PRIVACY POLICY

LH Accountants Limited take the privacy and security of your personal data very seriously.

In this privacy notice, we set out how we collect and use your personal data before, during and after your working relationship with us, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

It applies to all our current and former clients, employees, workers and contractors and it does not form part of any employment contract or any other services contract with us.

We may update this notice at any time and we may provide you with additional privacy notices from time to time.

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues.

DATA PROTECTION PRINCIPLES  

We will comply with data protection law including the 6 principles of GDPR which are: 

1. To process your personal data lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way.

2. To collect your personal data only for valid purposes that we have advised you about and to not use your personal data in any way that is incompatible with those purposes (unless we have notified you and explained the lawful ground that allows us to do so).

3. To only process your personal data to the extent necessary for the purposes we have advised you about. 

4. To keep your personal data accurate and kept up to date.

5. To keep your personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about.

6. To keep your personal data secure.

PERSONAL DATA THAT WE PROCESS

Personal data means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include anonymous data where the identity has been removed.

There are “special categories” of more sensitive personal data which require a higher level of protection such as your ethnicity and whether you are a member of a trade union.

We will collect, store, and use the following categories of personal data about you:

Personal contact details such as name, title, addresses, telephone numbers, and personal email addresses.

Date of birth.

Gender.

Marital status and dependants.

Next of kin and emergency contact information.

National Insurance number.

Bank account details, payroll records and tax status information.

Salary, annual leave, pension and benefits information.

Copy of driving licence, or other photographic identification.

Employment records (including job titles, work history, working hours, training records and professional memberships).

Details of your existing and previous salary.

Performance information.

Disciplinary and grievance information.

HOW WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL DATA  

We collect personal data about you through the onboarding process, either directly from you or sometimes from a background check provider. We collect additional information from third parties including Companies House and background check agencies.

When you become a client with us, you will directly provide us with certain personal data such as your Name, Address, National Insurance number and Unique Tax Payers reference. We are required by law to collect and record photographic identification that we hold on file for our anti-money laundering requirements.

We may collect further personal data about you in the course of our engagement.

HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We will only process your personal data if we have a lawful ground for processing such data. Most commonly, we will use your personal information in the following circumstances:

1. Where we need to perform the letter of engagement between us or any other contract between us.

2. Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.

3. Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

4. In the process of completing our duties, such as completing Payroll for you and your company, completing tax returns or accounts for you and your business.

We may also use your personal data in the following situations, but these are not likely:

1. Where we need to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests).

2. Where it is needed in the public interest or for official purposes.

PURPOSES FOR WHICH WE PROCESS YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We will process your personal data for the following purposes:

Making a decision about our terms of engagement.

If you are an employee, calculate any tax and National Insurance contributions.

Providing the certain benefits to you.

Liaising with your pension provider.

Administering the contract, we have entered with you.

Business management and planning, including accounting and auditing for you and your business.

If we manage your payroll we will hold personal data on your staff.

Income detail for your business and for you and your spouse.

Conducting performance reviews, managing performance and determining performance requirements.

Gathering evidence for possible investigations with HMRC.

Making decisions about our continued engagement.

Making arrangements for the termination of our working relationship.

Education, training and development requirements.

Dealing with legal disputes involving you.

To prevent fraud.  

If you decide not to provide us with certain personal data that we have requested, we may not be able to perform duties, or we may be prevented from complying with our legal obligations.

We may from time to time use your personal data without your knowledge or consent where this is required or permitted by law.

HOW WE USE SENSITIVE DATA  

” Special categories” of sensitive personal data require higher levels of protection than non-sensitive data. In order to process such sensitive data, we need to have further justification. We may process special categories of personal data in the following circumstances:

1. In limited circumstances, with your explicit written consent.

2. Where we need to carry out our legal obligations or exercise rights in connection with our engagement.

3. Where it is needed in the public interest.

Occasionally, we may process sensitive personal data where it is needed in relation to legal claims or where it is needed to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests) and you are not capable of giving your consent, or where you have already made the information public. 

AUTOMATED DECISION-MAKING  

Automated decision-making takes place when an electronic system uses personal information to make a decision without human intervention. We are allowed to use automated decision-making in the following circumstances:

1. Where we have notified you of the decision and given you 21 days to request a reconsideration.

2. Where it is necessary to perform the contract with you and appropriate measures are in place to safeguard your rights.

3. In limited circumstances, with your explicit written consent and where appropriate measures are in place to safeguard your rights.

If we make an automated decision on the basis of any particularly sensitive personal information, we must have either your explicit written consent or it must be justified in the public interest, and we must also put in place appropriate measures to safeguard your rights.

You will not be subject to decisions that will have a significant impact on you based solely on automated decision-making, unless we have a lawful basis for doing so and we have notified you.

TRANSFERS TO THIRD PARTIES

We may have to share your personal data with third parties, including third-party service providers for example because it is necessary to administer the working relationship with you or where we have another legitimate interest in doing so. 

Third party providers may carry out the following services: [payroll, pension administration]

We may share your personal information with other third parties, for example in the context of the possible sale or restructuring of the business. We may also need to share your personal information with a regulator or to otherwise comply with the law.

We may share your personal information with other third parties, for example in the context of the possible sale or restructuring of the business. We may also need to share your personal information with a regulator or to otherwise comply with the law.

We require third parties to respect the security of your data and to treat it in accordance with the law. They must act only in accordance with our instructions and they agree to keep your personal data confidential and secure.

TRANSFERS OUTSIDE OF THE EEA

We may transfer your personal information outside the EEA. If we do, you can expect a similar degree of protection in respect of your personal information. 

Where we transfer your personal data to countries where there is no adequacy decision by the European Commission in respect of that country, we will put in place certain measures to ensure that your personal data does receive an adequate level of protection, such as contractual clauses that have been approved by the European Commission.

DATA SECURITY  

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. 

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.

DATA RETENTION  

We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. 

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal information so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use such information without further notice to you. 

Once you are no longer a client, employee, worker or contractor of the company we will retain and securely destroy your personal information in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

RIGHTS OF ACCESS, CORRECTION, ERASURE, AND RESTRICTION  

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and up to date. Please keep us informed if your personal information changes.

Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:

Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.

Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.

Request erasure of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).

Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.

Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.

Request the transfer of your personal information to another party.

If you want to review, verify, correct or request erasure of your personal information, object to the processing of your personal data, or request that we transfer a copy of your personal information to another party, please contact Bob Stebbings in writing.

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data or to exercise any of the other rights under data protection laws. However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is another appropriate security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.

RIGHT TO WITHDRAW CONSENT  

In the limited circumstances where you may have provided your consent to the collection, processing and transfer of your personal information for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. To withdraw your consent, please email us at callme@bespoke.accountants. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another legitimate basis for doing so in law.

DATA PROTECTION OFFICER  

We have appointed a data protection officer (DPO) to oversee compliance with this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice or how we handle your personal information, please contact the Bob Stebbings. 

BUSINESS TRANSFER

If we sell our business to a third party, or go through a corporate reorganisation, we will transfer personal data to the company that acquires the business.

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, please contact Ruth Liddle-Howden (Director).