Your rights regarding the use of your personal data were updated in May 2018 with the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
This Privacy Statement provides a clear explanation of how and why the Industrial Court (the Court) processes your personal data in accordance with these laws.
If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Statement, please contact out to the Data Protection Officer using the contact information provided below.
The Court collects personal data to fulfil its legal obligations as outlined in Schedule 1A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, as amended by Article 3 and Schedule 1 of the Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, along with subsequent amendments from the Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 2004, the Information and Consultation Regulations 2004, the European Works Councils, the European Company Statute, and The European Cooperative Society (Involvement of Employees) Regulations 2006.
The specific personal data we collect, and the methods of collection are determined by the Court services you utilise, and the extent of personal data required to deliver these services effectively. Further details are provided below.
If a trade union submits an application to the Court for recognition with an employer, the application form, response form, email communications, and associated details will be stored within the Court’s electronic case file. This information is retained to facilitate any potential appeals in a higher court and is managed in accordance with our retention policy. The Court requests personal information from the parties involved, including contact name, email address, postal address, postcode, job title, and telephone numbers, as well as any other information essential for progressing the cases. Additionally, individuals are welcome to voluntarily provide information regarding any special needs they may have, allowing us to better tailor our services to meet those needs. Parties are also required to submit information to the Court upon request as part of the statutory process; this information is shared among the parties, the panel assigned to the case, and the case manager.
As part of the application procedure, the trade union may be required to provide information on membership and support (such as petitions), while the employer must supply a list of workers within the proposed bargaining unit. The Court treats this information as confidential and does not share it with the other party or the panel managing the case. This information is used by the case manager to conduct a membership and support check and is destroyed once the case is concluded. All worker lists submitted by the employer during a case are maintained in confidence and are only shared with the Court or a qualified independent person if a ballot occurs.
The same procedures apply to applications for de-recognition submitted by a trade union or group of workers.
If a relevant applicant submits a complaint to the Court under the Information and Consultation regulations, the application form, response form, email communications, and associated details will be stored within the Court’s electronic case file. This information is retained to facilitate any potential appeals in a higher court and is managed in accordance with our retention policy. The Court requests personal information from the parties, including contact name, email address, postal address, postcode, job title, telephone numbers, and any additional information needed to advance the case. You may also choose to provide information regarding any special needs you have, enabling us to better tailor our services to meet your requirements. Furthermore, parties will provide information to the Court upon request as part of the statutory process, which will be shared among the involved parties, the panel assigned to the case, and the case manager.
If a relevant applicant submits a complaint to the Court under the Transnational Information and Consultation Employee regulations, the application form, response form, email communications, and associated details will be stored within the Court’s electronic case file. This information is retained to facilitate any potential appeals in a higher court and is managed in accordance with our retention policy. The Court requests personal information from the parties, including contact name, email address, postal address, postcode, job title, telephone numbers, and any additional information needed to advance the case. You may also choose to provide information regarding any special needs you have, enabling us to better tailor our services to meet your requirements. Furthermore, parties will provide information to the Court upon request as part of the statutory process, which will be shared among the involved parties, the panel assigned to the case, and the case manager.
If you submit an enquiry regarding any aspect of the Industrial Court’s operations, the information you provide, including your email address, will be retained for a period of one year.
If you would like to submit a Freedom of Information (FOI) or Subject Access Request, please be informed that your contact details and case history will be collected to facilitate the processing of your request. This information will be retained for a period of two years.
Should you choose to file a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) concerning a decision made on your FOI or Subject Access Request, please note that the Court is legally required to share your case records, which may include personal data, with the ICO in order to advance your complaint. You retain the right to withdraw your complaint at any time.
Some of the information you share with us may include sensitive personal data, such as medical history, criminal convictions, trade union membership, or racial/ethnic origin.
We will only use sensitive personal data when it is necessary to provide advice or to deliver one of our statutory services, such as trade union recognition. Additionally, we may use medical information you provide to implement reasonable adjustments that facilitate your access to our services, or to accommodate dietary requirements when necessary.
The Court prioritises the confidentiality and privacy of individuals using its services. Any personal information provided will be securely stored, and we assure you that your data will not be sold or traded to any third parties.
To effectively fulfil our responsibilities and respond to enquiries, there may be instances where it is necessary to share information with government departments, law enforcement agencies, and public authorities, but this will only be done in compliance with legal regulations.
In cases where the Court engages external companies or services, such as qualified independent person, we ensure that any personal data shared with them is securely maintained and used solely for the purpose of delivering the requested services or information.
Under data protection legislation, the Industrial Court must have a ‘lawful basis’ for the collection, storage, and use of your personal data. In cases where sensitive personal data is involved, an additional lawful basis is required to justify its use.
The primary purpose for which the Court processes personal data relates to our legal obligations under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and the Information and Consultation Regulations 2004.
Our lawful basis for processing personal data is deemed necessary for:
“the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller” (Article 6(1)(e) of the GDPR).
In instances where we process sensitive personal data, our supplemental lawful basis for such actions is:
“processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims or where courts are acting in their judicial capacity” (Article 9(2)(f) of the GDPR).
You have the right to request a copy of the information held about you by the Industrial Court. Additionally, you have the right to request corrections for any inaccuracies in that information.
You may also be entitled to have your personal information erased, to restrict our use of your personal data, to object to our processing of your personal data, and to obtain and reuse your personal data for your own purposes across different services (‘data portability’).
Furthermore, you may have rights related to automated decision-making and profiling.
Requests can be submitted via email (including a return email address if possible) to:
enquiries@industrialcourt.org.uk
Alternatively, you may send your request by post to:
The Industrial Court of Northern Ireland
4th Floor
James House
Cromac Avenue
Belfast BT7 2JA
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the national authority responsible for the use of information, which in the UK is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You can submit a complaint on the ICO website or call the ICO at 0303 123 1113.
Territories outside the European Economic Area (EEA) may not have legislation that offers the same level of protection for personal information as that within the EEA. However, if we process your personal information on servers or engage third-party service providers located in these territories, we will make every effort to ensure that your personal information receives a comparable level of protection as it does within the EEA.
Should there be any changes to this privacy statement, we will publish the updated version on this webpage. If you do not agree with the modifications, we kindly ask that you refrain from continuing to use the website. We recommend regularly reviewing this webpage to stay informed about the information we collect, how we use it, and the circumstances, if any, under which we may share it with third parties.