"Guidance for Businesses and Employers on Responding to Subject Access Requests"

The ICO has released new guidance for businesses and employers to help them respond correctly and promptly to Subject Access Requests (SARs). This is due to an increasing number of employer misunderstandings and underestimations as to the nature of subject access requests and their importance. SARs allow individuals to request information held by their employer such as attendance, sickness records, personal development or HR records of which should be responded to within a month. Failing to do this can result in fines or reprimand. The guidance helps support organisations in showing compliance to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the DPA (Data Protection Act). In the year from April 2022 to March 2023 alone, 15,848 complaints related to subject access were reported to the ICO.