Introduction

 

As a simple consequence of being your solicitors, e3 employment law LLP ("e3") holds information relating to you as an identifable individual. This means that e3 processes your personal data.

 

Many individuals would have a reasonable understanding of the different ways in which they could expect their personal data to be processed by their solicitors. This might include:

 

• holding and using documentation relating to you and the legal issues within the matter(s) upon which we are instructed,

• communicating with you to obtain relevant information and to provide advice; and/or

• holding and using contact details for communication etc.

 

Equally, however, some individuals may not have that awareness. Please forgive us if you fully appreciate all of the following information but we prefer to err on the side of transparency for those who might not.

 

We intend that this notice will provide transparency and enable every individual to understand how and why their personal data is used by us. e3 wants you to have maximum visibility, understanding and control over our processing of your personal data before, during and after your instruction.

 

This document is intended to be written concisely and in plain language so that the information is readily accessible and understandable. (If you do not understand any element or have any queries please contact privacy@e3employmentlaw.co.uk).

 

What is my ‘personal data’?

 

Your personal data is simply any information that relates to you as an identifiable individual. This might range from your National Insurance number to the fact that you attended a specific meeting.

 

What is data processing?

 

Data processing means any action which is performed on data including collection, recording, storing, viewing, altering, transmitting, and disclosing right through to erasure or destruction of the data.

 

Who is responsible for my personal data?

 

The Data Controller responsible for your personal data is e3 employment law LLP. You can contact the Data Controller at Delphian House, Riverside, New Bailey Street, Manchester M3 5FS and/or by emailing privacy@e3employmentlaw.co.uk..

 

We are not required to have a Data Protection Officer by the relevant data protection legislation. Instead all of the e3 Partners share responsibility for data protection issues. (If a Data Protection Officer is appointed at some point in the future then you will be notified of the appropriate contact details.)

 

Why does the organisation process my personal data?

 

The purpose(s) for processing your personal data (by reference to the categories of personal data) are:

 

• To comply with our legal and regulatory responsibilities - data contained in records of communications between us, data contained within records of communication with other parties connected to matters upon which we are advising you, data contained within documentation provided to us by you or by other parties and intermediaries (including counsel) in connection with matters upon which we are advising you, data obtained whilst carrying out due diligence and money laundering checks (including data within one or more of residential address, national insurance details, passport details, driving licence details, electoral roll details and other data of a similar nature).

• To enable us to provide employment law advice and support to you and to represent you efficiently - data contained in records of communications between us, data contained within records of communication with other parties and intermediaries (including counsel) connected  matters upon which we are advising you, data contained within documentation provided to us by you, by other parties and intermediaries (including counsel) in connection with matters upon which we are advising you, and any data which you instruct us to process in any way.

• To enable us to manage our professional relationship - data relevant to your relationship with e3 employment law LLP including bank details for payment, data relevant to your contact details (including email, telephone and residential address).

• To provide our contacts with business and legal updates and to invite contacts to events which may be of interest to them, and to manage such mailings and event - data relevant to your contact details including email telephone and residential address.

• For the purposes of internal know-how and training (we will use all reasonable endeavours to ensure any personal data contained in the material is redacted or anonymised) - data relating to factual and legal issues.

 

NB   If the purpose(s) for which we process your personal data change(s) then we will provide you with updated Privacy Notice details.

 

The lawful basis for processing your personal data (by reference to the categories of personal data) are:

• The processing is necessary for the performance of the contract of engagement - data relevant to your contact details (including email, telephone and home address etc), data relevant to the situation upon which you have sought advice and support and your aims within that situation, data concerning payment, and any data which you instruct us to process in any way.

• The processing is necessary for the compliance with a legal or regulatory obligation - data relevant to Law Society and/or Solicitors Regulation Authority requirements and recommendations in force from time to time, data relevant to any court order or direction.

• The processing is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests - data relevant to you, data relevant to advising you upon the situation on which you have sought advice and support, and data relevant to our professional relationship and payment for our services.

• The processing is by consent – data relevant for marketing purposes and/or if we ask you to provide a reference about our services. (See Consent & Withdrawal of Consent below.)

Our legitimate interests for processing your personal data (by reference to the categories of personal data) are:

• Conducting our business as a law firm specialising in employment law - data relevant to your contact details (including email, telephone and home address etc), data relevant to the situation upon which you have sought advice and support and, your aims within that situation, data relevant to our professional relationship, to payment for our services, and to payment mechanisms, any data contained in records of communications between us, with other parties and intermediaries (including counsel) connected to matters upon which we are advising you, data contained within documentation provided to us by you or by other parties and intermediaries in connection with matters upon which we are advising you, and any data which you instruct us to process in any way.

• Administering the organisation - data relevant to your contact details (including email, telephone and home address etc), data relevant to the situation upon which you have sought advice and supportand, your aims within that situation, and data concerning payment mechanisms.

• Reporting to regulatory bodies, government bodies and departments - data relevant to Law Society and/or Solicitors Regulation Authority requirements and recommendations in force from time to time, data required by law or which you instruct us to provide to such organisations.

