This Episode: Protecting Employee Data – Building a Culture of Compliance with Sarah Hodgkin Bates
Lucinda speaks with data protection expert Sarah Hodgkin-Bates about the critical overlap between HR and compliance, specifically regarding the handling of employee personal data.
They examine the importance of setting a company culture of transparency and cooperation by properly managing data protection, and discuss the legal frameworks governing data (GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018), how to manage access to different types of employee records (e.g., payroll vs. disciplinary), and the challenges organisations face with complex areas like Subject Access Requests (SARs) and the proper retention of sensitive data.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Being transparent about how employee data is used, often via separate employee privacy notices, builds a positive, co-operative company culture and a better employee brand.
- A core principle of data protection is to minimise access. Access should only be given to individuals who strictly need it for their job or role (e.g., payroll staff, but not the whole accounts team).
- Subject Access Requests (SARs) are often raised during complaints to create stress. Organisations must have a clear procedure and recognise that a SAR must be fulfilled within one month, as failure to comply could lead to regulatory body involvement.
- Data protection classifies certain types of personal data (like protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 or biometric data from CCTV) as ‘special category data,’ requiring elevated security measures like encryption and limited access.
BEST MOMENTS
“If you get your data protection right, you are creating a spirit of transparency and cooperation.”
“A basic principle of data protection is to minimise access. So you would only give access to people that strictly need it for their job or role.”
“Subject Access Requests… are usually raised because someone has a complaint or a grievance and they’re looking to gather evidence or to create stress and hassle.”
“If you are challenged by an employee, you must be able to give them an open and honest answer about how you’re using your data and why you’re using it.”
Valuable Resources
The HR Uprising Podcast | Apple | Spotify | YouTube
The HR Uprising LinkedIn Group
Mastering Motivation with Rob Lion (The HR Uprising)
How To Be A Change Superhero – by Lucinda Carney
HR Uprising Mastermind – https://hruprising.com/mastermind/
If you liked this episode, try these
- Podcast Episode 121: Data Protection – with Mary Asante
- Podcast Episode 262: Leadership and Management – HR High Performance
Find out more about Actus solutions:
Appraisal Info-book: Rethinking Performance Appraisals
Performance Management Software
About The Guest, Sarah Hodgkin-Bates
Sarah Hodgkin-Bates specialises in both data protection and HR, offering integrated solutions that meet the needs of both disciplines. With a background in strategic risk and compliance, she is known for her ability to simplify complex issues and deliver practical, people-focused outcomes. Sarah works closely with organisations to incorporate data protection into their culture, and is a confident speaker and trainer who supports teams in building sustainable compliance practices.
Connect with Sarah…
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-hodgkin-bates-35a035177/
About The Host
Lucinda Carney is a Business Psychologist with 15 years in Senior Corporate L&D roles. Lucinda, for over 10 years as CEO of Actus Software has worked closely with HR colleagues helping them to solve the same challenges across a huge range of industries. Certainly, it was this breadth of experience that inspired Lucinda to set up the HR Uprising community. In order to facilitate greater collaboration across HR professionals in different sectors, helping them to ‘rise up’ together.
“If you look up, you rise up”
How To Be A Change Superhero – by Lucinda Carney
Contact Method
- Join the HR Uprising LinkedIn community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13714397/
- Email: Lucinda@advancechange.co.uk
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucindacarney/
- X / Twitter: @lucindacarney
- Instagram: @hruprising
- Facebook: @hruprising
- YouTube: Channel
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