data protection notice.

a. about Randstad

Randstad N.V (referred to in this notice as: “we” or “us” or “Randstad”), will process your personal data in accordance with this data protection notice (such personal data sometimes also referred to as “information”). 

Except as otherwise set out below, Randstad is the controller of the personal data (‘controller’ within the meaning of applicable data protection legislation). 

For the efficient operation and management of our business, Randstad Group Companies may in certain instances jointly define the purposes and means of Processing Personal Data (joint controllers). Examples of processing activities where Randstad Group companies jointly process personal data are those related to managing our Misconduct Reporting Procedure and Sanctions checks, which we do jointly with Randstad Local Operating Companies. Please contact us (see the section “Contact us” below) if you want to know more about these jointly-controlled processing activities or would like to receive a summary of the joint controllers’ roles and responsibilities and/or exercise your data protection rights regarding any jointly-controlled processing of your personal data.

b. website visitor

When you visit our website or a Randstad app, we collect some information related to your device, your browser and to the way you navigate our content. We may use cookies to collect this personal data.  

Cookies are small text files that are saved on your device when you visit our website. Cookies enable the website to remember your actions and preferences (for example, your choice of language) and recognize you when you return, so that we may analyze trends, determine your areas of interest and  administer our website in order to speed up the navigation process and to make your site experience more efficient.

What personal data do we collect

When you visit our website, we gather information that relates to your device, your browser and to the way you navigate our website content, such as:

• the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your device
• the IP address of your Internet Service Provider
• device screen resolution
• device type (unique device identifiers)
• browser and operating system versions
• geographic location (country only)
• preferred language used to display
• the date and time of access to the website
• the internet address from which you were directly linked through to our website
• the control system that you use
• the parts of the website that you visit
• the pages of the website that you have visited and the information that you viewed
• the hyperlinks you have clicked
• the material that you send to or download from our website

If you choose to download our reports or white papers; or to subscribe to our newsletter news, events and alerts; or submit an inquiry we may ask you to fill out a form with information such as your name, e-mail address, job title and company. From the moment you engage in one of the aforementioned actions, we will be able to relate the information listed above about your device, your browser and to the way you navigate our website content directly to you.

Why do we need you personal data?

Randstad processes your personal data only for the purposes specified below:

- To manage the website and for system administration purposes (e.g. also for diagnosing technical problems, analyse the traffic to our website): based on the legal ground of (a) Legitimate interest of managing our website, marketing and communications strategy; and/or

(b) Where (a) is not possible because local mandatory law requires so, only in those limited cases may this be based on a consent; 

- For web analytics, in order to optimize the user experience (analyzing the way our pages are visited, analyzing trends, observe and measure how our visitors engage with our website) and the quality of the content provided to you (e.g. job posting): based on the legal ground of (a) Legitimate interest of improving our website, marketing and communications strategy; and/or

(b) Where (a) is not possible because local mandatory law requires so, only in those limited cases may this be based on a consent;

- If you choose to download our reports or white papers or to subscribe to news, events and alerts, fill in webforms, we will use the information you provide us to send you the content requested, to communicate with you (including, where you agree, to send you related information that might be of interest to you) and to improve our marketing and communication strategy: Randstad can send whitepapers, newsletters, events and alerts where you have given consent to receive this. If you are no longer interested in these Randstad messages you are always able to opt-out from receiving such communications;

- For managing specific inquiries: based on the legal ground of (a) Legitimate interest of improving our website, marketing and communications strategy; (b) Where (a) is not possible because local mandatory law requires so, only in those limited cases may this be based on a consent;

- Cooperating with law enforcement agencies/courts, management of legal disputes/claims and handling any reports through Randstad's misconduct reporting procedure: Processing is necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include the protection of company assets, protecting its legal interests and managing legal claims/disputes and handling reports of potential misconduct within or relating to Randstad;

- IT support: Processing is necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include safeguarding our assets and ensuring security of our information systems.

-  We might use your personal data for additional purposes, only if such purposes are compatible with the original ones listed above. We will not process your personal data for non-compatible secondary purposes, unless required by applicable law. 