The provision of your personal data is part of a statutory or contractual requirement/obligation. If you fail to provide your personal data we are unlikely to be able to provide advice and support to or to represent you. (If we are still able to provide advice and support to or to represent you then it is likely to be materially less efficient.)

 

Obviously, we obtain personal data from you. We may well also obtain personal data concerning you from other sources such as the other parties (and/or their professional advisors) involved in matters concerning you.

 

What else might happen to my personal data?

 

We share your personal data with certain other organisations for specific purposes. (For example, we may be required or instructed to pass details of your pay and benefits or other payments received by you to HMRC.) The potential recipients/categories of potential recipients with whom we may share certain relevant elements of your personal data are:

 

• e3 employment law LLP’s partners, employees, workers and agents acting on e3 employment law LLP’s behalf who are involved in providing our services to you, and/or who need to interact with you within their work duties.

• Other organisations who oversee or regulate e3 employment law LLP’s in some way including the Law Society, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, HM Courts and Tribunals, government bodies, departments and agents

• Other parties (and/or their professional advisors) involved in matters upon which we are advising, supporting or representing you.

• Other organisations who are trusted suppliers or some other form of business partner (eg counsel, experts (eg medical or legal), specialist reprographics service providers, hosted software providers, business continuity providers).

• Third parties with whom e3 employment law engages for the hosting of events or other marketing initiatives (eg identity data, attendance related data and dietary requirments)

 

Transfer outside the UK and EEA

 

It is possible that on your instructions or in compliance with a court order or direction we may transfer your data to organisations or persons in states outside of the UK and EEA. This includes data transfers to parties (and/or their professional advisors) involved in matters upon which we are advising, supporting or representing you in as yet unknown locations, and to other law firms and/or professional advisors in order to obtain advice, to assist in the provision of advice for your benefit.

 

We will only do so in accordance with your instructions or in compliance with a Court order or direction.

 

How long will my personal data be processed?

 

The period for which we will retain your personal data is: 6 years after the end of our relationship unless exceptional circumstances apply which make it prudent to retain data for a longer period (eg ongoing litigation or regulatory investigation).

 

What control do I have over my personal data?

 

As a data subject you have the following rights:

 

1. The right to be informed – the right to receive the information provided within this privacy notice and appropriate updates.

2. The right of access – the right to access the personal data which is being processed, confirmation of that processing and supplemental information to verify that it is being lawfully processed.

3. The right to rectification – the right to request rectification if you believe that your personal data is inaccurate or incomplete.

4. The right to erasure – the right to request deletion of your personal data if you believe that there is no compelling reason for continued processing.

5. The right to restrict processing – the right to request processing of your personal data is blocked or suppressed whilst the data continues to be stored.

6. The right to data portability – the right to request transfer of data to another organisation in a commonly used machine readable format.

7. The right to object – the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, direct marketing, or for research and statistics.

8. Rights re Automated Decision Making & Profiling – the right not to be subject to decision based on automated processing or ‘profiling’ without human intervention or appropriate safeguards.

Please contact privacy@e3employmentlaw.co.uk with the subject heading: "Data Protection Rights" if you would like further information on any of your rights, the circumstances in which they apply and/or the mechanism to use if you wish to exercise any of your rights.

 

Is my personal data used in any form of automated decision making?

 

At present, we do not use automated decision making and nor do we intend to do so. (If we do start to use automated decision making then will provide you with details of the logic used, the significance and the possible consequences.)

 

Consent & Withdrawal of Consent

 

As set out above, we will only process your personal data for the purpose of providing business and legal updates, requests for references and sending you invitations to events which we believe may be of interest to you if you have provided your consent.

 

You understand that you can withdraw consent to any combination of these elements above at any time by emailing: privacy@e3employmentlaw.co.uk with the subject heading: "Consent Change" and specifying the variation or withdrawal you require.

 

Such variations or withdrawals will not affect the lawfulness of any use of your information that we make before you vary or withdraw your consent.  

 

What do I do if I am unhappy with the processing of my personal data?

 

If you have any concerns or you are dissatisfied with the handling of your personal data you should submit such concerns to (privacy@e3employmentlaw.co.uk) with the subject heading: "Personal Data Concern".

 

You also have the right to lodge a complaint to a relevant supervisory authority. (In the UK the supervisory authority is the Information Commissioner’s Office.)

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

You can also contact the Information Commissioner’s Office by visiting their website https://www.ico.org.uk

 

Peace of Mind

 

We take data protection seriously, and we take the protection of your personal data seriously. The safeguards we have in place include operating a reputable hosted practice management system (backed by Tier 3 data centre and ISO 27001 accredited security) and utilising encrypted laptops and robust anti-virus software.

 

We only collect and use your data for lawful, appropriate purposes. We do not pass your information to third parties so that they can market goods or services to you.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

 

We aim to meet high standards and so our policies and processes are subject to review.  From time to time we may change this Privacy Notice and will inform you, usually in writing or by publishing updated content to our website, https://www.e3employmentlaw.co.uk.