The ICO has announced plans to replace its existing employment practices guidance with a more user-friendly online resource. The new resource will be divided into specific topics such as recruitment and selection, employment records, monitoring of workers, and information about workers’ health.

In particular, the new guidance aims to:

  • Address the changes in data protection law,
  • Reflect the changes in the way that employers use technology and interact with staff, and
  • Meet the needs of people using the ICO’s guidance products.

To this end, the ICO has launched a public consultation to gather views on these and related subject areas.

The consultation

The ICO has prepared a survey for completion by those wishing to take part in the consultation. Contributions may be submitted by responding to an online survey or by completing and returning a word document by email or post.

The deadline for responding is midnight on Thursday 21 October 2021.

Next steps

The ICO intends to base its new guidance on the feedback obtained in the consultation process. All interested parties, such as employers, professional associations, recruitment agencies, employment dispute resolution bodies, workers, volunteers, employees and employment technology solutions suppliers are encouraged to respond.

Feedback from such interested parties is crucial since it will directly influence the final documents and help ensure that the guidance is tailored and relevant.

If you are interested in responding to the consultation you can:

  • Access the online survey here, or
  • Access the word document here

For further information and/or to submit the completed word document, email employmentguidance@ico.org.uk.

If you are a business that would like to respond to the consultation and would welcome our assistance in doing so, please let us know.

Please keep an eye out for our future blog posts where we will report on the final documents.