Diversity Data recording on the Employee Self-Service (ESS) Portal

All University employees are invited to update or amend their diversity data confidentially and voluntarily in Core ESS Diversity screen. The development of this screen marks a significant move forward for the University in the area of Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). This is the first time that the University will collect data across all nine equality grounds for existing employees and it is hoped that this new tool will assist us in getting a clearer understanding of the diversity makeup within the University community and to help us achieve our EDI and University strategic objectives. 

How to update your Diversity details: 

To update your diversity details please follow the instructions below:

1. Click Go to the Employee Self Service screen and, if required, log in using your UCD Connect Username and password and follow all prompts.
2. This will bring you to the ESS homepage. On the top/upper-left corner, click on the circle (containing your initials) next to your name which will open a new screen.
3. On the next screen, click the Diversity tab on the left-hand side. This will reveal the dropdown options called page 1 and page 2.
4. Please update your diversity details on Page 1 and click Save (bottom right) to record your diversity details before moving to page 2. 
5. Once finished on page 2, please click save (bottom right) to record your diversity detail.

* If you do not click save, any details which you have updated will not be save  

For further support on the Employee Self-Service (ESS) Screen please vist the ESS page 

Where an employee has already input their diversity information at the time of application for a role (through UCD’s Diversity Monitoring Tool) this information will updated automatically on the Core ESS Diversity Screen upon taking up employment within UCD. Nevertheless, we would encourage all employees to review their diversity details regularly to ensure they are correct and up to date.

If you have problems logging in or don't know your university username or password, please contact the HR Helpdesk via email to hrhelpdesk@ucd.ie If you have any questions about the information shown in Employee Self Service Diversity Screen, please contact the EDI unit via email to edi@ucd.ie. 

Why are we collecting this data:

The collection of EDI data has become an increasing priority within the higher education sector, with a recent announcement of the Higher Education Authority (HEA) that it will be compulsory for third level institutions to provide an annual breakdown of certain diversity details relating to their employees. UCD will be among the first institutions to launch a tool of this type. 

The data collected through the ESS Diversity Screen will be used as follows:

• to identify areas of priority in terms of policy development and initiatives
• to set targets in areas where under-representation is identified
• to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of our activities
• to meet data requirements such as Athena SWAN and HEA data requests which have expanded to equality grounds beyond gender
• to support meeting requirements such as the University’s duties as a public sector employer, as well as its statutory obligations under relevant legislation (E.g.Disability Act 2005, Employment Equality Act 1998-2015)

 For further information please see the EDI Strategy and Action Plan  and to View University’s Equality Policies, please visit: UCD EDI Policies

Data Protection: 

Protecting personal data is of paramount importance to us, we take data security seriously. Access to your personal data provided on the diversity screen is limited to the EDI Unit and the below:

• Designated members of university EDI Unit with responsibility for compiling and reviewing statistical reports. 
• Statistical data will be provided to University bodies such as committees or boards and will be published from time to time.  The EDI Unit will ensure that no individual staff or student can be identified in statistical data.

• Government bodies or agencies such as the Department of Education or the Higher Education Authority, who exercise a legal obligation to review certain types of EDI data.

The EDI Unit will retain anonymised and pseudonymised statistical data for as long as necessary to fulfil the legal purposes for which is has been collected. If you have any concerns in relation to how your personal data is being processed as part of the Core Employee Self Service Diversity Screen, we would appreciate if you could contact the EDI Unit as a first port of call.  We will do our very best to discuss any concerns, and we are here to reassure you about our commitment to protect your privacy.  Please email edi@ucd.ie. You also have a right to report any concerns you have in relation to the processing of your personal data by the EDI Unit by emailing gdpr@ucd.ie.

Finally, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Supervisory Authority, in Ireland the DPC if you have serious concerns that your rights as a data subject under the GDPR have been breached.  However, we really wish to help, and would encourage you to contact the EDI Unit with any initial queries. Details of how to lodge a complaint can be found on the Data Protection Commission’s website.

Further details on the HR data privacy policy can be found by following the GDPR link in the HR A-Z.

Breakdown of Diversity Data Collected in Employee Self-Service (ESS):

Currently, you can update the following diversity information which is located under the diversity section of the ESS screen: