LAW UPDATES

Data Protection - Employees' right to see data held on them

For a considerable time now, employees have had the right to see their personal details held on computer.  There has been a new extension to the legislation which adds the right to see paper (and other) records.  What exactly does this mean?

An employee has the right see, for example, your personnel records, any CCTV footage showing him/her, appraisal records,etc., etc.

Certain records are exempt and need not be shown to the employee, for example, a reference given in confidence.

You have the right to make a charge for access to records, but it must be a reasonable one, and this does have some deterrent value. You also have the right to refuse if giving access would involve 'disproportionate effort'; unfortunately no-one has yet defined 'disproportionate, but it would seem reasonable to us that an employee should be allowed to see his/her records once a year without charge. Additional requests to view records could be charged, but at a justifiable cost.

Members can get detailed information by telephoning our helpline - 0845 130 7979