Our cookies

Please find more information on the cookies we use, for what purpose and further settings for configuring or deleting cookies in our cookie policy. 

c. candidates

We use your personal data when recruiting and selecting candidates for Randstad’s internal job vacancies.  By innovating at scale, Randstad will fulfill our compelling vision: to empower lifelong employability and deliver on our brand promise of proactivity, transparency and guidance to offer a truly enriching talent experience for finding a job at Randstad.

What personal data do we collect about you

As a candidate, we collect and process personal data about you such as:

• Identification information – we may process your name, contact information (including home address, home phone number and mobile phone number), citizenship and country of residence, date of birth, (in exceptional cases) gender, digital signature and languages spoken.
• CV/resumes and other recruitment information – we may process your CV/resume, work history, information about your skills, your experience and educational background and other relevant information (such as your photograph, interview notes and personal data included in the cover letter or as part of the application process).
• Compensation and benefits information – we may process personal data relating to your current compensation and benefits including (without limitation) your current bonus, recurring payments and benefits.
• Government issued identifiers – we may process government issued identifiers including (without limitation) the national identification number, social insurance number and social security number, as legally required.
• Photographs and video footage – when participating in recruitment-related events, meetings, conferences etc., we may process photographs or videos of you.
• Visitor information – when accessing our buildings, we may collect your name, contact details, car plate number, and other identification for security reasons. Where we are legally required to do so we may also ask you to disclose information about your health (including information related to viral infections, flu, etc.) for health and safety reasons.
• Information you choose to share with us – we may process additional personal data if you choose to share that with us.

This data may be obtained directly or indirectly from you. In the latter case, we will inform you of the purpose and data sources we use, [when we communicate with you in connection with our Services (e.g. to alert you about a job opportunity), or in any event within one month of the time we indirectly obtain your data]. The exception is where the provision of this information to you would cause disproportionate efforts. In that case, we may take alternative measures to protect your rights and freedoms.  

Why do we need your personal data

Randstad processes your personal data only for the purposes specified below:

- To recruit and select candidates for internal positions (including matching and proposing you to internal stakeholders, interviews, assessments). For example, we may process your personal data to introduce you to hiring managers: The processing of your data and the use of automated systems is necessary to provide you with the matching services, and is therefore based on (pre-) contractual necessity;

- Training and updating of systems/statistical purposes. Some of the systems that we use to provide our Services are based on machine learning technology. In order for that technology to function reliably, it needs to be trained and updated on the basis of existing data. We may also process personal data in an aggregated manner for statistical purposes: Based on our legitimate interest in training and updating our systems. We have implemented mitigating measures to limit the privacy impact, such as de-identification and an easy opt-out in your choices;

- Dispute management, litigation and handling any reports through Randstad's misconduct reporting procedure: Processing is necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include the protection of company assets, protecting its legal interests, managing legal claims/disputes and handling reports of potential misconduct within or relating to Randstad;

- Compliance with labor, tax and social security laws and other legal or regulatory requirements (e.g. equal opportunity and workplace diversity requirements): Processing is necessary for compliance with employment and social security legal obligations;

- Events: Based on our legitimate interest in maintaining a good relationship with our community of candidates and promoting our services by inviting you to our events;

- Facilities, security and contingency planning purposes: Processing is necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include safeguarding and securing our assets, our facilities, our information systems and our people;

- To conduct corporate transactions (including mergers, acquisitions and divestments): Processing is necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include Randstad’s interest in developing its business through mergers, acquisitions and divestments;

- If you choose to download our reports or white papers or to subscribe to news, events and alerts, fill in webforms, we will use the information you provide us to send you the content requested, to communicate with you (including, where you agree, to send you related information that might be of interest to you) and to improve our marketing and communication strategy: Randstad can send whitepapers, newsletters, events and alerts where you have given consent to receive this. If you are no longer interested in these Randstad messages you are always able to opt-out from receiving such communications;

- IT support: Processing is necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include safeguarding our assets and ensuring security of our information systems.

