company takes the security of your data seriously. It has internal policies and controls in place to ensure that your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessed except by our employees in the proper performance of their duties.
For how long does the Company keep data?
If your application for employment is unsuccessful, the Company will hold your data on file for 6 months after the end of the relevant recruitment process. If you agree to allow the Company to keep your personal data on file, the Company will hold your data on file for a further 6 months for consideration for future employment opportunities. At the end of that period or once you withdraw your consent, your data is deleted or destroyed.
If your application for employment is successful, personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your personnel file and retained during your employment. The periods for which your data will be held will be provided to you in a new employee privacy notice.
Your rights
As a data subject, you have a number of rights. You can:
- access and obtain a copy of your data on request;
- require the Company to change incorrect or incomplete data;
- require the Company to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing; and
- object to the processing of your data where the Company is relying on its legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing.
If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact the recruiting or Practice Manager or a member of the People & Culture Team.
If you believe that the Company has not complied with your data protection rights, you can complain to the Information Commissioner.
What if you do not provide personal data?
You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to the Company during the recruitment process. However, if you do not provide the information, the Company may not be able to process your application properly or at all.