Whether you’re recruiting new staff, managing employee records, or dealing with disciplinary procedures, GDPR impacts almost every part of your HR function. In this article, we’ll explore the key GDPR requirements, common challenges faced by HR teams, and how you can ensure compliance.

What is GDPR and why does it matter in HR?

GDPR is a comprehensive data protection law that is designed to govern how organisations across the UK and EU collect, store, process and share personal data. While this has a broad overview that impacts almost every aspect of your business, it is particularly vital HR departments understand it. For these professionals, it relates to everything from information relating to job applicants to current employees, former staff, contractors and volunteers.

Because HR deals with a vast amount of personal and often sensitive data such as national insurance numbers, bank details, health information and disciplinary records, it’s one of the business areas most affected by GDPR. Mishandling such data can lead to reputational damage, employee distrust and potentially severe financial penalties from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Key GDPR principles you should know

The basis of GDPR lies in seven key principles that guide and inform businesses on how data needs to be handled:

1. Lawfulness, fairness and transparency

Employee data must be processed legally, fairly and in a way that is clear to the individuals involved.

2. Purpose limitation

Data should only be collected for specified and legitimate purposes and cannot be used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes.

3. Data minimisation

Only the data that is absolutely necessary should be collected. For example, avoid gathering excessive personal details during recruitment.

4. Accuracy

Ensure employee data is accurate and kept up to date.

5. Storage limitation

You should not keep data any longer than legally required, so having clear policies around retention is essential.

6. Integrity and confidentiality

Data must be stored securely and protected against unauthorised access, loss or damage.

7. Accountability

Employers must be able to demonstrate compliance with all of the above principles through documented policies, training and procedures

Common GDPR challenges in HR

HR teams often face real-world challenges when trying to comply with GDPR. Recruitment and onboarding can be problematic, as employers may collect more personal data than necessary or fail to clearly explain how it will be used. This can lead to issues around transparency and data minimisation.

Subject Access Requests (SARs) are another common difficulty. Employees have the right to access all data held about them, but responding to these requests within the one-month deadline can be time-consuming, especially when the information is spread across emails, documents, and HR systems.

The “right to be forgotten” also poses complications. While former employees may request that their data be deleted, employers must weigh this against legal obligations to retain certain records, such as payroll details or information needed for potential tribunal claims.

Lastly, many HR systems rely on third-party software providers. Employers are still responsible for ensuring these partners are GDPR-compliant, which adds another layer of accountability and potential risk.

Best practices for GDPR compliance in HR

To ensure your HR function complies with GDPR, it’s important to embed data protection into everyday operations. Here are some best practices to follow:

Conduct a data audit

Map out what data you hold, where it comes from, who has access to it, and how it is stored. This is the foundation for identifying risk and improving practices.

Update privacy notices

Ensure that all employees, job applicants and contractors receive clear and accessible privacy information outlining their rights and how their data will be used.

Train HR and line managers

Make sure those involved in managing people understand their obligations under GDPR, including recognising a Subject Access Request and following data security procedures.

Secure consent appropriately

Where consent is required (such as requesting references or processing health information), ensure it is freely given, specific, informed and recorded.

Implement clear retention policies

Set clear timeframes for how long different categories of HR data will be kept and also how you will securely dispose of any information that is no longer required.

Use DPIAs where necessary

A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is essential when introducing new HR technology or processes that involve high-risk data processing.

How ZenHR can support your GDPR compliance

At Zennith, we understand that navigating GDPR can be overwhelming, especially for small and medium-sized businesses without an in-house HR team. That is why we have developed our powerful HR platform to help you streamline people management.

Our seamless all-in-one tool has everything you need to maximise your HR functions, including a centralised employee hub, support with onboarding, insightful feedback tools, self-service portals and more. You can also have complete peace of mind that all of your employee data is secure with our GDPR-compliant platform.

Start your free trial today

Don’t just take our word for it, though. Sign up today to ZenHR, and you can enjoy a free trial so you can see how it can help your business for yourself!