Privacy Policy

Introduction

This privacy policy governs the collection, storage and use of personal information collected by Empiric Solutions Limited, and its subsidiary companies, (which includes Empiric Solutions Inc., Empiric Netherlands B.V and Empiric Deutschland GmbH), referred here as "Empiric", "we" or "us”

We respect your right to privacy and we are committed to ensuring that our collection and use of personal information is appropriate and secure to the provision of services to you and our clients and is in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Further details of how we do so are set out in each section of our privacy policy as follows:

• Definitions
• Who we are
• Where we collect your information from

• The personal information we collect about you
• How we use your personal information and our legal bases for processing your personal data
• Sharing your information
• International transfers
• Data retention

• How we use cookies
• Security
• Your rights in respect of your personal data
• Changes to this Privacy Policy
• Third party sites

• Complaints

Definitions

"You" are a candidate, potential candidate, consultant, client contact or contact at any other organisation involved in the introduction and/or supply of a candidate's services, such as a contact at a recruitment process outsourcing company, personal service company or umbrella company.

The following references in this policy have the following meanings:

• "hirer" and "client" mean any hiring organisation to which we offer and/or provide temporary and/or permanent recruitment services;
• "client contact" means a hiring manager at a client;
• "candidate" means a potential or actual candidate for a permanent or temporary role;
• "consultant" means a person whose services are supplied via Empiric to work on a temporary assignment with a hirer.

Specifically, this privacy policy provides you with details about the personal information we collect and hold about you, how we use your personal information, and your rights regarding your personal information.

It does not cover any use of your personal information by:

• an actual or potential employer or hirer;
• an umbrella company; or
• any other organisation involved in the supply of your services via us to a hirer, to whom we may provide your personal information as part of the recruitment process.

That use will be governed by the relevant employer's or hirer's privacy policy.

Who we are

Empiric is the data controller of the personal information that we collect from you. It is a company registered in England and Wales (registration number 5533824), whose registered office is at 6th Floor, Kings House, 9-10 Haymarket, London. SW1Y 4BP. This privacy policy covers our group companies.

We are a recruitment and professional resourcing business. Our main services relate to helping clients fill permanent roles and temporary resource requirements and helping candidates and contractors find suitable roles and assignments with hirers. In some cases, this also involves sourcing and providing services on a statement of work basis. As part of our services we also provide industry updates and organise networking events.

You can contact us in relation to this privacy policy by email gdpr@empiric.com.

Where do we collect your information from

This privacy notice applies to the collection, storage and use of personal information collected by Empiric:

• via our website at www.empiric.com or any other websites operated by us (the "Site"), or
• as a result of you responding to an advertisement posted by us on a job board, online CV library or via social media; or
• as a result of us matching your CV, as uploaded by you onto a job board, online CV library or a social media site, to a vacancy we are seeking to fill for one of our clients; or
• as a result of personal recommendations; or
• from company websites; or

• from your business card; or
• interacting with us using social media; or
• contacting us offline, for example by telephone, SMS, email or post; or
• in the course of us providing permanent and/or temporary recruitment, resourcing or professional services to you ("Services")

We may also obtain personal data about you as a result of personal recommendation, from a company website, from your business card, from information you have uploaded to LinkedIn and credit reference agencies and fraud prevention agencies.

The personal information we collect about you

Candidates: the personal information we collect about you where "you" are a candidate or placed consultant. We may collection information about you when:

• you access and browse the Site (including when you submit personal information to us through data entry fields on the Site); or

• you respond to an advert posted by us whether via a job board, LinkedIn or other social networking sites; or
• we download details uploaded by you onto a job board, LinkedIn or other social networking sites in relation to a vacancy we are seeking to fill for one of our clients; or
• we download details uploaded by you onto a job board, LinkedIn or other social networking sites in connection with our internal market research; or
• you contact us by phone, email or otherwise; or
• we provide Services to you or to an actual or a potential hirer of your services; or

• we contact you with a view to providing Services to you; or
• we provide on-boarding services to a hirer of your services.

