Record keeping

It is essential to keep a record of each interview conducted and in particular to record the reasons for the selection of the successful applicant and the reasons for the rejection of the unsuccessful candidates. The successful candidate’s original application form, CV, and associated paperwork will be retained in their staff/HR file.

The existence of clear records will be helpful in the event that one of the unsuccessful candidates brings a claim for unlawful discrimination to an employment tribunal. This would imply a retention period of no more than six months. This is because the time limit for discrimination claims is three months, but taking into account a potential extension under the rules on ACAS early conciliation, it could be around five months before the employer may hear of the claim against it.

Recruitment documents would assist the employer to convince the tribunal that its recruitment practices were objective, that the recruitment exercise was approached in a professional manner and that the selection decision was based on the successful candidate's merit and not on personal factors such as sex or race.

If no records are kept, it will be extremely difficult for the employer to convince a tribunal that the recruitment exercise was carried out fairly and objectively and the tribunal may infer from this that the selection decision was discriminatory.

Where the Church/ Circuit or District intends to keep candidates' details for the purpose of future vacancy openings, under UK GDPR they must include privacy notice.

Data Protection Act 2018 (General Data Protection Regulation – GDPR) Legislation

Identification of the purpose for which data is being held is central to teh Methodist Church's duties under UK GDPR.

Detailed information and guidance on Data Protection in the Methodist Church is available on the TMCP website.