Managing Data Subject Access Request – Practical guidance and pitfalls to avoid

A seminar will be held on Thursday 4th November 2021 to explore the practicalities of responding to Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) made by employees either in the course of their employment or once it has terminated.

Under the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 data subjects have 10 individual rights. This session will focus on the second of those rights – the ‘right of access’. Broadly speaking, this right entitles employees, as data subjects to ask their employer (as a data controller) whether it processes their personal information and for what purpose, to be informed of the nature and content of that personal information and to be given a copy of that personal information. In the context of an employment relationship, DSARs are often used strategically by an employees who are contemplating or engaged in a dispute with or against their employer or former employer.

This seminar has been designed for the HR community, managers, directors and those with new responsibilities for data protection to explore the practicalities of managing and responding to DSARs made by employees either in the course of their employment or once it has terminated.

The speakers will outline the legal background to DSARs and the Data Protection Law generally; their relevance to HR professionals and organisations; the situations when DSARs are submitted; challenges and pitfalls to avoid; the process of managing a DSAR and the considerations and risk exposures if responses are not undertaken correctly.

The seminar will be co-hosted by Bedell Cristin and Focus HR and will be delivered by highly experienced employment lawyers Carly Parrott, Counsel and Heather Watters of Bedell Cristin and John Ioannou-Droushiotis, HR Consultant at Focus HR.

Helen Myers, Head of Jersey, Focus HR said, “We are excited to be providing training of this technical and complex legal area for the HR community and employers. Data Subject Access Requests are notoriously time consuming and costly to employers. There are many pitfalls associated with DSARs which employers are to be aware of including accessing and providing the right data – the provision of personal data and not the provision of the documentation, and the type and level of information that is captured by the request. We aim for this seminar to assist HR professionals and employers to navigate the process while learning about the risk exposures to be mindful of”.

Carly Parrott said, Data subject access requests often prove to be one of the most challenging areas of the data protection law for employers to manage. Sifting through vast amounts of information (including emails) to find personal data specific to an employee can be daunting and the reality is that responding to a DSAR is time consuming.  But it doesn’t have to a process to be feared. This session has been designed to help alleviate the fear that many employers harbour about responding to DSAR and will explain how, by taking a few practical measures, organisations can provide more efficient, consistent and timely DSAR responses.”

The lunchtime seminar is taking place at the Jersey Museum at 12pm on Thursday 4th November 2021.