Typically, we will usually collect the following information from or about you:

• your name;

• your gender;
• your postal address;
• your phone and e-mail details;
• your bank details
• a copy of your passport details including your passport photograph;

• your current and previous employment/work details, including job title and employer;
• recruitment-specific details such as any professional certifications, education and qualifications, skills, career history, salary range, right to work status, citizenship, location/relocation preferences, referee details and any other information relevant or required by law to enable us to provide the Services;
• any other information which you include in your CV or a completed application form;
• any information which has been published or made available on a social media profile or job board (whether by you or a third party), or in any news media;
• details of your umbrella company or personal service company;

• the contract for services we hold with your umbrella company or personal service company relating to the work you do or will do for our client, including timesheet data and charge rates relating to the work you perform under that contract;
• references from third parties such as previous employers and nominated referees;
• emergency contacts so that we can contact you in an emergency for one of our candidates/ or contractors;
• the results of pre-employment screening or vetting checks which we are asked or required to undertake in relation to you (including the results of any Disclosure and Barring checks and any information you provide relating to current and/or spent criminal convictions carried out on behalf of the hirer during the onboarding process);
• any email communications, including attachments, which you send to us;

• the results of the right to work checks.

Client contacts: the personal information we collect about you where "you" are a contact at one of our clients or at an MSP, umbrella company or personal service company involved in the supply of a person's services to a hirer. We may collection information about you when:

• we contact you with a view to providing Services to you; or

• email us expressing an interest in working with us;
• you provide us with your business card or other information provided to us, given to us at a sales and marketing events;
• you post information or advertisements on job boards or social media websites;
• we provide Services to you as an actual or a potential hirer of your services; or
• we complete contractual documentation relevant to the Services.

We will usually collect the following information from or about you:

• your name;
• your postal address;
• your phone and e-mail details;

• details of your role, title and responsibilities within your organisation;

Where "you" are a client:

• any opinion or feedback you share with us regarding a candidate or consultant;
• details of any queries you raise with us regarding the Services;

• details of any recruitment and/or resourcing requirements or plans you share with us.

In some cases, we regard you as both a candidate and client contact. Where this is the case please read the sections below relating to candidates and client contacts and how we will use your personal information.

How we use your personal information and our lawful bases for processing your personal data.

Candidates and consultants

We collect, store and use information that we obtain in relation to you for our legitimate interests:

• so that we can contact you (via email, SMS, phone, WhatsApp or Skype) about opportunities and assignments that we believe you may be interested in;
• to help us to provide suitable candidates and consultants for our clients who engage us to assist them to fulfil their recruitment and resourcing requirements;
• to provide a channel through which you may submit your CV for general applications, to apply for specific jobs or to subscribe to our job alerts;
• to match your details with vacancies, to assist us in finding a position that is most suitable for you and to send your information to clients for potential jobs. Please note that we will always obtain verbal or written consent before presenting your personal details to a client.
• to enter into contracts which are necessary in order for your service to be supplied or made available to a hirer;

• to carry out market research for our internal use;
• to develop an industry-relevant database of candidates and clients to help meet our clients' resourcing requirements and connect candidates with work opportunities;
• for internal record keeping purposes;
• to carry out services that we, you or our client have requested including work-related references, qualifications and criminal references checking services, verification of the details you have provided from third party sources, psychometric evaluations or skills tests.

This storage and use of your personal information allow you to be contacted about roles which may be of interest to you, now or in the future, and we do not believe that this storage and use will unduly prejudice your rights or freedoms.

We will store and use your personal information in order to comply with relevant legal obligations to which Empiric is subject, including to carry out:

• verification of your identity to comply with The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003;
• right to work checks to comply with relevant immigration legislation;

In other, relatively limited circumstances, we will carry out further relevant background checks as may be requested by our client. In these circumstances, we will be acting on behalf of our client and the handling of your personal data will be governed by the client's privacy policy.

Where you are successful in securing temporary assignment work with one of our clients we will store and use your personal information for the purposes of completing and administering contracts with your chosen personal service company or Umbrella Company and for processing payment to such company in respect of services you have performed for our client. Such processing will be for our legitimate interests so that we can provide Services to you and our client. We do not believe that this storage and use of your personal information will unduly prejudice your rights or freedoms.

