Job Applicant Privacy Statement

Data Controller: Holidaybreak Education Ltd (including it’s subsidiaries NST Travel Group, StudyLink Tours, and European Study Tours).

As your data controller we have notified our main supervisory authority as required under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) on the processing activities we perform on all personal data obtained. NST Travel Group (including its subsidiary StudyLink Tours) and European Study Tours are listed in the Public Register of Data Controllers. 

Personal information will only be collected and/or processed by us in accordance with the Regulations

Data Protection Officer: Paul Kenwright: Email address: data.protection@holidaybreak.com

When you visit our careers pages, apply for a vacancy, or request to submit your application for our consideration for any future roles, we may collect and store personal data on you. We are committed to being transparent about how we collect and use that data and to meeting our data protection obligations.

Please read the following privacy statement to understand how we use and protect the data you provide. By submitting your personal information, you are consenting to us holding and using it in accordance with this privacy statement. 

The statement is subject to change. Any changes to it in the future will be notified here. By continuing to use the careers pages of our website, you are agreeing to such changes. We recommend that you check this privacy statement each time you visit this site. 

Information that we collect from you and your use of this website 

When you visit any of our recruitment pages, e.g. www.nstgroup.co.uk/careers, we automatically receive and save certain types of information about your interactions on the careers pages. We use the information to monitor website traffic and to assist with the navigation and user experience of the website. For more information on this please visit our cookies policy at www.nstgroup.co.uk/cookie-policy

If you subsequently apply for a vacancy via our website, we will ask you to provide certain information about yourself so that we might reasonably consider you application and contact you. The information we normally request will include your name, email address, a copy of your CV detailing your career history. Should you be selected for interview or assessment, we may also collect information on whether or not you have a disability for which we may need to make reasonably adjustments during the recruitment process.

During interviews and other forms of recruitment assessment, we may collect further information from you, including information about your qualifications and skills, and information about your current level of remunerations including benefit entitlements. This information is important so that we can fully consider your application for the vacancy you have applied for, and any offer of employment we may put to you.

We may also use this information to consider your suitability for other vacancies we may have, now or in the near future, that we believe you may be interested in. We will ask for your consent before we keep your data for this purpose, and you are free to withdraw your consent at any time.

Should you be offered a role, we may also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by former employers, as well as information about your entitlement to work in the UK or Republic of Ireland, information on your health, so we may consider any reasonably adjustments during employment, information from employment background check providers and information from criminal records checks. We will seek information from third parties, and about your health and right to work only once a job offer has been made to you, and only with your explicit consent.

Why we process your personal data

Your personal data is collected to facilitate the recruitment process and used for anonymised reporting purposes, e.g. the total number of applications for a particular post. 

We also need to process data to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract with you. We also need to process your data to enter into a contract with you.

In some cases, we need to process data to ensure that we comply with a legal obligation (e.g. Right to Work). 

We have a legitimate interest in processing personal data during the recruitment process and for keeping records of the process. Processing data from job applications allows us to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm your suitability for employment and make decisions on whom to offer a job. We may also need to process personal data from job applicants to respond to and defend against legal claims. 

We process health information to help identify if we need to make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process for candidates who have a disability. This is to carry out our obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.

Where we rely on legitimate interest as a reason for processing data, we have considered whether those interests are overridden by your rights and freedoms and have concluded that they are not.

For some roles, we are obliged to seek information about criminal convictions and offences. Where we seek this information, we do so because it is necessary for us to carry out our obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.

How we handle the data that is submitted by you and how long do we keep it?

Data entered as part of an application via the website is stored in our secure content management system behind the website for a maximum of 4 weeks. Within 5 working days of your application being received, we will also download the data to our secure IT systems (including email) and retained for a maximum period of 3 months following the conclusion of the vacancy, or for a maximum of 3 months when you have submitted your details to us for any future vacancies, i.e. not in response to a specific job advertisement. 

We take the security of your data very seriously. We have internal policies and controls in place to ensure that your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessed except by our employees in the proper performance of their duties. Restrictions are in place on our electronic IT systems which only permit those with the correct permissions to access your data. Should we receive or retain data on you in a paper format, this data will be stored in secure cabinets within the HR department, and only directly accessible to authorised members of the HR and recruitment team.

In the event of your application progresses to an offer and acceptance of a contract of employment, your personal information will be held in our secure HR database for the duration of your employment, and for a maximum period of 6 years following the termination of your employment for any reason. During your employment your data will be processed in accordance with our employee privacy statement, which will be issued to you alongside your offer of employment. 

Automated decision-making

If you apply for a role through our website, we recognise your rights not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing. 

Who has access to your data, and who do we share it with?

Your information will be shared internally to facilitate the recruitment process. This includes members of the HR and recruitment team, interviewers involved in the recruitment process, managers in the business area with a vacancy, and IT staff if access to the data is necessary for the performance of their roles.

Except as set out in this policy or as required by law, your personal data will not be shared with any third party without your prior written consent. 

Your data will not be transferred outside of the European Economic Area.

Your rights

As a data subject you have several rights. You can;

  • Access and obtain a copy of your data on request;

  • Require us to change incorrect or incomplete data

  • Require us to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing

  • Object to the processing of your data where we are relying on our legitimate interest as the legal ground for processing; and

  • Ask us to stop processing data for a period if data is inaccurate or there is a dispute about whether or not your interests override our legitimate grounds for processing data.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact Jo Sysum – HR Manager, at data.protection@holidaybreak.com

If you believe we have not complied with your data protection rights, you can raise your concerns with the Information Commission. Information on how to raise a concern can be found at www.ico.org.uk/concerns

What if you do not provide personal data?

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to us during the recruitment process. However, if you do not provide the information, we may not be able to process your application properly or at all. 

Data Protection Statement: 

The personal data you provide in your application and as part of the recruitment process will only be held and processed for the purpose of the selection processes of the Holidaybreak Education Ltd group of companies, and in connection with any subsequent employment or placement, unless otherwise indicated. 

Your data will be retained only for as long as is permitted by UK Legislation, and outlined in this privacy statement, and then destroyed. 

By submitting your personal data and application, you: 

1) confirm that you have read, understood and accepted the statements set out in this data protection clause; 

2) are declaring that the information given in the application is complete and true to the best of your knowledge, and understand that deliberate omissions and incorrect statements could lead to your application being rejected or to any employment offer being withdrawn or terminated; and

3) are authorising the company to verify or have verified on their behalf all statements contained in this application and to make any necessary reference checks with your express consent should there be a requirement to do so. 

Data Retention 

Unsuccessful applicant data will be held within the recruitment system for a period of 3 months following the conclusion of a recruitment campaign for which your data has been submitted, before being deleted in order that you can access and re-use data in future applications and we can respond to statutory reporting requests. Successful applicant data will be deleted after a period of six years following the termination of employment.

Other ways to contact us 

For any queries you may have in connection with this privacy statement, please contact: 

Human Resources Manager

NST Travel Group

Discovery House

Brooklands Way

Whiltehills Business Park

Blackpool

Lancashire, FY4 5LW

Email: data.protection@holidaybreak.com