Candidate Privacy Statement

July 2022

Mental Health Cooperative takes your privacy seriously. This statement describes the personal information we collect during our recruitment process, how we use it, whom we share it with, and how you can contact us if you have any questions or concerns. It also describes your data protection rights (as applicable) and how to exercise them.
Our recruitment website is operated by Mental Health Cooperative on behalf of itself and its affiliates ("MHC", " we", " our" or " us").

1. WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

When you apply to work with us, we will collect, store, and use your personal information so that we can consider your application. The data we collect during the recruitment process may differ depending on the position or the location where the job is based. We refer to this type of information as “Candidate Information.” This includes but is not limited to:

  • Account profile information: When you register for an account on our recruitment website, we will ask you to create a username and password and to set up account security questions. You are able to update your profile at any time and can add a profile photo if you wish. You also have the option to register with us using your LinkedIn account and can import your LinkedIn profile. You are also able to import and store resume/CVs, cover letters, transcripts, and work samples.
  • Application form: When you apply for a role through our recruitment website, you can import the information from your profile (see above) or import a new resume/CV. The information we collect this way includes your name, address, telephone number, personal email address, education history, work history, qualifications, cover letter, transcripts, work samples, compensation expectations, nationality/visa/right to work information and any other information that you choose to provide.
  • Interview information: Any information that you provide to us during or in connection with the interview process, including assessment results (if applicable).
  • Surveys: Any information that you provide to us through optional feedback surveys.
  • References: Current and previous employer and/or personal feedback / references.
  • Background: Education history and qualifications.
  • Identification and immigration information: Passport number/copy, government identification numbers (e.g. social security number), nationality / visa / right to work permit information.


We may also collect, store and use the following types of more sensitive information:
  • Gender
  • Marital Status
  • Age band
  • Race/Ethnicity
  • Existence of disability or health condition
  • Sexual Orientation
  • Religion or belief
  • Working pattern
  • Current flexible working arrangement
  • Caring responsibilities
  • Veteran status (US only)

We will explain at the time of collection why we need to collect this kind of information and whether it is mandatory, and we will also seek your consent if this is required by law.
In some cases, we may need to collect information about criminal history (if any). If this is the case, we will do this in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

These lists are not exhaustive and may be changed and/or added to from time to time.

2. HOW WILL WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?

Candidate Information:

2.1 Where necessary for our legitimate interests as listed below, and where not overridden by your data protection rights under applicable law:
  • Receiving and reviewing job applications.
  • Managing and administering your account registrations and job applications.
  • Processing your application, including assessing your skills, qualifications, and suitability for the role so that we can decide whether to take your application further or invite you to apply for other roles either at the time or in the future.
  • Conducting background and reference checks to validate your qualifications and experience and assess your suitability for the role, where applicable.
  • Communicating with you about the recruitment process and to send you news about MHC and roles that might be of interest to you (you can unsubscribe from these alerts at any time).
  • Improving our application process, to ensure that our application process and website is as user-friendly and effective as possible. This might include collecting information from you through voluntary surveys. Your choices in relation to surveys have no bearing on the selection process for any vacancy at MHC.
  • Keeping records relating to our recruitment processes.
  • Data analytics and reporting to help us visualize and monitor the effectiveness of our recruitment processes, identify trends, improve our processes and allocate our resources effectively.
  • Protecting our legitimate business interests and legal rights, including use in connection with legal claims (including disclosure of such information in connection with legal process or litigation), compliance, regulatory, auditing, investigative and compliance reporting purposes.

2.2 Where necessary to comply with a legal obligation, such as confirming that you are eligible to work under applicable immigration laws.

If you fail to provide information when requested, and that information is necessary for us to consider your application (e.g. evidence of qualifications or work history), your application will be discontinued.

More Sensitive Information

We will use your more sensitive information to ensure meaningful equal opportunity and diversity and inclusion monitoring and reporting and to comply with applicable legal obligations to record this information. The information you provide will be treated confidentially and aggregated with the effect that it will not be possible for MHC to identify you from the data. Any such information provided by you will not be made available to any decision-maker in the recruitment process, will not be used to consider your suitability for the role, and will not be provided to your manager(s) (in the event that you are successful with your application).

3. WHO COULD MY INFORMATION BE DISCLOSED TO?

  • Within MHC: Candidate Information will be shared with people within MHC who have a “need to know” the information in connection with the recruitment process. MHC has its headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, and other locations so it may be that the hiring manager and other people involved in the recruitment process will be located in a location outside your location, or in a different group company to the one that is hiring for the role. We also share Candidate Information with MHC affiliates which operate in various locations to administer and manage group functions, including to manage your account on the website and your application for a role at MHC. In order to consider your application, we may therefore process and transfer your information within the MHC group of companies.
  • Service Providers: MHC uses third party service providers to assist with the recruitment process, including the collection, processing, and validation of Candidate Information. For example, this recruitment website is hosted and provided by a third-party technology provider in the US. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your data for their own purposes. We only permit them to process it for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions, and they are required to keep it confidential.
  • International Transfer:  We use standard contractual data protection clauses which have been approved by the European Commission.

Regardless of where they are located, our service providers and group companies are required to take appropriate security measures to protect Candidate Information in line with our privacy and data security standards. For more information on security measures, please see below.
Other third parties: Generally, MHC will only disclose Candidate Information to third parties other than service providers when required to do so by law, regulation, or legal process, in response to a legitimate request for assistance by the police or other law enforcement agency or to seek legal advice from MHC’s external lawyers or in connection with litigation with a third party. MHC may also share the more sensitive information listed above in aggregated form with regulators and industry bodies for equal opportunities monitoring and reporting purposes.

4. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION AND HOW DO WE PROTECT IT?

4.1 Retention

We will keep your information for as long as we need to fulfill our legitimate interests, to process your application and any following employment contract or to meet legal requirements, unless a longer retention period is required or allowed under applicable law. After this we will take steps to delete your information or hold it in a form that no longer identifies you. For example, if you have created an account with us, we will retain your Account Profile information for as long as you continue to use the account (e.g. logging in, applying for roles, etc.). If your account has been inactive for at least a year, we may purge your account and all the history associated with it.

4.2 Security

We maintain procedural, technical, and physical safeguards to help protect against the loss, misuse or unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction of Candidate Information. These safeguards vary depending upon the sensitivity of the information we collect and store. Please be aware that no security solutions are infallible.

5. YOUR RIGHTS

You can log into your Account Profile at any time and make changes to keep your information up to date.
You may have the following rights under your local law (for example if you are based in the EU):
  • Access: right of access to the information that MHC holds about you, such as the source of the data, the purpose for which it has been collected, processed and transferred, and the recipients of such data.
  • Objection: right to object to or restrict certain types of processing that we are carrying out.
  • Transfer: a right to be provided with certain Candidate Information in machine-readable format and to request that we provide this to another organization.
  • Deletion: a right to request we delete Candidate Information we hold about you. In some cases, this may require you to delete your account with us. However, we may still need to retain certain Candidate Information for the purposes described in this statement.
  • Consent: Where we have asked for your consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time.

Where local law provides, you may have the right to make a complaint at any time to a data protection authority or regulator about our collection and use of your personal information. However, before doing so, we would encourage you to first contact us directly to allow us an opportunity to resolve any concerns you may have.

6. Contacting Us

If you have any questions about this privacy notice or how we handle your personal information, or if you wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact us using the contact details below:

For all queries: https://www.mhc-tn.org/contact-us/