Personal Data Requests

Under the Data Protection Act employees can request personal data provision.  With more redundancies, there has been an increase in the number of Subject Access Requests (SAR), which grant employees the right to access the ‘personal data’ relating to them held by their employer.

This is often because the employee raises a grievance about the process.  It may seem that this is a tactic to delay redundancy procedures, but is a legitimate way to obtain information.

An individual can make a request in writing, may be required to pay a £10 fee, and must be supplied with the relevant information within 40 days.  The information disclosed should be primarily about the individual and not disclose the identity of any third party. 

This may result in considerable work and expense for the employer, but non-compliance may be referred to the Information Commissioner and can result in court orders, damages and compensation claims.  However, it may occasionally be possible to resist a request that would have a disproportionate impact on the business.