How long we keep your personal data

We may retain your personal data for a period of 2 years counting from our last interaction with you for the purposes of providing you our Services.

d. business relations

In the context of our Services, we process your personal data if you are working for companies with which we are conducting (or intending to conduct) business (e.g. to make offers for the Services and to maintain a business relationship with the company you work for).

What personal data do we collect about you

We process the following personal data about you:

• Identification information – we may process your name and other contact information (including email address, landline phone number and mobile phone number), gender, digital signature and languages spoken.
• Professional information – we may process information related to your work including (without limitation) your job title, your location and your department.
• Photographs and video footage – when participating in our events, meetings, conferences etc., we may process photographs or videos of you.
• Survey results – we may process your responses to questions in surveys.
• Visitor information – when accessing our buildings, we may collect your name, contact details, car plate number, identification, etc. for security reasons. Where we are legally permitted to do so we may also ask you to disclose information about your health (including information related to viral infections, flu, etc.) for health and safety reasons.
• Information you choose to share with us – we may process additional information if you choose to share that with us.
• Trade sanctions information relating to you - we may verify whether you are a politically exposed person, a specially designated national or otherwise subject to sanctions under applicable laws or regulations.

Why do we need your personal data

Randstad processes your personal data only for the purposes specified below:

- To administer and manage the contractual relationship between Randstad and our clients and suppliers: Necessary for the performance of the contract between Randstad and the client or supplier;

- Business development (including sending direct marketing and offers): Depending on the circumstances this may be based either on your consent or on our legitimate interest to maintain good relations with our current or prospective clients and suppliers. You can always choose not to receive direct marketing and offers from us; see the section “Your data protection rights” below;

- Facilities, security and contingency planning purposes: For the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include safeguarding and securing our assets, our facilities, our information systems and our people;

- Health and safety management: Processing is necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include the protection of its employees, company assets, protecting its legal interests and managing legal claims/disputes; and/or protection of the vital interests of the Data Subjects;

- To conduct corporate transactions (including mergers, acquisitions and divestments): Processing is necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include Randstad’s interest in developing its business through mergers, acquisitions and divestments;

- Events: Based on our legitimate interest to organise events so as to better build and maintain a good relationship with our clients and our suppliers;

- Preventing, detecting and investigating fraud: To comply with our legal obligations when some authorities or administrations ask information about our contact as a client; and/or Processing is necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include the protection of company assets, protecting its legal interests and managing legal claims/disputes;

- IT support: Processing is necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include safeguarding our assets and ensuring security of our information systems;

- Surveys (including satisfaction surveys): Based on our legitimate interest to survey our clients so as to better understand their needs, to improve our services and to build and maintain a good relationship with our clients;

- Dispute management, litigation  and handling any reports through Randstad's misconduct reporting procedure: Processing is necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include the protection of company assets, protecting its legal interests and managing legal claims/disputes with our clients and suppliers and handling reports of potential misconduct within or relating to Randstad;

- Compliance with legal or regulatory requirements: Processing is necessary for compliance with our legal or regulatory obligations (e.g. obligations under tax laws to keep certain information including personal data);

- To monitor and enforce compliance with Randstad policies and procedures: For the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include safeguarding our assets and ensuring security of our information systems;

- To perform internal and external audits: For the purpose of the legitimate interests pursued by Randstad, which include the proper conduct of its business and accuracy of financial reporting;

How long we keep your personal data

Your personal data will be kept for 7 years in line with our legal obligations or such reasonable lesser period as prescribed by local law.

We may keep your personal data longer if necessary in connection with any actual or potential dispute (e.g. we need this personal data to establish or defend legal claims), in which case we will keep your personal data until the end of such dispute; and/or for us to comply with any legal or regulatory obligation (e.g. for tax or pension purposes), in which case we will keep your personal data for as long as required by that obligation.

e. HR Technologies

Our use of innovative HR technologies for talent matching and services

Our ultimate goal is to support people and organizations in realizing their true potential. We believe that the best way to achieve that goal is by combining our passion for people with the power of today’s HR technologies. By HR technologies we mean technologies that help us digitize and enhance a variety of recruitment-related processes. 

