GDPR compliant HR software built to survive scrutiny

An organisation's compliance with the GDPR is a shared responsibility among all departments. Each team and individual must ensure personal data is handled in the correct way. For example, anyone can accidentally send personal data to the wrong recipient, and this would be considered a GDPR breach.

HR professionals must ensure employees' personal data is collected, stored and processed in line with the GDPR's requirements at every stage of the employee lifecycle, from hiring and onboarding through to exit and offboarding. HR teams also work closely with IT, information security and data protection colleagues to support wider compliance, helping to build a culture of good data protection practices, for example by ensuring employees complete regular information security and GDPR training.

No single software solution will guarantee your organisation complies with the GDPR. When it comes to GDPR compliant HR software, look for HR systems, such as Ciphr's, that feature tools to help your organisation collect, store and manage employees' personal data in line with your data security policies and procedures (which should themselves be in line with the GDPR's requirements).

Hallmarks of GDPR compliant HR software, such as Ciphr's, include:
-   A data-retention dashboard, from which you can download data, request extensions to retention periods, anonymise records, and delete information when permissions expire
-   The ability to anonymise leavers' records rather than delete them
-   The option to restrict access to sensitive information, based on user profiles
-   Automatic reminders, so you can re-validate consent when needed
-   The ability to define data-retention periods, for 30, 60, 90 days or longer, after which leavers' records are marked for anonymisation or deletion
-   Policy distribution and acceptance functionality, so you can confirm your people have read and understood your data protection policy
-   Self-service access for employees, so they can view and update their own personal information
-   The ability to grant leavers or staff access to their data, helping you fulfil subject access requests (SARs)

To ensure your HR software is GDPR compliant, it must demonstrate adherence to the GDPR's key principles: that data protection is part of the intrinsic design of the software and your processes. There are many requirements for GDPR compliant HR software; we recommend speaking to a specialist to determine the compliance status of your own HR system.

Any software your organisation uses to request, collect, access, store or manage personal data belonging to any individual residing in the EU, or to any partner, supplier or third party inside the EU, must be GDPR compliant. Your HR software, recruitment software, learning management system and payroll software are no exceptions.