Data Protection Act for employers and employees

Employers are data processors for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998 and accordingly must ensure that personal data about employees is obtained and retained only for specific and lawful purposes.

Employees have the right to request copies of data that is held about them, and to receive a copy of their personnel file excluding confidential references about them given by their previous employer.

Care should be taken to ensure that information about other staff is not inadvertently disclosed to an employee requesting to see their personnel file. A charge of up to £10 may be levied by the employer.

Any inaccuracies in data should be remedied as soon as possible.

Further information

The Information Commissioner's Office website contains information on data protection and details of who needs to notify the Information Commissioner and how to notify.

Reviewed and updated by the HR Services Partnership – April 2010.

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