Workforce data

Information and resources on record keeping. There is also an audit that you can take to assess practice in your organisation. Explore the links below to learn more.

• Collecting and analysing workforce dataOpen

  Collection and analysis of workforce data is an essential requirement in developing workforce plans and is a part of national minimum standards for some types of social care service.

  Every employing organisation needs to have a personnel record system. An organisation with more than a very small number of employees needs a computerised records system to manage data such as pay information, ethnic monitoring and sickness and absence monitoring. Such information may need to be returned for monitoring purposes to commissioners or to the Care Quality Commission (see below). Computerised systems cannot fully replace the need for a certain element of manual personnel records. Certain documents, such as signed contracts of employment, must be kept in their original form.

• Records and the Data Protection ActOpen

  The Data Protection Act 1998 places a duty on employers to protect the personal information held of their employees. The Act requires that workforce data:

  • is processed fairly and lawfully
  • is processed only for specified and lawful purposes
  • is adequate, relevant and not excessive for those purposes
  • is accurate and up to date
  • is processed in accordance with the workforce data rights of individuals
  • is securely held.

  Employees have the right to access their personal information, so records should be kept in a way that makes it easy to retrieve specific information, to copy or print information, and for the individual to check their personnel record from time to time. Rules should be in place concerning who may or may not access employee information, and all records must be kept securely and confidentially (both paper and computerised records). Systems must be established to ensure that personnel records are accurate and are kept up to date.

• The National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC)Open

  The National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC), operating in England, is intended to cut down the number of surveys employers in social care have to complete.

  The NMDS-SC seeks data on an individual employee's National Insurance number, postcode, gender, ethnic group, date of birth and any disability they may have, together with some specific information on their job role, pay and training. Skills for Care is working with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to transfer data from NMDS-SC to the CQC (with the permission of the organisation).

  The NMDS-SC information may contribute to how CQC regulates an organisation, and should save time as organisations will not have to submit the same workforce data twice.

• Key additional resourcesOpen

  • ACAS (2009) Personnel data and record keeping, London: ACAS.
  • CIPD (2009) Retention of personnel and other related records, London: CIPD 2009.
  • Skills for Care (2010) National minimum data set for social care (NMDS-SC) and data protection: Guidance for employers,Leeds: Skills for Care.
  • Skills for Care (2010) Meeting the workforce regulations: Skills for Care advice on CQC's work-specific outcomes, Version 1.1, Leeds: Skills for Care.