Such processing will also be necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party (i.e. your contract with the umbrella company or your personal service company relating to the supply of assignment services) and/or in order to take steps prior to you entering into such contract.

If our client requires us to collect, store and use your health data and/or any Disclosure and Baring Checks or equal opportunity monitoring, we will, on our client's behalf, seek your consent to processing such data. You can withdraw your consent at any stage but this may prevent us from being able to deliver our recruitment services to you.

Client contacts and other third parties involved in the supply of resourcing services (e.g. umbrella companies and personal service companies)

We collect, store and use your name and contact details for our legitimate interests so that we can:

• send you the details of candidates and consultants and contact you about our Services, and
• maintain our business relationship with you.

This allows you to be contacted to receive and administer any Services which you or your organisation have requested.

In the case of contacts at umbrella companies and personal service companies, this allows you to be contacted to receive, on behalf of your employer, details of current and future assignments, related timesheet data and payment details.

We do not believe that this storage and use of your personal information will unduly prejudice your rights or freedoms.

All users of the Site and our Services

We collect, store and use your personal information for the following purposes making the Site available to you and to provide any Services that you request.

Sometimes, our use of your personal information is for purposes which are ancillary to the provision of the Site and the Services, or which are desirable in order to make them operate more effectively. In those circumstances, we believe we have a legitimate interest in handling your personal information and do not believe that this storage and use of your personal information will unduly prejudice your rights or freedoms.

The relevant circumstances are:

• detecting and preventing fraud;
• keeping our Site, apps, products and IT systems secure;
• ensuring that our own processes, procedures and systems are as efficient as possible;
• analysing and enhancing the information that we collect;
• determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and advertising; and

• contacting with products and services which we think may interest you.

In some, relatively limited, circumstances we need to handle your personal information in a certain way to be able to comply with our legal obligations. For example, if we:

• are requested to disclose your personal information to regulatory bodies;
• need to demonstrate our compliance with applicable law;

• are subject to an enquiry from the Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate or HMRC.

Anonymous data

We collect anonymised details about visitors to our website for the purposes of aggregate statistics or reporting purposes. However, no single individual will be identifiable from the anonymised details we collect for these purposes.

Automated Decision-Making

We do not take decisions based solely on automated processing. All our recruitment activities involve human intervention during the process. This may change in the future if we implement automated technologies or machine learning, but we will only do so where appropriate and in accordance with local laws and regulations. Any changes to this policy will be notified as set out below.

Sharing your information

We will disclose information under the following circumstances:

Service and Site usage information: When we share anonymous information generated by our Services with our clients.

Third-party service providers: When we share information with third-party service companies for them to facilitate and support us in the provision of the Services. This includes:

• IT support service providers;
• providers of credit reference, vetting and screening services;

• payment processors and software providers;

These organisations are appointed by Empiric as data processors and authorised to use your personal information only as necessary to provide the relevant services to us. These organisations are required to process such information based on our instructions and in accordance with this privacy policy. They do not have any independent right to share this information.

Group companies: We provide your personal information to our subsidiaries or affiliated companies for the purpose of processing personal information on our behalf to provide the Site and the Services. These parties are required to process such information based on our instructions and in accordance with this privacy policy. They do not have any independent right to share this information. Unless you specify otherwise, we may share your information with any of our group companies in relations to whose vacancy reference was given.

Compliance with laws and legal proceedings: When we respond to court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims. When we believe it is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent or take actions against illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of our terms of use, or as otherwise required by law.

Merger or acquisition: When we need to transfer information about you if we are acquired by or merged with another company. If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, you will be notified by email and/or a prominent notice on our Site of any change in ownership or uses of your personal information, as well as any choices you may have regarding your personal information.

Recruitment and resourcing services: When we are using your personal information in the context of our recruitment and resourcing services, then we may share your personal information with clients where we believe that you may be appropriate for a particular role or vacancy with that client.

Umbrella companies and personal service companies: When you inform us that you are supplying or intend to supply your services via EMPIRIC to a client through an umbrella company or personal service company.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing and Managed Service Providers: In certain cases, there may be an organisation such as a managed service provider acting as a gateway for the supply of Services made via EMPIRIC to the hirer. Where this is the case, we will share your information with such organisations to the extent that it is necessary for the purposes of the supply.

