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Our membership monitoring policy

Why do we monitor our membership data?

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all our members and one of the ways in which we can check that we are meeting that commitment is by monitoring and reviewing our membership statistics.

The information that members provide about themselves helps us to improve our services in a number of ways:

  • We can make sure that people are joining from all sections of the workplace and all sections of society
  • We can target relevant information on campaigns, issues, events and services to particular areas of our membership.
  • We can check whether all members have equal access to union benefits, services and events
  • We can take steps to ensure that our elected representatives reflect the profile of our members in order to bring the widest possible experience to union policy and decision-making

What data do we collect from members?

In addition to your name and contact details and details of who you work for we ask members to provide some additional information about themselves. This includes your age, gender, disability status, ethnicity and sexual orientation.

How do we collect monitoring data?

We ask new members to provide this information on the membership application form when they join and you can either return the completed application form yourself to the freepost address below or hand it back to your local rep who will forward it to PCS headquarters on your behalf.

The information that you provide is then recorded on our confidential membership records system.

Do I have to provide monitoring information at the time I complete a membership application form?

We encourage new members to complete the questions on monitoring at the time that they are filling in the membership application form so that we get the best response rate.

All of our elected reps and staff are aware of the need to maintain members’ data on a confidential basis but if you have any concerns about answering any of the monitoring questions at the time you have some other options.

If you would prefer, you can return the membership application form in an envelope to the person who recruited you or send it by post to the Membership Department, Public and Commercial Services Union, FREEPOST BFH1003, 160 Falcon Road, London. SW11 2LN.

Once your application form has been processed and your membership card with your membership number has been sent to you can also provide or update the monitoring information on line. You can do this at the member login section of the site.

  PCS membership records and equality monitoring form

How can I be sure that the information that I provide will remain confidential?

The information that you provide us with is covered by the Data Protection Act. This means that we have a legal duty to ensure that the information in our membership records is maintained on a confidential basis and only used for union-based activities relating to the running of our organisation. These activities include maintaining records, monitoring for equal opportunities purposes, assisting with employment disputes, ballots, injury claims and other services and benefits.

Our staff and officials do not have routine access to the information supplied and information is not passed on to any third parties.

Read more on our privacy policy and our data protection notice.

Members also have a right under the Data Protection Act to request a copy of the information that we hold about them and to request that any inaccurate information is corrected.

If you have any queries about our policy on data protection, please contact Jim Doran, data protection officer on 0141 548 5083 or email jim.doran@pcs.org.uk.

Further questions on monitoring?

If you have any queries about our monitoring policy, please contact Phyllis Opoku-Gyimah, head of equality on 020 7801 2683 or email equality@pcs.org.uk.

Further questions about membership records?

If you have any queries about your membership or the membership information that we hold, please contact the membership department on freephone 0800 317464 or email membership@pcs.org.uk

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