PRIVACY STATEMENT

Value Added Personnel Privacy Plan

Your privacy is very important.  Value Added Personnel Plan therefore needs to keep precise records to ensure that you will receive the correct benefit of wages, leave and other entitlements as set down by law.  This means that the company holds a great deal of information about you.  The Company believes that your privacy is important, and so it has developed a Privacy Policy to protect that information.  This statement outlines how the company collects and manages your personal information.

The Plan’s Privacy Statement

The Privacy Statement has been prepared for current associates and potential future associates of the company to meet the requirements of the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988, as amended.

What Personal information does the plan hold?

The company holds personal information about you, and possibly your spouse or other members of your family for the purpose of providing sickness, leave, salary, insurance and other benefits.

This information may include your title, name, contact details, gender, date of birth, driver’s and other licences, dates in relation to joining the company, tax file number (TFN), deduction information and about your hobbies and interests. Personal information may also include an opinion, concerning you and your employment history, contact details, resume, qualifications, references, skills, opinions about your work experience or performance, results of occupational or psychological testing and any other information obtained by Value Added Personnel in seeking to place you in appropriate employment. 

On consent, we may also collect sensitive information (e.g., information about your membership in a trade union or personal medical information relating to your health and any disability benefit claim that you may have had).  Personal information may also include sensitive information which may include information or opinion about any criminal records or health issues.  We generally do not actually seek to collect such sensitive information, however, at times it may be important to a particular position.  Sensitive information such as this, may only be collected  and disclosed with your consent or if required by law.

How is your personal information collected?

We obtain most of the information in a number of ways, including :

·        directly from you, when you provide information by phone or in documents such as an application form or a resume, during the company induction such as disclosure of previous injuries

·        by contacting the referees that you have nominated;

·        each time we have contact with you

·        from clients to whom services are supplied as part of our contracting business;

·        we may ask to collect particular personal information about you

·        the date of commencement, training or disciplining 

·        the termination of the employment

·        the terms and conditions of employment

·        personal and emergency contact details

·        performance or conduct

·        hours of employment

·        salary or wages

·        recreation, long service, sick, personal, maternity, paternity or other leave

·        banking or superannuation affairs

·        searching publicly available information (for example, the internet)

·        information such as your Tax File Number 

If we have not already informed you, when or before we collect information, we will take reasonable steps to inform you of :

1.      the purpose for which the information is being collected

2.      where applicable any law requiring information to be collected

3.      the main consequences if all or part of the information is not provided

In addition, we may approach your referees for a reference on you and make relevant enquiries of your former employers, work mates, professional or representative organisations and employment or labour hire agencies.  Information such as competency, performance appraisals, records of workplace injuries or workplace accidents in which you are involved, certificates of educational qualifications and reports from insurance or criminal investigations.  You may also be asked at various times, to provide medical information and documents about your health to assess your eligibility for;

·        Sick leave (if applicable)

·        Insurance claims

·        Workcover claims

·        Disability claim

You will be asked to provide additional health information, and undergo various medical tests and examinations as requested by the company and or the insurer.

You will be asked to consent to the disclosure of your personal medical information to all parties involved in assessing your claim, such as the Value Added Personnel insurer, medical advisers, claims assessors and administrators and legal advisers.  You will also be asked to consent to disclosure to the Tribunal or a court if a dispute develops.

In the event of your death, your dependants or legal personal representative (the executer of your Will) may be asked to provide the company with details of your will and other information regarding our dependants, so that the company can determine to whom the benefit should be paid.  Similar information may also be requested where you have a valid binding nomination lodged with Value Added Personnel.

How your personal information is used and disclosed

Your personal information is used in our recruitment and contracting businesses.  The information is used to provide recruitment and contracting services, for example, by matching applicants or contractors to client needs.  Your personal information may be used by us in connection with the following :

·        potential employment

·        assessment of performance

·        assessment of medical, competency and psychological testing

·        identifying potential new clients

·        management in any investigation that you may be involved

Your consent is given to the above disclosures when you give your personal information      to Value Added Personnel.

What happens if personal information is not provided?

The company needs to collect information about you to determine your entitlements and to administer your employment in accordance with Statutory Law. Your consent allows us to disclose or use any information required for any reasonable purpose related to your possible employment or placement.

If you do not provide the information required, or the information is not correct:

·        we may be restricted in placing you in a particular position. 

·        you may be refused your benefits and/or the terms and conditions of your employment may be adjusted

·        it may not be possible for you to obtain insurance (in which case your benefits may be reduced and your claim will not progress

·        payment of your benefits may be delayed

·        you may pay more tax than would otherwise apply

Who has access to this personal information?

Your personal information is kept strictly confidential and is used only in connection with the proper activities of the company.  Your personal information will be disclosed to clients for the purpose of recruiting you to specific positions or for supplying your services to clients as a contractor. It will not be traded or sold to any third party.

The following parties may be given access to your personal information, for the purpose of administering the plan :

·        the companies insurer, so that your benefits can be calculated for you to be provided with insured benefits. 

·        the companies actuary, auditor, legal advisers, and other consultants, so that the company can fulfil its legislative obligations or operate appropriately for purposes such as consolidating all your entitlements on a single statement. 

·        the Australian Tax Office, and other statutory bodies, where this is required or authorised by law

·        Value Added Personnel’s agents, contractors (e.g. people who are authorised to administer our computer systems or to other recruitment suppliers, where we are working on a joint recruitment project), consultants, representatives and professional advisers.

What does the plan do to keep personal information secure?

We have taken reasonable steps to protect your personal information from any misuse, loss or any unauthorised access.    The information is held on either computers, paper based files and other records.   All this information is held secured by password access for electronic type files and key locks for paper based files.

We destroy your personal information when no longer needed for placing you in positions or as and when requested by you.  Our policy is to maintain your personal information for a period of 

Accessing your personal information

You are generally entitled to access your personal information that the company holds about you subject to some exceptions allowed by law.    If you believe that the personal information that the company holds is not accurate, complete, or up-to-date, you are entitled to request that the company amend the information.

In some circumstances, medical and other reports relating to a disability claim may not be made available. 

For security reasons you may be required  to put your request in writing.  Further, you may be charged a fee for searching for and providing access to our information.  We will not charge you simply because you have lodged a request.

If you would like to obtain a copy of our Privacy Policy or if you have any questions in relation to privacy, please contact us.  To make an enquiry about your personal information, you should contact the Privacy Officer in the first instance :

Privacy Officer

Value Added Personnel Pty Ltd

Suite 3, 309 Thomas Street

Dandenong Vic 3175

Telephone (03) 9793 3425  Fax : (03) 9793 3410

The Privacy Officer may need to ask you some questions to ensure that only the appropriate person accesses information.  In some circumstances, you may need to put your request in writing.

If you have a concern regarding your privacy, or you believe that your privacy has been breached, the company has a formal enquiries and complaints procedure.  Details of this procedure can be obtained by contacting the Privacy Officer at Value Added Personnel Pty Ltd.