Privacy Statement

Sustainability Works fully supports everyone’s right to control his or her personal data.

Most personal data that we collect, use and store (‘process’) belongs to candidates. Candidates are persons who submit a job application or an open application to Sustainability Works and/or are administered in our database.

Aim of this statement

In compliance with the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), this Privacy Statement is meant to clearly outline and explain which personal data of candidates we process and how we process it.

Why do we process personal data?

We process personal data to match candidates with our clients as well as to provide career coaching to candidates. Clients are organisations (employers) in the field of sustainability or market transformation supported by Sustainability Works through (international) recruitment, executive search, consulting or other activities.

For processing personal data, we build on the following legal grounds:

Necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests of candidates, clients and Sustainability Works. These interests must be balanced and weighed against candidates’ and clients’ fundamental rights, risks, and freedoms. We regularly (re)consider if the information we keep is really necessary to optimally service both clients and candidates.
Necessary to perform a contract to which you are party or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract. This for instance applies when a candidate submits a job application or an open application with the aim of being employed with one of our clients, or when a candidate receives tailored advice in a career coaching session.
When applicable, the consent that you have given us for one or more specific purposes. You can always revoke your consent.

Which personal data do we process?

We are only allowed to process personal data if we have a specific reason for doing so. Below is an overview of the personal data we process and the specific reasons we have for doing so.

Name, place of residence, telephone number, email address: we process these details, for example, to be able to interact with you about a potentially suitable vacancy.
Up-to-date information on your curriculum vitae (education, work experience, internships), interests, career wishes, current availability, preferred amount of working hours per week, and other matters (e.g. work/residency permit for the Netherlands) that are essential for qualifying your fit for a vacancy with (one of) our clients and/or for estimating whether a vacancy with (one of) our clients might be suitable for you.
Contact history (relevant information you provide to us via email, during phone or Skype calls or personal meetings): to complement our qualification work and to provide tailored and optimal communications to candidate and client, if applicable.
Communication preferences: to reach you via the channel of your choice.

Kindly note that we may take notice of any information that is included in your CV or cover letter and that is not mentioned in the above list. Examples include date and place of birth, address, nationality and religion. We do not wish to process this data and therefore kindly request that you do not to include it in your application.

How do we process your personal data?

When you send us a specific job application for a particular position with one of our clients, we register this in order to qualify your fit and to communicate with you and our client. After the recruitment procedure has been rounded off, you may choose whether we do or do not keep your data in file. If you give us consent for keeping your data in file, we may store it for up to 12 months.

When you send us an open application, we assume that you wish for us to qualify this information. We may administer some of the information that you provide us. We will always inform you about this. A retention period of 12 months applies. We may send you a request to extend this period. Only if you give your active consent to that request, we may store your data for longer than 12 months. Otherwise, your data will be deleted. At any moment, you can request that we remove your data.

Please note that we always prefer that you submit your application directly to us (rather than e.g. via a job board).

With whom do we share your personal data and why?

We assume that candidates submitting a specific job application are aware that we may share their CV and cover letter with the client that they are specifically applying with.

When candidates submit an open application, we assume that they give us consent to access their CV, cover letter and any other information that they provide to us. Should we wish to share (some of) candidate’s data, we will always ask for the candidate’s consent first.

When (some of) candidate’s data is shared with one of our clients, we usually forward it to our contact person. We have agreements with our clients about the personal data that we share and their rights and obligations to use the data only for the specific purposes for which it was gathered and delete it within the agreed time frame.

Website and cookies

When you visit our website, we may automatically store certain information on our server like the IP address and the browser type you are using. We also make use of functional and analytical cookies. Cookies are tiny text files that websites temporarily put into the browsers on visitors’ computers or mobile devices. We use cookies to ensure the functionality of our website (e.g. our online contact form) and to monitor visits, also through Google Analytics. The information gathered through Google Analytics is anonymous and used in aggregated form only.

You can always delete or disable cookies by adjusting your browser settings. However, this might interfere with website performance. To avoid that any website gathers information about your visits and sends it to Google Analytics, you can download the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-On. For more information and advice, please visit www.youronlinechoices.eu

Kindly note that the social media (Twitter and LinkedIn) icons on our website do not place cookies and merely serve to easily guide you to our social media channels.

How do we protect your personal data?

We ensure the adequate security of the systems on which your data is stored and take all precautions to make your data only available to those who are entitled to view it. While we treat your personal data as confidential and require from our clients that they do the same, we cannot guarantee that unauthorized persons will not obtain access to your personal data through illegal actions.

Making use of your rights

At any moment, you can request us to send you the information that we keep about you. You also have the right to rectification and the ‘right to be forgotten’. For an overview of all your rights, please visit this page of the ‘Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens’ (in Dutch) or have a look at chapter 3, articles 12 to 23, of the GDPR.

We think it is very important that you are in control of your data and greatly value any feedback you may have. If you want to make use of any of your rights or if you are not content with our processing of your data, please let us know. Kindly send your request or feedback to Annelies Pijnenburg: annelies.pijnenburg@sustainabilityworks.eu. We will react to your request or feedback within 5 working days. If your request concerns ‘the right to be forgotten’, we will send you a confirmation and delete your data within 5 working days after your request.

Should you request the removal of your data, subsequently reapply and again wish to be forgotten, please be aware that it is necessary to submit your removal request again.

While we always seek to treat your personal data with the utmost care and will do our best to assist you with any issues that might arise, we would like to point out that you do have the right to lodge a complaint to the Dutch ‘Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens’.