Privacy Policy

Data Controller Name: The Secretary

 
Office of the Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal (OITFET)
Address: Killymeal House
2 Cromac Quay
Ormeau Road
Belfast, BT7 2JD
Telephone: 02890 250064
Email: mail@employmenttribunalsni.org
 

This notice explains how we protect and respect the data we collect from you.

Why are you processing my personal information?

OITFET has a statutory obligation to process information from claimant(s) who present a claim seeking a determination from an Industrial Tribunal and/or the Fair Employment Tribunal and from those respondents who enter a response to the claim that has been made against them. If parties to tribunal proceedings have chosen to be represented, then personal information may be processed for those persons.

OITFET processes your personal information under the provisions of the Industrial Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of procedure) Regulations (NI) 2005 and The Fair Employment Tribunal (Rules of Procedure) Regulations (NI) 2005.

What categories of personal data are you processing?

The type of personal information we process are;

Your name; address; gender; date of birth; telephone numbers and e-mail address; National Insurance Number; Trade Union membership; employment details; earnings and benefits; claim details any response to the claim; any special arrangements / adjustments; any additional supporting information you submit in support of your case.

Where do you get my personal data from?

We get personal information from claims made to an Industrial Tribunal and/or the Fair Employment Tribunal, these will be received from people making a claim or a response to a claim and will be received from the individuals involved in proceedings or the representative that they appoint to act on their behalf.

Do you share my personal data with anyone else?

OITFET shares (or may share) your personal information as follows:

  • The Secretary of the Tribunals is required by law to maintain a Public Register which is open to inspection by any person without charge during office hours.  The register contains details of all claims and in due course decisions and written reasons in accordance with the Industrial Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of procedure) Regulations (NI) 2005 and The Fair Employment Tribunal (Rules of Procedure) Regulations (NI) 2005.

The following details of the claim in the Register are: the case number; the date the Secretary received the claim; the name of each claimant; the name of each respondent; the type of claim brought in general terms without reference to detail.

Main decisions (those cases heard and determined by a tribunal) are published on our website at /OITFET_IWS/DecisionSearch.aspx

  • the other parties involved in a claim, that is the claimant(s), respondent(s), representatives appointed by the parties;
  • the Labour Relations Agency;
  • the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland;
  • the Redundancy Payments Service of the Department for the Economy;
  • the Department for Communities (in cases were a tribunal decision makes a Recoupment of Benefits Notice);
  • Employment Judges and Panel Members who will hear and determine your case;
  • third party service providers should interpretation, translation or transcription services be required by you; and
  • any other person you give us authority to share the information with.

Do you transfer my personal data to other countries?

We will transfer your personal information to another country only if a party to tribunal proceedings or their named representative resides in another country.  This will be done in strict adherence to the Data Protection Act 2018.

How long do you keep my personal data?

We will retain your data for 18 months after the tribunal’s final decision has been issued to the parties or if there is specific case related correspondence after that date, for 18 months from the date of that correspondence.  This is in line with the Department’s Retention and Disposal Schedule.  You should note that this retention period does not apply to data kept in the Public Register which is retained permanently.

What rights do I have in respect of my personal information held by OITFET?

  • You have the right to obtain confirmation that your data is being processed, and have access to your personal data.
  • You are entitled to have personal data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
  • You have a right to have personal data erased, in specific circumstances.
  • You have the right to ‘block’ or suppress processing of personal data, in specific circumstances.
  • You have the right to data portability, in specific circumstances.
  • You have the right to object to the processing, in specific circumstances.

Visitors to our website:

We collect two kinds of information from visitors to the OITFET website: feedback (through emails to the Information point) and site usage information, from cookies and log files.  Information is collected to help us improve the service we offer.

Feedback

If you send an email or letter to the Information Point, asking for information, we may need to contact other government departments to find that information.  If your question is technical, we may need to pass it to our technology suppliers.  We do not pass on any of your personal information when dealing with your enquiry, unless you have given us permission to do so.  Once we have replied to you, we keep a record of your messages for three months for reference and audit purposes, after which it is deleted.  We will respect your e-mail privacy.

Site usage information

Cookies

Cookies are pieces of data that are often created when you visit a website, and which are stored in the cookie directory of your computer. Two cookies are created when you visit OITFET.

Our first cookie stores a random number on your computer to help us count the number of times users return to our site.  The second cookie is used to store some of your preferences while you move around the site.  This cookie is deleted when you leave the site.  The cookies do not contain any personal information about you, and they cannot be used to identify an individual user.

You can set your browser not to accept cookies but if you do this you should note that some areas of the site may not work properly.

Log files

Log files allow us to record visitors' use of the site.  We analyse log file information from all our visitors, which we use to make changes to the layout of the site and to the information in it, based on the way that visitors move around it.

Log files do not contain any personal information and they are not used to identify any individual patterns of use of the site.

What happens when I link to another site?

The OITFET website contains links to other websites, both those of government departments and of other organisations.  This privacy policy applies only to our site, so you should always be aware when you are moving to another site and read the privacy statement of any site that collects personal information.

We do not pass on any personal information you have given us to any other website.

How do I complain if I am not happy?

If you are unhappy with how any aspect of this privacy notice, or how your personal information is being processed, please contact the Department’s Data Protection Officer at:

Data Protection Officer: Bernard McCaughan

Email: DPO@economy-ni.gov.uk

If you are still not happy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113
Email: casework@ico.org.uk
 
ICO Website - Contact us