MERCURY’S APPLICANT PRIVACY POLICY

Mercury recognises the importance of safeguarding your personal information.  This policy explains Mercury’s position in regard to the information provided by job seekers who register with Mercury’s Careers page.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding your personal information, please contact recruitment@mercury.co.nz

In this notice, when we say “Mercury”, “our”, “us” or “we”, we mean Mercury NZ Limited and any related entity.  When we say “you” we mean any person registered with, or browsing the Mercury careers website. References to the Privacy Act are references to the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.

What information do we collect and hold?

When you apply for employment with us, we will only collect personal information that is relevant to your application.  We collect this information from you directly (for example, the information you provide when you complete an application for employment), from third parties (for example, from your nominated references). In addition, we also collect personal information generated during the application process (for example, interview notes). 

Information we collect from you directly

The personal information we collect from you directly includes:

• Contact information, including your name, address, email, and phone number
• Education, qualifications, experience and work history information and any other information you provide to us in your resume/CV.
• Health information, including information about any disabilities or other conditions that might impact on your employment
• Your passport details and information about your immigration status and your right to work.
• Information about any criminal convictions or pending criminal charges relating to you
• Marital status and country of birth where necessary to assist us in visa applications.
• Emergency contact information and details about your next of kin.
• Any other information you provide to us as part of the application process.

When you visit, search for, and browse our Careers website

The personal information we collect includes:

• we collect the internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer or device to the internet, data on your screen and device settings, such as the point and scroll settings of your mouse, web browser type and version, time zone settings, and operating system information.

• we also collect generic information about your use or visit, including statistical information about visits to pages on the site, what you looked at or searched for while on our site, page response times, how you navigated the site, and how you reached our site in the first place (e.g. via a Google search). This information on its own does not identify an individual but it does provide us with statistics that can be used to analyse and improve our website.

Information we collect from third parties

The personal information we collect from third parties may include:

• Information from recruitment agencies (in the situation you are being represented by an agency)
• Results of criminal records check information (MOJ).
• Results of pre-employment drug tests
• Results of psychometric assessments or competency tests
• Information provided by your nominated referees
• Confirmation of your academic qualifications, where this is relevant to your position
• Your credit report where the position you are applying for involves financial risk
• Information from government agencies regarding your eligibility to work in New Zealand
• We may also collect information from public sources such as social media platforms you use, where this may be relevant to our decision to employ you.

Information generated during the application process

Personal information may also be generated during the application process, such as interview notes and records of phone conversations with third parties (referees, etc). Where CCTV is used at a Mercury site, we may collect still or video footage of you when you are at a site for safety, security, and investigative purposes.

Why do we collect your personal information?

We need to collect this information in order to assess your application.  You do not have to provide us with the information but if you do not, we may not be able to assess your suitability and/or employ you. 

Information collected about you is used by Mercury for human resource and business management purposes, including:

1. conducting background and employment checks
2. administering recruitment processes (for example, identifying and evaluating candidates for positions) and record keeping; and
3. statistical analysis and related reporting (for example, diversity and inclusion reporting).  

Your information may also be used to comply with Mercury’s legal and regulatory obligations.

Where your application is successful, your information, including all application and assessment documents, collected during the application process, will form part of your employee record.

In addition to using your information for the position for which you have applied, you also have the option to be contacted about other positions. Where you select this option, you agree that Mercury may retain and use the information that you have supplied so we can consider you for other positions with Mercury.

At all times, we will collect, use and disclosure your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020. 

Who will we provide your information to?

Mercury may disclose your information to third parties where permitted or required by law or for any of the purposes mentioned above.  Third parties may include:

1. our related companies (including our subsidiaries); 
2. our agents, professional advisers, business partners and other third parties that provide services to us or for us;
3. a regulator or government body (where required by law); and
4. any other party authorised by you. 

How we store and protect your personal information

Once the recruitment and selection process is complete:

• the personal information of successful applicants is held on their respective employment files in accordance with the Mercury Employee Privacy Policy.
• the personal information of unsuccessful applicants is kept for a period of no longer than six months, after which time it is securely destroyed.  

Subject to receiving authorisation, we may retain the information of unsuccessful applicants so that they may be considered for future vacancies.

Mercury will hold your personal information.  Wherever your personal information is stored, we take reasonable steps to ensure that it is protected against loss or unauthorised access, modification, use or disclosure. 

We may use third-party service providers to store your personal information and provide us with services. 

We recognise that we are accountable for your personal information and we will take reasonable steps to ensure that any third-party service providers we use can meet our privacy and security expectations and comply with the Privacy Act. 

Accessing and correcting personal information

You are responsible for keeping your information up to date. 

Under the Privacy Act, you have the right to ask for a copy of the personal information that we hold about you. You also have the right to ask for your personal information to be corrected if you think it is wrong.

We’ll be as open as we can with you but sometimes, we might need to withhold personal information, for example where the information relates to references provided to us in confidence or includes personal information about other people.  If we need to withhold information, we’ll tell you why. 

For assistance with these matters, please email recruitment@mercury.co.nz