November 17, 2025

Protecting Employee Data Building a Culture of Compliance with Sarah Hodgkin-Bates

39 minutes

Lucinda speaks with data protection expert Sarah Hodgkin-Bates about the critical overlap between HR and compliance, specifically regarding the handling of employee personal data.

They examine the importance of setting a company culture of transparency and cooperation by properly managing data protection, and discuss the legal frameworks governing data (GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018), how to manage access to different types of employee records (e.g., payroll vs. disciplinary), and the challenges organisations face with complex areas like Subject Access Requests (SARs) and the proper retention of sensitive data.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Being transparent about how employee data is used, often via separate employee privacy notices, builds a positive, co-operative company culture and a better employee brand.

A core principle of data protection is to minimise access. Access should only be given to individuals who strictly need it for their job or role (e.g., payroll staff, but not the whole accounts team).

Subject Access Requests (SARs) are often raised during complaints to create stress. Organisations must have a clear procedure and recognise that a SAR must be fulfilled within one month, as failure to comply could lead to regulatory body involvement.

Data protection classifies certain types of personal data (like protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 or biometric data from CCTV) as 'special category data,' requiring elevated security measures like encryption and limited access.

BEST MOMENTS

"If you get your data protection right, you are creating a spirit of transparency and cooperation."

"A basic principle of data protection is to minimise access. So you would only give access to people that strictly need it for their job or role."

"Subject Access Requests... are usually raised because someone has a complaint or a grievance and they're looking to gather evidence or to create stress and hassle."

"If you are challenged by an employee, you must be able to give them an open and honest answer about how you're using your data and why you're using it."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The HR Uprising Podcast | ⁠Apple⁠ | ⁠Spotify⁠ | ⁠Stitcher⁠

⁠The HR Uprising LinkedIn Group⁠

⁠How to Prioritise Self-Care (The HR Uprising)⁠

⁠How To Be A Change Superhero - by Lucinda Carney⁠

HR Uprising Mastermind - ⁠https://hruprising.com/mastermind/⁠

⁠www.changesuperhero.com⁠

⁠www.hruprising.com⁠

Get your copy of How To Be A Change Superhero by emailing at ⁠[email protected]⁠

CONTACT SARAH

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-hodgkin-bates-35a035177/

ABOUT THE HOST

Lucinda Carney is a Business Psychologist with 15 years in Senior Corporate L&D roles and a further 10 as CEO of Actus Software where she worked closely with HR colleagues helping them to solve the same challenges across a huge range of industries. It was this breadth of experience that inspired Lucinda to set up the HR Uprising community to facilitate greater collaboration across HR professionals in different sectors, helping them to ‘rise up’ together.

“If you look up, you rise up”

CONTACT METHOD

Join the LinkedIn community - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13714397/⁠

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Linked In: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucindacarney/⁠

Twitter: @lucindacarney

Instagram: @hruprising

Facebook: @hruprising

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. ⁠https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

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By Lucinda Carney

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