Mondaq Business Briefing -Herbert SmithUnited Kingdom - Employment Practices Data Protection Code.

(From Mondaq.com)

Part 2 of the Employment Practices Data Protection Code is now available on the Information Commissioner's website. This part of the Code sets out the Commissioner's recommendations on how to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 (the "Act") in relation to the management of employment records.

The Code is available on the Information Commissioner's website under "Codes of practice, our responses & other papers" (click here ). The Code includes guidance on the following areas:

Collecting and keeping employment records

The emphasis here is on transparency, ensuring workers are made aware of the employer's retention policy and their own rights of access, and on regular checks that the records held are necessary, relevant and accurate.

Security

Whether in paper or electronic form, workers' personal information should be transmitted and stored safely and access should be restricted to those who have a legitimate business need to see it. Background checks, training and confidentiality agreements are all recommended to ensure the reliability of those employees requiring access to records. The Commissioner also recommends that employers should be able to fully delete e-mails, including back-up copies on a server, unless there is an overriding business need to retain them - in which case access to the servers should be restricted.