Are you meeting privacy obligations when hiring?

Does your hiring process include maintaining the privacy of the applicant’s information? When collecting personal information it’s important to refer to the Privacy Act and the twelve privacy principles to ensure that information is protected.

Quick reminder of some of the most important ones…

Keep all identities of applicants confidential and only discuss information with people who are directly involved in the recruitment process

• Only contact the referees that are nominated by the applicant, this includes internal employees. You will need consent from the applicant if there is someone you would like to contact who was not originally nominated

• Remember to check with the referee whether they would like to keep the conversation confidential (should the applicant ask what the referee said about them)

• Make sure the applicant has consented to checks ie; checking qualifications, criminal convictions and when applicable police and credit checks (nb: you must be able to justify why you need to do a credit check)

• You can use publicly available information, however you cannot send a Friend Request or ask someone else to send a Request in order to see further information that may be private

• Make sure you ask the successful applicant what information they are happy for you to share with the rest of the team when announcing their appointment

• Always destroy and delete information of unsuccessful applicants unless they have given consent for you to keep their information on file, should another opportunity arise

Need help? Call the recruitment team at People Passion, they can pick up from any point in your process.