Compatible Processing And Research

We conduct independent statistical research on the personal data that is collected from employees directly (provided through survey responses) and the personal data provided by the employer. We will only process the personal data as a separate Data Controller to the extent that it is deemed compatible processing. 

The UK Data Protection Act 2018 which includes the UK General Data Protection Regulation, specifically states that processing for scientific, historical or statistical research purposes should be considered as compatible lawful processing operations: (Recital 50).
 
In order to provide accurate and anonymous reporting to a client, Best Companies will conduct independent statistical analysis in relation to: 

• Employee survey responses
• Benchmarking across other surveyed organisations nationwide and where required in sector
• Providing an employer with a Best Companies Index score
• Consideration of an employer application for a Best Companies accreditation 
• Positioning on a Best Companies List; and
• Employee engagement research 

What research is Best Companies conducting? 

All the data we receive (from a client or employee) is stored in a SQL database within Azure.  The research we conduct is either to provide the services, such as benchmarking or report processing, which is automated, and the stats are calculated from the personal data held within our systems. Where clients request additional reporting, data insights or sector analysis, where possible our statistician, research and data insight teams, will use pseudo-anonymised data or where structural analysis is being conducted they will use an identifier if required. 
 
Best Companies also use the statistical data for our continuous research, with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making into a better understanding of employee engagement. 
 
The statistical data that is required to be processed for our statistical research, is completed where the personal data is pseudo-anonymised. We use the term pseudo-anonymised as Best Companies do technically have the ability to link back, where personal data is held on our systems. This is only whilst we are storing the personal data in our system whereby the research data could potentially, indirectly identify someone should an individual, gain access to both datasets. 
 
As you would expect, there are user restrictions in place for both data sets. Statistical data has to be requested by the user that requires the data and all requests for data is logged. We are controller of all data provided directly by data subjects, this data does not become part of the client dataset. 
 
All research is conducted by Best Companies, we do not outsource personal data to 3rd parties for further research or data analysis. Where additional reporting is created for clients or where we publicly release our findings in relation to employee engagement, the reports are anonymous and no personal data would be released to 3rd parties. 

Transparency and anonymisation of data 

To ensure transparency and fairness, we provide the opportunity for an employee to view our privacy notice which is given on multiple occasions providing a layered approach. The employees (our data subjects) should also recognise us as a Data Controller of their data and trust us to protect their employee responses. We acknowledge we will only retain the personal data on our systems for three years following the lapse of the subscription term. Following consultation from clients and our independent research, three years following the lapse of the subscription term appears to be an acceptable period that employers would want the ability to restructure data. Data held prior to this has been generally considered though maybe useful, out of date. As per our privacy notice, we would not accept a request to extend the retention period. Client’s may still access the reporting from those previous years (apart from MC³) we just will not be able to restructure.  For MC³ reporting clients may download these reports prior to our anonymisation process and retain under their own retention schedule should they still have a requirement for them. 
 
Once the personal identifiers are removed (either three years following the lapse of the subscription term or earlier at the clients request), the remaining statistical data (including demographics and survey responses) and results are no longer considered personal data as per the meaning within the Data Protection Act 2018. We will retain the remaining statistical data for our continued research, with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making into better understanding of employee engagement. Once anonymisation has been completed we are unable to reverse this process. 

For additional support please email support@b.co.uk, call us on 01978 856222, or click the 'Get in Touch' button at the top of this page.