As part of the larger recruitment process, HR technologies allow us to connect candidates more quickly to our consultants.  This, in turn, allows our consultants to better support candidates in exploring jobs and to deliver the right candidates more quickly to our internal teams. HR technologies also allow our consultants to find people based not only on the jobs they qualify for but also on the basis of jobs they are interested in.

Improving the internal recruitment experience 

HR technologies help us to search through a broader and more diverse set of candidates so that we become even better at finding the best talent with the most relevant skill-set for our internal teams. Thanks to these technologies our consultants can focus on the tasks that require genuinely human traits that technology cannot emulate: creativity and emotion.

Improving the client experience 

HR technologies help us to search through a broader and more diverse set of candidates so that we become even better at finding the best talent with the most relevant skill-set for our clients. Thanks to these technologies our consultants can focus on the tasks that require genuinely human traits that technology cannot emulate: creativity and emotion. 

Web beacons

Our emails may contain a single, campaign-unique "web beacon pixel" to tell us whether our emails are opened and verify any clicks through to links or advertisements within the email. We may use this information for purposes including determining which of our emails are more interesting to users, to query whether users who do not open our emails, wish to continue receiving them and to inform our advertisers in aggregate how many users have clicked on their advertisements. The pixel will be deleted when you delete the email. If you do not wish the pixel to be downloaded to your device, you should select to receive emails from us in plain text rather than HTML.

Responsible use of HR technologies

Randstad is committed to the ethical and responsible use of innovative HR technologies (you can read our AI principles here). Randstad does not use these technologies as a substitute for humans or human interaction in any part of its processes. Instead, our use of HR technologies is intended to make interactions with internal teamsand candidates more personal, relevant and meaningful.

We strive to involve human beings whenever we make decisions that significantly impact you.  If, in exceptional cases, we were to make such decisions based on a fully automated process (ie. without involvement of humans), we will only do so where that is permitted by law and after having notified you.

To ensure all candidates are treated fairly we take steps to avoid bias where we use HR technologies. For example:

• We regularly test the output created by these technologies to identify potential unfair bias.
• We regularly obtain expert advice to continuously improve the way in which we identify and remove bias.
• Both our consultants and our search and match algorithms are thoroughly trained and always work together.

f. with whom do we share your personal data

We may share your personal data:

• with other entities of the Randstad group of companies. We are part of a multinational group of companies and sometimes we may share personal data with other Randstad groups of companies for the purposes of efficient management of business, compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and to provide our Services to you (include as matching) and to our clients. For an overview of these entities, click here.
• with Randstad clients. Within the scope of our services, including recruitment and provision of temporary work.
• with third parties providing HR-related services to use (e.g. payroll service providers).
• with third party providers of IT-related services (e.g. we use an external provider to support our IT-infrastructure; e.g. an important part of our software and databases sit in a cloud-environment which is operated by a third party service provider).
• with third parties providers of marketing-related services (e.g. we may store your personal data in a cloud-based CRM-application that is hosted and provided by a third party service provider; e.g. when we use a third party service provider to organise an event we may share your personal data with that third party in order to invite you to that event).
• with providers of professional services (e.g. to our auditors, our tax advisors, our legal advisors).
• with banks and insurers (e.g. in order to pay the salaries of our temporary workers we share some of their personal data with our bank).
• with pension funds. 
• with public authorities (e.g. pursuant to applicable law Randstad must disclose personal data to the social security authorities and to tax authorities).
• with law enforcement authorities, courts and regulatory authorities (e.g. as part of a criminal investigation police services may require us to disclose personal data to them).

We may also disclose your personal data to third parties:

• in the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets; or
• if all or a substantial part of our assets are acquired by a third party, in which case the personal data that we hold about you may be one of the transferred assets.

When we share your personal data as described above, such personal data may be transferred both within and outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

In the event that we transfer your personal data internationally, we will only do so in line with applicable law, and we will require that there is an adequate level of protection for your personal data, and that appropriate security measures are in place.

