Clockwise Education will ensure that the confidentiality rights of learners and staff are respected. To this end all staff and learners are required to abide by the Data Protection Policy in compliance with the 1998 Data Protection Act.
Clockwise Education has a policy and procedures regarding data protection. The policy adheres to all aspects of the Data Protection Act 1998.
Clockwise Education needs to keep certain information about its employees, learners and other users to allow it to monitor, for example, performance, achievements, and health and safety. It is also necessary to process information so that staff can be recruited and paid, courses organised and legal obligations to funding bodies and government fulfilled. To comply with the law, information must be collected and used fairly, stored safety and not disclosed to any other person unlawfully. To do this, Clockwise Education must comply with the 8 Data Protection Principles which are set out in the Data Protection Act 1998 (the 1998 Act). In summary these state that personal data shall:
All Clockwise Education staff or others who process or use any personal information must ensure that they follow these principles at all times. In order to ensure that this happens, Clockwise Education has adopted this Data Protection Policy.
This policy does not form part of the formal contract of employment, but it is a condition of employment that employees will abide by the rules and policies made by Clockwise Education from time to time. Any failures to follow the policy can therefore result in disciplinary proceedings. Any member of staff, who considers that the policy has not been followed in respect of personal data about him/herself, should raise the matter with one of the designated data controllers initially. If the matter is not resolved it should be raised as a formal grievance.
All staff, learners and other users are entitled to:
All staffs are responsible for:
If and when, as part of their responsibilities, staff collect information about other people, (i.e. about learner’s course work, opinions about ability, references to external organisations, or details of personal circumstances), they must comply with the guidelines for staff.
All staff are responsible for ensuring that:
Learners must ensure that all personal data provided to Clockwise Education is accurate and up to date. They must ensure that changes of address, etc are notified.
Staff, learners and other users of Clockwise Education have the right to access any personal data that is being kept about them either on computer or in certain files. Any learner who wishes to exercise this right should inform their tutor.
Clockwise Education aims to comply with requests for access to personal information as quickly as possible, but will ensure that it is provided within 21 days unless there is good reason for delay. In such cases, the reason for delay will be explained in writing to the data subject making the request.
In many cases, Clockwise Education can only process personal data with the consent of the individual. In some cases, if the data is sensitive, express consent must be obtained. Agreement to Clockwise Education processing some specified classes of personal data is a condition of acceptance of a student onto any course, and a condition of employment for staff. This includes information about previous criminal convictions.
Some jobs or courses will bring the applicants into contact with children, including young people between the ages of 16 and 18. Clockwise Education has a duty under the Children Act and other enactments to ensure that staffs are suitable for the job, and learners for the courses offered. Clockwise Education also has a duty of care to all staff and learners and must therefore make sure that employees do not pose a threat or danger to other users.
Sometimes it is necessary to process information about a person's health, criminal convictions, race and gender and family details. This may be to ensure Clockwise Education is a safe place for everyone, or to operate other policies, such as the sick pay policy or equal opportunities policy.
Because this information is considered sensitive, and it is recognised that the processing of it may cause particular concern or distress to individuals, staff and learners will be asked to give express consent for Clockwise Education to do this. Therefore, all prospective staff will be asked to give their consent to processing sensitive data on the appropriate forms: Application Form and Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form.
Clockwise Education will keep some forms of information for longer than others. In general information about staff and learners will be kept for a minimum of six years after they leave London Vocational College.
Compliance with the 1998 Act is the responsibility of all members of Clockwise Education staff. Any deliberate breach of the data protection policy may lead to disciplinary action being taken, or access to Clockwise Education facilities being withdrawn, or even a criminal prosecution. Any questions or concerns about the interpretation or operation of this policy should be taken up with the Data Controller, who is responsible for determining the purposes for and manner in which personal data is processed.