Subject access request to your employer: free template (UK)

1. You and your employer

Which part of the UK? (bank holidays differ, which can move the deadline)

Who are you to them? I work there nowI used to work thereI applied for a job there

Your full name

Your email, for their reply

Use a personal email, not your work account. Your employer controls work email, and you could lose access to the reply if you leave or are suspended.

Employer's name Where to send it (optional: the email in their staff privacy notice, or HR) Address it to Started Left Employee or payroll number (optional, helps them find you)

2. What you want to see

Naming the records you care about gets a faster, fuller reply.

People or events to search for (optional, e.g. your manager's name, a grievance in 2025)

3. When you send it

Date you'll send it

Email it from my email app

Use webmail? Open in Gmail or Outlook.com. You press Send yourself.

When they should reply by

Counted from the day they receive it. A deadline on a weekend or bank holiday moves to the next working day. They can extend by up to two more months for complex requests, if they tell you within the first month.

Before you send it

Send it to the contact in their staff privacy notice, or to HR. Not to your line manager.
Use your personal email, and keep the sent message. It's your proof of the date.
Prefer post? Use a tracked or signed-for service and keep the receipt.
Don't attach ID unless they ask for it. If they do, send only what they need.
No reply after a month? Send the reminder, then use their complaints process, then the ICO.

General information, not legal advice. If you're in a dispute with your employer, consider speaking to a solicitor, your union or Acas.