FS’s Human Resource Policy
Effective communication, high-quality services, positive experience, focused results.
Icelandic Student Services (FS) bases its services on motivated and qualified staff who get the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills in a positive working environment. The human resource policy is based on FS’s four values: effective communication, high-quality services, positive experience, and focused results. That should be employees’ guiding light during their daily work.
FS’s goal is to create equal opportunities for employees, in a safe and healthy working environment, as managers are aware that the organization’s success is based on the knowledge and ambition of its employees. Thus, FS strives towards promoting the professional competence of individuals and encourages them to use their interests and initiative for development and personal progress. Emphasis is on creating a positive culture with solid teamwork, opportunities for advancement, encouragement to show initiative, open exchange of ideas, and effective exchange of information. These focus points strive towards creating a desirable workplace that attracts employees who grow, thrive, and take responsibility.
FS’s human resource policy is in three parts:
- Human resources
- Health Promotion
- Health and safety at the workplace
Human resources
FS’s human resource knowledge, and skills, are the organization’s most essential resources. The group includes diverse individuals who do various jobs and have different experiences and knowledge. With shared values, the group pulls together and builds a strong organization with solid teamwork and ambition.
Management
Managers strive to bring out the best in the employees, motivate and support them by giving regular feedback, and keeping the information flow active. They strive to build a team that shows interest, takes responsibility, and actively participates in building up an appealing workplace. Emphasis is placed on effective communication and active information flow between employees since it is essential in retaining accomplished employees. Employees need information about their performance at work to be successful. Feedback within FS is characterized by encouragement and praise for good results, open and honest discussion, and feedback regarding improvements.
Employee selection
The heterogeneous group of individuals with diverse experience and skills is the key to FS’s success. Careful personnel selection ensures that FS has the right people in the right place. FS strives to carefully welcome new employees and provide them with good information and training. Emphasis is on getting new employees on foot quickly and safely by explaining expectations and work practices they need to be successful. Considering diversity within the group when choosing a new person for the team is vital. That applies to both internal and external recruitment. FS’s goal is to select qualified employees with the ambition to tackle the tasks that await. At FS, employees must enjoy the same benefits and wages for work of equal value.
Health promotion
FS strives to promote general well-being and good mental, physical and social health within the employee group. Increased well-being leads to increased quality of life and happier employees.
FS focuses on increasing employees’ knowledge about the importance of health and safety and thereby contributes to the prevention of work-related stress symptoms, accidents, absenteeism, and premature termination of employment due to illness.
Health and safety at the workplace
FS is concerned about the health and safety of its employees. FS offers a safe and healthy working environment as far as possible and emphasizes that employees protect themselves, colleagues, outsiders, products, equipment, and the environment from harm.
Review
The executive director approves the FS human resource policy, and the human resource manager is its owner. This policy is revised every three years, and the human resource manager is responsible for the revision. This policy is available to employees on Workplace and FS’s website.
FS PRIVACY DATA PROTECTION POLICY
Student services, ID. 540169-6249, Sæmundargata 4, 101 Reykjavík (also referred to as “FS”) is committed to ensuring the reliability, confidentiality, and security of personal information processed within the organization.
This privacy policy covers the personal information of individuals who do business with FS or oversee legal entities in business with FS and other partners, as well as others who have relations with the company, e.g., for visits to FS websites, in connection with suggestions or grant requests (hereafter collectively referred to as “customers” or “your”).
This privacy policy intends to inform you about what personal information the company collects, how the company uses such personal information, and who gets access to the data.
If you are in doubt as to how this policy applies to you, please contact the personal protection representative, cf. art. 9. for more information. Further contact information is provided at the end of the policy.
- Purpose and obligation
Student services strive to comply with all aspects of personal protection legislation, and this policy is based on Act no. 90/2018 on personal protection and processing of personal data (“Personal Data Act”), as amended.
- What is personal information?
Personal information, in the sense of this policy, is any information about an identified or identifiable person, i.e., information that can be traced directly or indirectly to a specific person. Data that is not personally identifiable is not personal information.
- Personal information that Student services processes about customers
We collect and store a variety of personal information about our customers. Different personal information may be collected about you, depending on whether you are doing business with FS, or acting on behalf of a legal entity, e.g., suppliers.
Tenement applications: When you apply for a tenement run by FS, you are asked for your name, social security number, email address, phone number, school, study status, a department within UI, information about when the study started, and when it ends. Information about spouses and children, if applicable, is also requested. This information is used when processing the application. This processing is based on your electronic consent when the application is submitted. You can deactivate the application at any time.
Applications for care at FS preschools: When you apply for care at one of the three FS preschools, you move to the processing area of a third party, Karellen. Information on the child’s name, social security number, address and postal address is requested. The same information is requested about the child’s parents, along with the parent’s email address, place of work and work phone number. This processing is necessary so the preschools can carry out their statutory role in the care and education of the children in FS preschools.
Partners associated, etc..: If you act on behalf of partners associated with Student services, e.g., supplier.
Complaints and comments: If you send us comments or complaints, FS will generally process your contact information, e.g., name and email address, and the content of the complaint or comment you have chosen to make.
FS direct mail may distribute newsletters and invitations to events and courses organized by the organization to contacts on the organization’s email list. The processing of email addresses or that purpose is based on the organization’s legitimate interest in marketing and ensuring exemplary service to the organization’s customers. You can always unsubscribe if you do not wish to be on FS’s email list. The organization also regularly reminds contacts on the organization’s email list of their right to unsubscribe from the email list.
Grant applications: FS works with contact information, e.g., name, social security number, email address and, phone number, as well as other information sent to the organization in such an application. This processing is based on your request to enter into a grant agreement with the organization.
In addition to the above, FS may also collect information and process or store information that customers or customer representatives/contacts provide to the organization either on its initiative, for applications, or so that FS can fulfill formal and informal agreements with customers and perform other duties resulting from customer service. The processing is also carried out based on FS’s legitimate interests in ensuring that customers receive good service. Information may also be processed based on legal obligations and regardless of the service the company has undertaken to provide to customers, cf. e.g., due to the provisions of the Accounting Act, etc.
As a rule, Student Services collects personal information directly from the customer or the customer’s representative. However, information may also come from third parties. If personal data is obtained from a third party, FS will endeavor to inform its customers about this.
Information about customers and customer representatives/contacts is kept for four years from the end of the transaction or the end of the business relationship if there has been an ongoing business relationship. In addition, minimum information about leases may be stored longer following the terms of the lease agreement. In the case of data that falls under accounting law, it is preserved for seven years from the end of the relevant fiscal year. Certain information may need to be stored longer, e.g., if there is a possibility that FS will have to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims. In those cases, the retention period is based on the rules on the limitation period for claims. However, the information may be deleted earlier following the deletion policy or operational efficiency.
- Disclosure to third parties
Student Services may share your personal information with third parties, i.e., debt collectors or parties that provide IT services or other types of advice on behalf of the organization.
Your personal information may also be provided to third parties to the extent permitted or required based on relevant laws or regulations, e.g., to the Commissioner of the Inland Revenue or other supervisory bodies. The same may apply if the presentation is required based on court orders or mediation is necessary so that the organization can protect its interests in disputes or court cases.
However, Student Services will not share personal information outside the European Economic Area unless this is permitted based on relevant legislation on the protection of the person, e.g., based on standard terms of the contract, your consent, or the Data Protection Authority’s notice of states that provide adequate protection for personal information.
- How is the security of personal information guaranteed?
Student Services strives to take appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal information with regard to their nature. These measures are intended to protect personal data against accidental loss or alteration and against unauthorized access, copying, use or brokerage.
- Changes and corrections of personal information
The personal information that FS works with must be both correct and relevant. FS must be notified of any changes that occur to your personal information.
You have the right to have inaccurate personal data about you corrected. Considering the purpose of personal information processing, you also have the right to have incomplete personal information about you completed, including by providing additional information.
Please direct all updates to the personal protection representative, cf. art 9.
- Your rights regarding the personal information processed by the organization
You have the right to confirm whether we process personal information about you, and if so, you can request access to the information and how the processing is conducted. You may also have the right to receive a copy of the data. Under certain circumstances, you can request that the organization sends you information that you yourself have provided or that you have provided directly to a third party.
In certain circumstances, you can request that personal information about you be deleted without delay, for example when the retention of the information is no longer necessary based on the purpose of the processing, or because you have withdrawn your consent to the processing of the personal information, and there is no other authority fundamental to it. If the processing is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time.
If you do not wish to have your information deleted, e.g., because you need it to defend against a claim, but still do not wish for it to be processed further by the organization, you can request that the processing is limited.
If the processing of your personal information is based on FS’s legitimate interests, you also have the right to object to that processing.
However, your aforementioned rights are not without reservation. The law may oblige FS to refuse a request for deletion or access to information. The organization can also reject your request due to the organization’s rights, e.g., based on intellectual property rights, or the rights of other parties, e.g., to privacy, if the organization considers those rights to be more significant.
If circumstances arise where the organization is unable to comply with your request, the organization will endeavour to explain why the request has been refused, subject to limitations based on legal obligations.
- Inquiries and complaints to the Data Protection Authority
If you want to use the rights described in Article 7 of this policy, or if you have any questions regarding this privacy data protection policy or how the organization handles your personal information, please contact fs@fs.is.
If you are dissatisfied with the organization’s processing of personal information, you can send a message to the Data Protection Authority (www.personuvernd.is).
- Contact information
We have appointed Ingunn Sveinsdóttir, FS’s human resource manager, to supervise the follow-up of this Privacy data protection policy. Below you can find the contact information:
Contact information for the organization:
personuvernd@fs.is
Student Services
Sæmundargata 4
102, Reykjavík. Phone: 5700700
- Review
Student Services may change this policy in accordance with changes in relevant laws or regulations or due to changes in the way the organization processes personal information.
Any changes to the policy will take effect after the updated version is published on the organization’s website.
This policy was implemented on December 1, 2019
Íslenska