Candidate and Temporary Worker Privacy Notice

UNITY RECRUITMENT LTD

Candidate and Temporary Worker Privacy Notice

For candidates, prospective candidates, contractors and agency workers | Version 1.0 | Last updated 19 August 2026

Purpose: This notice explains in detail how Unity uses information about people we source, register, represent, place or support in permanent, temporary or contract work.

1. The controller and how to contact us

Unity Recruitment Ltd (company number 06375477) is normally the controller of your candidate record and recruitment relationship. Our registered office is C/O Hillier Hopkins LLP, First Floor, Radius House, 51 Clarendon Road, Watford, Hertfordshire WD17 1HP; our trading address is 2nd Floor, The Junction, Station Road, Watford, Hertfordshire WD17 1ET.

Data Protection Lead, Unity Recruitment Ltd

2nd Floor, The Junction, Station Road, Watford, Hertfordshire WD17 1ET

Email: info@unity-recruitment.co.uk | Telephone: 0203 668 5680

2. Information we may hold

Identity and contact: name, address, email, telephone number, photograph, date of birth where needed, identity documents and right-to-work information.

Career and suitability: CV, work history, education, qualifications, professional memberships, licences, skills, references, availability, location, role preferences, pay expectations and reasons for leaving.

Recruitment activity: applications, submissions, consultant notes, interview and assessment information, client feedback, offers, communications, job alerts and consent or objection records.

Placement and pay: contracts, assignment details, National Insurance number, bank and tax information where Unity needs it, umbrella or company details, timesheets, expenses, holiday, absence, pension and payment records.

Compliance and performance: training, certificates, health and safety, incidents, complaints, conduct, attendance, performance, safeguarding and audit records.

Sensitive information: health, disability and adjustment information; equality-monitoring information; and criminal-record or DBS information where relevant and lawful.

Technical information: account, login, device, IP, website usage, email/SMS delivery, call and audit records where generated by our systems.

Please do not send sensitive or excessive information that we have not requested. We will tell you if a particular item is required and what may happen if it is not provided.

3. Where we obtain it

from you directly, including when you apply, register, speak with a consultant, attend an interview or complete onboarding;
from job boards and CV databases, including Reed, CV-Library and applications distributed through Broadbean or similar advertising tools;
from LinkedIn and other professional networks, public professional sources, referrals or recommendations;
from clients, councils, end hirers, Matrix and other MSP/VMS providers in connection with roles, references, submissions, interviews or assignments;
from former employers, referees, qualification and training bodies, background-screening, DBS and right-to-work services; and
from umbrella companies, payroll providers, pension providers and assignment-support services.

If we obtain your information from another source, we will normally provide or direct you to this notice at first contact and, in any event, within the period required by law unless an exemption applies.

4. What we use it for

identify and contact you about work you have applied for, requested or may reasonably be interested in;
register you, understand your requirements and maintain an accurate candidate record;
search, match, shortlist and assess suitability for permanent, temporary or contract roles;
discuss opportunities and, normally with your knowledge, submit your details to clients, councils, end hirers or their MSP/VMS;
arrange interviews, tests, trials, references, offers, contracts, onboarding and placements;
verify identity, qualifications, work history, references, right to work, licences and role-specific compliance;
administer assignments, timesheets, pay, holiday, pension, attendance, performance, safety, incidents and complaints;
comply with tax, employment-business, immigration, safeguarding, equality, health and safety and regulatory duties;
maintain security, prevent fraud, audit our services and improve recruitment processes; and
establish, exercise or defend legal rights, answer subject access requests and resolve disputes.

5. Lawful bases

Our main lawful bases are steps requested before entering a contract; performance of a contract; compliance with legal obligations; and Unity's legitimate interests in providing recruitment services, identifying suitable people, managing placements, maintaining business records, securing systems and defending legal rights.

Where electronic job alerts or marketing require consent, we rely on consent and provide a simple opt-out. Withdrawal does not affect processing that was lawful before withdrawal. We do not use consent where another lawful basis is more appropriate and consent would not be freely given.

6. Special-category and criminal-offence information

We use health and disability information to assess fitness or safety where lawful, make reasonable adjustments and meet employment or social-protection obligations. We may use diversity information for equality monitoring, normally in a separated and aggregated form. We use criminal-record information only where the role and law justify it.

In addition to an Article 6 lawful basis, Unity identifies an Article 9 condition and any relevant Data Protection Act 2018 Schedule 1 condition before processing special-category information. For criminal-offence information, Unity identifies an Article 6 basis and an applicable legal condition and maintains the additional documentation required.

7. Sharing your information

clients, prospective employers, councils, end hirers and their selection or assignment teams;
MSP, neutral-vendor and VMS providers, including systems through which submissions and assignments are managed;
umbrella companies, payroll, pension and payment providers and, where relevant, your personal service company;
referees, former employers, training and qualification bodies, DBS, right-to-work, background-check and occupational-health providers;
Unity's CRM, website, job-board, email, communications, document-storage, security and other technology suppliers;
insurers, accountants, auditors, solicitors, invoice financiers and professional advisers; and
HMRC, the Home Office, DWP, The Pensions Regulator, courts, regulators, police and other public authorities where required or permitted.

A client or other recipient may become a separate controller once it receives your information. Its privacy notice and retention arrangements may then also apply.

8. International transfers

Technology and support providers may process information outside the UK. Unity uses UK adequacy regulations, approved contractual safeguards such as the UK IDTA or UK Addendum, or another permitted mechanism for restricted transfers, together with proportionate security and risk measures.

9. Retention

Record	Normal period	Action/reason
Candidate record where no placement follows	Normally two years from last meaningful contact	Review, then delete or anonymise unless a continuing lawful reason applies.
Application for a specific role	Normally six months after closure if not retained as an active candidate	Longer only where a dispute, legal hold or active recruitment relationship applies.
Placement, assignment, contract, timesheet and financial records	Normally six years after the relevant relationship or accounting period	Supports legal, tax, contractual, audit and claim requirements.
Right-to-work evidence	Engagement plus two years where the statutory rule applies	Securely destroy after the applicable period.
DBS certificate information	Normally no longer than six months after the decision	A limited record of the check may be kept where lawful; certificate detail is minimised.
Consent and objection records	While relied upon and normally six years afterwards	A minimal suppression record may be retained to respect an opt-out.
Complaint, rights request or legal claim	Normally six years after closure	Longer if proceedings, a regulator or a legal hold requires it.

10. Automated tools

Search, filtering, matching and ranking tools may assist our consultants, but Unity does not currently make legal or similarly significant recruitment or placement decisions solely by automated means. A person reviews or controls the decision. Tell us if you believe an automated result is inaccurate or unfair.

11. Your choices and rights

Tell us if your CV, contact details, availability or preferences change.
Ask us to stop job alerts or marketing; necessary placement and compliance messages may continue.
Request access, correction, erasure, restriction, portability or object to eligible processing.
Withdraw consent where consent is the basis used.
Ask for human review and safeguards where automated-decision rights apply.

Rights are subject to legal conditions and exemptions. Contact the Data Protection Lead using the details in section 1.

12. Complaints

You may complain to Unity by email, post or the electronic route on our website. We will acknowledge a data-protection complaint within 30 days and respond without undue delay. You may also complain to the ICO at www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or 0303 123 1113.

13. Updates

We review this notice regularly and will make the current version available on our website and through appropriate candidate and onboarding channels.