Where personal information is shared with clients, hirers, umbrella companies, personal services companies or managed service providers in the circumstances described above, then those organisations will handle your personal information in line with their own privacy policies.

International transfers

We will only transfer personal information that we collect from you outside of the UK or the European Economic Area (including to the following countries: Norway, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, South Africa, Japan and the US (New York) in connection with the above purposes where the recipient is compliant with the data protection legislation and the means of transfer provides appropriate safeguards.

The UK recognises that after Brexit, countries in the EEA provide adequate protection for personal data.

The data may also be stored on cloud-based storage for part of our overall business process. Please be aware that countries which are outside the EEA may not offer the same level of legal protection for your personal information as under UK law, although any collection, storage and use of your personal data by us (or on our behalf) will continue to be governed by this privacy policy.

Where we transfer personal information to such third parties, we will ensure that we have measures and adequate safeguards to ensure it is afforded appropriate protection.

Data Retention

We will retain your personal information for as long as is necessary in order to fulfil the purpose we collected it. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider factors such as the purposes for which we process your personal information, including any legal, regulatory, accounting and reporting obligations, the nature and amount of personal information that we hold about you, and the potential risk of harm to you from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data.

We will delete personal information at the end of the legal retention period except where we need to keep any personal information to comply with our contractual (i.e. reporting requirements) or other legal obligations, resolve disputes or enforce our agreements.

How we use cookies

Technologies such as cookies, beacons, tags and scripts are used by us and our affiliates, or analytics or service providers. These technologies are used in analysing trends, administering the Site, tracking users’ movements around the Site and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. We may receive reports based on the use of these technologies by these companies on an individual as well as aggregated basis.

We use cookies, for example, to remember users’ settings (e.g. language preference) and for authentication. Users can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level. If you reject cookies, you may still use our Site, but your ability to use some features or areas of our Site may be limited.

Please read more about how we use cookies and what information is collected using cookies in our cookie policy on our website.

Security

Your information is held on servers hosted by us or our Internet Services Provider. The transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk.

Your rights in respect of your personal data

You have certain rights in relation to your personal information under the UK and EU data protection laws. If you would like further information in relation to these or would like to exercise any of them, please contact us at gdpr [at] empiric.com at any time. You have the right to request that we:

• provide access to any personal information we hold about you;
• update any of your personal information which is out of date or incorrect;
• delete any personal information which we are holding about you;

• restrict the way that we process your personal information;
• prevent the processing of your personal information for direct marketing purposes;
• provide your personal information to a third party provider of services;
• provide you with a copy of any personal information which we hold about you; or
• consider any valid objections which you have to our use of your personal information.

We will consider all such requests and provide our response within a reasonable period (and in any event within any time period required by applicable law). Please note, however, that certain personal information may be exempt from such requests in certain circumstances.

If an exception applies, we will tell you this when responding to your request. We may request you to provide us with information necessary to confirm your identity before responding to any request you make.

You may request to unsubscribe from job alerts and marketing material at any time. If you wish to contact us with respect to the above matters please email us at gdpr [at] empiric.com Please note that if you withdraw your consent to the use of your personal information for the purposes set out in our privacy policy, we may not be able to carry out our contractual obligations to you or provide you with access to all or certain part so of our services.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time, so please review it frequently.

This privacy policy was last updated in May 2023.

Third party sites

This website contains links to other websites operated by third parties. Please note that this privacy policy applies only to the personal information that we collect through the Site or the Services, and we cannot be responsible for personal information that third parties may collect, store and use through their website. You should always read the privacy policy of each website you visit carefully.

Complaints

Empiric tries to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. We take any complaints we receive about this very seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate. If you wish to complain about this policy or any of the procedures set out in it, please contact us at gdpr [at] empiric.com.

If you have unresolved concerns, you can also make a complaint to our supervisory authority for data protection matters, the Information Commissioners’ Office (ICO). If you live or work outside the UK, or you have a complaint concerning activities outside the UK, you may prefer to contact a different supervisory authority in the EU.

You can also see a remedy through local courts if you believe your rights have been affected.