Privacy statement PostNL - Applicants

Personal data are data that say something about you or that we can associate with you. For example your name, address and contact data.

Processing of personal data refers to saving, analysing, changing, deleting, forwarding, etc.

We do this, for example, when:

• you apply for a position, for example via the PostNL website or the internal vacancy site.
• you have been hired through an external recruitment agency to work for us.
• you leave your data on our website.
• you share your CV with us.
• you have contact with us.

There are different reasons why we process your personal data. The main reasons are:

• We need the data to ensure, generally speaking, we are able to hire people efficiently. This is referred to as the recruitment process. This is a legitimate interest of PostNL and that is why we are allowed to use your data for this.
• We need the data to see whether you can come work for us. This is referred to as the selection process.
• We need the data to be able to make you an offer if we want you to come work for us. In this case we use the data to prepare a contract of employment.

1. Assess your suitability

PostNL assesses your suitability for the position you are applying for. We look at the requirements that apply for the position and whether you meet them. At this time, we verify your identity based on your ID. In this phase of the process we do not keep any data regarding your proof of identity.

Sometimes an assessment and a (pre-employment) screening need to be carried out. If this applies to you, we let you know in advance. Every applicant is vetted against the “Negatieve Ontbinding (van werkrelatie) Registratie” (NOR – internal register of problematically dissolved employments) and the Waarschuwingsregister Logistieke Sector (WLS – national register of problematically dissolved employments within the logistics branch).

2. Offer and contract of employment

When the outcome of the application process is positive and PostNL offers you a job, your data are used to prepare an offer. When you accept the offer, we us the same data to also draw up the contract of employment. In the event you join PostNL as an independent contractor or through a recruitment agency, an agreement of assignment is drawn up.

3. Communication

PostNL has contact with you during the recruitment and application process, for example about interviews, assessments and other agreements we reach. We will also answer your questions.

4. Job Alert

You can set up a Job Alert feature. If you do so, we can inform you if there is a vacancy that matches your area of interest. By setting up Job Alert, you consent to our use of your email address and search criteria for this purpose. We will process you data for this purpose until you disable Job Alert.

5. Talent Pool

You can have your data included in our talent pool. You can share you data with us if you would like to join PostNL but there is no fitting vacancy at the time. We will then contact you if there is a relevant vacancy. By having you personal data included in the Talent Pool, you consent to our use of your personal data for this purpose. The retention period of data in Talent Pool is maximum of 12 months.  

6. Improvement of recruitment process

We utilize analysis and reporting to ensure that our recruitment process is effective. If, for example, a large number of applicants for a certain vacancy is turned down due to mismatch in the level of education, we can adapt the vacancy description. It could be the case that our requirements were not stated clearly. Additionally, we can assess which demographic groups (male/female or age bracket) mainly apply for certain positions and subsequently adapt our recruitment campaigns. All the applicants are provided with a short questionnaire with which they can assess the recruitment process. With the information we obtain this way, we can improve the process.

These analyses and reports are based on personal data but contain no personal data.  

7. The websites werkenbijpostnl.nl en interimbijpostnl.nl

If you apply at werkenbijpostnl.nl or interimbijpostnl.nl, we use your data to ensure that the website is working properly. If you consent to personalization an advertising cookies, we use your data for these purposes. You can find more information on this in the privacy and cookie statements at ‘Werken bij-website’.

We process these data for the recruitment and selection process (reason 1 and 2):

• First name
• Surname
• Address
• Date of birth
• Sex
• Telephone number
• E-mail address
• CV
• Letter of motivation
• Driving licence
• Level of education
• Professional experience
• References
• Results of a screening (including the results of the vetting process against NOR and WLS as well as the certificate of conduct (VOG))
• Salary indication/Rate
• Languages
• Availability.

We only process the following if you also put it on your CV:

• Photo
• Place of birth
• Marital status
• Nationality
• Hobbies and interests

N.B. In some cases PostNL enables video interviews or conference call interviews (fully voluntarily). The interview will be recorded for training and quality purposes. The recording is kept for four weeks and then automatically deleted. If you object to the storage of the recording, you can report this to the recruiter. The recruiter then deletes the recording following the interview and confirms this by email.