Your personal data may be transferred from countries located within the EEA to countries located outside of the EEA (such as the United States). In such cases, we will require that the following safeguards are observed:

• The laws of the country to which your personal data is transferred ensure an adequate level of data protection. Click here for the list of non-EEA countries that, according to the European Commission, provide an adequate level of data protection; or
• The transfer is subject to standard data protection clauses approved by the European Commission. More information about those data protection clauses is available here; or
• Any other applicable appropriate safeguards under article 46 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679).

For more information about the safeguards that we have implemented to protect your personal data internationally, please contact us at the contact us section below.

g. how we will protect your personal data

We have technical and organizational security measures in place to protect your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, altered, destructed, disclosed or accessed in an unauthorized way. We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your personal data are governed by Randstad's rules for information and IT security, data protection and other internal regulations and guidelines applicable to the processing of personal data.

While we have measures in place to protect your personal data, it is important for you to understand that 100% complete security cannot be guaranteed. Accordingly, we have procedures in place to deal with data security incidents and to comply with legal requirements applicable to the detection, handling and notification of personal data breaches.

h. your data protection rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data: 

1. Right to be informed: You have the right to be provided with clear, transparent and easily understandable information about how we use your personal data and your rights. This is why we are providing you with the information in this notice.

2. Right of access: You have the right to access the personal data we keep about you – this is because we want you to be aware of the personal data we have about you and to enable you to verify whether we process your personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws and regulations.

3. Right to rectification: If your personal data is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to request the rectification of your personal data.

4. Right to erasure: This is also known as ‘the right to be forgotten’ and, in simple terms, enables you to request the deletion or removal of your personal data where there is no compelling reason for us to keep it. This is not a general right to erasure, there are exceptions.

5. Right to restrict processing: You have rights to ‘block’ or suppress further use of your personal data in certain circumstances. When processing is restricted, we can still store your personal data, but may not use it further. We keep lists of people who have asked for further use of their personal data to be ‘blocked’ to make sure the restriction is respected in future.

6. Right to data portability: You have the right to obtain and reuse your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format in certain circumstances. In addition, where certain conditions apply, you have the right to have such personal data transferred directly to a third party.

7. Right to object to processing: You have the right to object to certain types of processing, in certain circumstances. In particular, the right to object to the processing of your personal data based on our legitimate interests or on public interest grounds; the right to object to processing for direct marketing purposes (including profiling); the right to object to the use of your personal data for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in certain circumstances.

8. Right to withdraw consent: If our processing of your personal data is based specifically on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This includes your right to withdraw consent to our use of your personal data in the context of voluntary employee surveys.

9. Right to object to automated decision making: You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated Processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects for you or similarly significantly affects you.  Automated decision making takes place when an electronic system uses personal data to make a decision without human intervention.  This is not a general right to object, there are exceptions.  For example, we are allowed to use automated decision making where it is necessary to perform a contract with you and appropriate measures are in place to safeguard your rights.  For further information, see the section “Innovative HR technologies”.

You can exercise your rights by contacting the Data Protection Officer of Randstad N.V, by clicking here. The exercise of these rights can also be done by writing to:

Randstad N.V.

Data Protection Officer

Diemermere 25, 

1112 TC, Diemen,

The Netherlands

We will handle your request with special care to ensure your rights can be exercised effectively. We may ask you for proof of identity to ensure that we are not sharing your personal data with anyone else but yourself.  You must be aware that, in particular cases (for instance, due to legal requirements) we may not be able to make your request effective right away. In any case, within one month from your request, we will inform you on the actions taken.

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory data protection authority: 

Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens

Postbus 93374

2509 AJ Den Haag

Telephone number: (+31) - (0)70 - 888 85 00

Fax: (+31) - (0)70 - 888 85 01

i. changes to this Data Protection notice

We may update this notice from time to time. You can see the date on which the last change was made below in this notice. We advise you to review this notice on a regular basis so that you are aware of any changes.