We process these data to communicate with you (reason 3):

• First name
• Surname
• Sex
• Address
• Telephone number
• E-mail address

We process these data for Job Alert (reason 4):

• E-mail address
• Search criteria

We process these data for analysis and reporting (reason 5):

• Sex
• Date of Birth/Age
• Address
• Driver’s license (yes/no and what type)
• Various dates (date of application, date of processing)
• Information on the vacancy and the position that you applied for

Yes, for some positions we do. With these positions, we ask you to fill out an online questionnaire in advance. These questionnaires include questions about your availability, place of residence and whether you own a bicycle or not. If you do not meet these basic requirements, you will not be able to perform the work. You will, therefore, be rejected automatically if you do not meet these basic requirements. Making this selection manually would be too much time consuming. In addition to this, you would be waiting for an interview in vain. That's why we do this this way. You can always require a review of you automatic rejection by a real person.

Sometimes we need to share your personal data with other parties. The main reasons for this are:

• We contract an external party who helps us. This external party processes data on our instruction only and never for a purpose of their own. To guarantee this, agreements are reached in contracts. Additionally, we ensure prior to the processing that the party has implemented appropriate security measures that it and handles the data correctly. These agreements are laid down contractually. Examples of these parties include agencies that provide screening, assessment, recruitment or personnel selection services or companies that provide IT management and support.
• It is required by the law. For example, data we need to share with the authorities, the police or other investigative bodies. Before we share the data, we always ensure that the request for data is valid an based on legal grounds.

PostNL keeps your personal data during, and for a short time after, the recruitment process. If you are not hired following your application, your personal data are removed from our database or rendered anonymous within four weeks. With your consent, we keep your data for a maximum of 12 months after finalising the recruitment process in order to contact you in the event of a suitable vacancy.

We do everything we can to handle your personal data as safely as possible. We implement both technical and organizational measures to enhance the safety of your data. We spend considerable resources to ensure proper safeguards of our IT systems that process personal data. Our Cyber Security department is working diligently to protect your data. Regular checks of our security are performed by external experts. Furthermore, your personal data is only accessible those employees who need the data to perform their duties. All our employees have signed a non-disclosure agreement. Our suppliers and partners are certified in the field of data security.

PostNL always tries to process personal data, or have it processed, within the EEA as much as possible. When we do process data outside the EEA, we ensure your data are protected in the same way as they are here. We do this by using the Standard Contract Clauses approved by the European Commission. Or by only transferring data to organisations in countries that are deemed by the European Commission to provide sufficient protection of personal data.

More information on this subject is available on the website of the Dutch Data Protection Authority.

You have the right to know what personal data we have about you and what we do with these data. Here's what you can do:

• Request an overview of, modify, delete or restrict the use of your personal data.
• Object to the processing of your personal data.
• Receive your personal data in a format that will allow you to transfer the data to someone else.

Use the contact form to submit your data access request. Do you prefer the mail? Send your request to:

PostNL
Privacy Office
Verzoek persoonsgegevens
Postbus 30250
2500 GG 's-Gravenhage

Please include a copy of your ID with the letter such as your passport or drivers licence. This is sufficient in most case to establish your identity. The copy will be destroyed immediately after we have done this. Attention: please redact your social security number and the photograph on the ID copy. Write the date on the copy as well as the reason for sending the copy to us. In this way, you can prevent identity fraud.

This privacy statement is last amended on July 20, 2023. This privacy statement can be amended in the future.

The monitoring of our processing of personal data is done by two organizations.

• Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens), the Dutch data protection authority monitors our complinace with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
• Authority for Consumers & Markets (Autoriteit Consument & Markt), monitors the way we handle::
  • Cookies
  • Direct marketing
  • The Dutch Do-not-call-me Register (Het bel-me-niet-register)

Additionally, the PostNL Data Protection Officer monitors whether we handle personal data properly. Their duties are defined by law. The Data Protection Officer reports directly to the Board of Directors.

Should you have any questions about our use of your personal data, please contact our customer service or our Data Protection Officer: fg@postnl.nl.

Are you unhappy with our answers to your privacy questions? You can file a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority.