Privacy Notice Talent Acquisition and Data Cross Border Transfer Consent


At ABB, respecting your data privacy rights is a top priority. Please read this Privacy Notice and Data Cross Border Transfer Consent (“Privacy Notice”) carefully. By clicking “Agree and Accept” below, you acknowledge that you hereby consent to the collection, processing, use, and international transfer of your Personal Data as described therein. 

Your Personal Data 

ABB refers to ABB Ltd and its subsidiary companies. For the purposes of applicable data protection law, the controller of your data will be the ABB affiliate where you are applying for a position. For further information, please click here to see a list of all ABB affiliates. This notice applies to all such companies. 

We have obtained your personal data via ABB’s career portal. 

In some cases, we will also process your personal data indirectly from third parties, such as background check providers, recruitment agencies through which you have applied for a job, and other technical services providers (eg. TuPu). 

In some cases, we will also process personal data from publicly available sources such as employment- and business-orientated social networking services (such as LinkedIn and Glassdoor) and career fairs. 

What we need 

We collect and use personal data in connection with the recruitment process at ABB. We may collect the following categories of personal data: 

Personal details and identification data such as name, gender, personal and business address, personal telephone number, personal email address or other contact details, date and country of birth, photo, citizenship and nationality. 

Skill and experience details such as qualifications and certifications including current and previous positions, education and training courses, resume/CV, education records and work achievements. In some cases: contact details of referees and results of capability assessments and interview assessment/feedback and any other personal information you choose to disclose to us as part of your job application. 

Depending on the position, we may perform internal/external assessments, where we collect additional data such as assessment performance data, assessment score, phone interview recordings/notes and video interview recordings/notes.

To the extent permitted by the applicable law, we further need to process sensitive personal data concerning your 

In some countries/regions, trade union membership; religion and philosophical beliefs and criminal records (only when required by the local law or where this is used to secure equal opportunity and treatment for all candidates and employees in ABB, in accordance with the local law). If we run a background check on you as a part of the recruitment process, we will only process such data in accordance with applicable law.

In Mainland China, during the interview phase for the invited candidates, we may need to process the following categories of sensitive personal data collected through the forms we require you to fill-in or documents we require you to provide: ID number, blood type (for emergency support), family members (including the name, age, and contact information of minor children). 

Sensitive Personal Data necessary for the employment contract conclusion and onboarding process of the successful candidates only such as the applicable personal identity number (tax, citizenship, social security or possibly other type of individual number applicable for you due to your country); data of your related persons (name, age and contact information of spouse/partner, children, etc.); signature; bank account details; emergency contacts; insurance data; driving license number; training records; clothing and shoe size where necessary. 

In some countries, during the onboarding process we need to process your health data and data regarding your racial or ethnic origin (only when required by the local law or where this is necessary to secure equal opportunity and treatment for all candidates and employees in ABB, in accordance with the local law). Respectively, any category of personal data mentioned above will not be processed, if such processing is prohibited according to applicable provisions of national law. 

For further details on the personal data that we collect in your country, please submit a request to privacy@abb.com

Why we need it

The personal data we collect is used for the following purposes:

  • Your job application for a specific position within ABB or joint venture of ABB and a third party, which we process as part of the precontractual measures fulfilment to establish employment and related contracts (in order to take steps prior to entering into an employment contract);
  • Evaluation of your application is based on finding the most suitable candidate for the opened job position, therefore ABB has to conduct assessments and interviews, which correspond also with your interest in finding the job that suits you best;
  • Your job application for the purpose of potential future recruitment purposes within ABB or a joint venture of ABB and a third party, on the basis of your consent.
  • In case of employment contract conclusion – to undertake steps necessary to fulfill controller obligations resulting from the employment contract and applicable legal provisions such as confirming that you meet internal and legal requirements relevant to the position, creation and signing of the employment contract and other employment documentation, creation of necessary accounts in our information systems; providing you access to the ABB premises; providing mandatory notifications to governmental authorities; providing you work uniform and personal protection equipment where necessary; and performing an onboarding session necessary to provide you with equipment, training and information required for the position you have been recruited.
  • In case of employment contract conclusion, on your request we can also process your data as required for performance of the contract in scope of some employment related services (e.g. relocation services or obtaining required visa and work permit).
  • Carrying out audits, reviews and compliance checks to monitor the quality of the recruitment process, including compliance with ABB’s corporate policies and legal requirements, responding to complaints, processing related questions and exercising or defending legal claims. 

We collect only your personal data which we need for these purposes. The use of your personal data provided during your job application will be limited to a need basis and shared only with the employees and third parties that are directly involved in the recruitment processes for the specific position. 

Your application may be rejected in case your profile is incomplete and/or inaccurate. Accurate personal data, correct contact details and a complete profile is required to contact you and process your job application. 

On which legal basis do we process your personal data? 

We follow the principles of lawfulness, legitimacy, necessity and good faith to process your personal data, and we use your personal data for the purposes described in this Notice based on one of the following legal bases, as applicable:

  • We process your personal data on the basis of legal requirements, to fulfill our legal obligations resulting from the Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China and the regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) and other legal acts relevant for the subsidiary company, to which the request has been submitted, as well as legal obligations associated with the recruitment or which we are required by law to collect and process (mainly based on PRC Labor Law, PRC Labor Contract Law or other applicable laws and regulations);
  • We primarily collect and process your personal data to fulfil and perform our recruitment processes with regards to the job positions for which you apply. As part of the recruitment process, we need to process your personal data which are required by us to assess whether you are the right candidate for an open job position, to potentially enter into an employment relationship with you, to perform the contractual obligations therein or such personal data is necessary for our human resources management implemented in accordance with our labor rules and regulations and our employee handbook or collective contracts signed according to law.
  • Your consent: we may occasionally ask you for specific and separate permission to process some of your personal data (in particular, the sensitive personal data) if other legal bases are not appliable, and we will only process your personal information in this way if you agree for us doing so. 

What do we do with it 

ABB is a global company and we recruit internationally. This means, subject to your consent, your personal data may be transferred to countries or regions outside of the People’s Republic of China or be accessed in those jurisdictions in order to contact you about job openings. In such cases, we will ensure that the equivalent level of data protection is provided as it is provided within the territory of the People’s Republic of China. 

If information you provided includes personal data of individuals within the People Republic of China, you agree and warrant to notify these individuals of such cross-border transfer and obtain separate consent from these individuals, whenever required under the applicable laws, prior to the submission of such personal data to ABB. By consenting to this Privacy Notice, you confirm that explicit consent has been obtained from the relevant individuals. 

We only share your personal data with employees and third parties that are directly involved in the recruitment process. We share your personal data with the following ABB affiliates and third parties for the following purposes as part of the processing activities:

 

Recipient name or category

 Recipient lo-cation

Purpose

 

Safeguards in place to protect your personal data

              ABB Ltd

(EU ABB affiliate)

CH, Zürich

Storing the personal data on our servers.

 

This affiliate is located in Switzerland, which is considered to provide adequate protection for personal data as per the EU Commission decision

 

ABB affiliate inside Europe

              EU  

Share your application with the affiliates that are directly involved in the recruitment process for the specific position and any future recruitment processes based on your consent.

 

In case of employment contract conclusion we need to share your data with entities responsible for creation of necessary accounts in our information systems, maintaining servers and systems used for storing and sharing employees personal data in scope of purposes described in this Consent.

 

This affiliate is located in EU, which is considered to provide adequate protection for personal data

ABB affiliate outside Europe

 

Non-EU

Share your application with the affiliates that are directly involved in the recruitment process for the specific position and any future recruitment processes based on your consent.

 

In case of employment contract conclusion we need to share your data with entities responsible for creation of necessary accounts in our information systems, maintaining servers and systems used for storing and sharing employees personal data in scope of purposes described in this Consent.

This affiliate is within the ABB organization and the legal mechanism for the transfer are EU Model Clauses and Binding Corporate Rules when become effective

 

Third parties inside EU (including ABB business partners and joint ventures with third parties, software providers, HR assessment providers, law firms and governmental agencies)

 

EU

 

Share your application with the third parties that are directly involved in the recruitment process for the purpose of enabling the online recruitment platform, sourcing and assessing the candidates, issuing, work permits, visas and other legally required documents.

 

In case of employment contract conclusion, we need to share your data with entities responsible for enabling you the access to ABB premises; providing mandatory notifications to governmental authorities, arranging medical examination of prospective employees and conducting background or reference check.

 

This third party is located in EU, which is considered to provide adequate protection for personal data

 

Third parties outside EU (including ABB business partners and joint ventures with third parties, software providers, HR assessment providers, law firms and governmental agencies)

 

Non-EU

 

Share your application with the third parties that are directly involved in the recruitment process for the purpose of enabling the online recruitment platform, sourcing and assessing the candidates,, issuing work permits, visas and other legally required documents. 

In case of employment contract conclusion, we need to share your data with entities responsible for providing you access to the ABB premises; providing mandatory notifications to governmental authorities arranging medical examination of prospective employees and conducting background or reference check.

 This third party is located outside EU, which is not considered to provide adequate protection for personal data hence the legal mechanism for the transfer are EU Model Clauses or their equivalent.
 

Potential or current acquirers of ABB businesses or assets

 

EU and non-EU

 

For evaluation of the business or assets in question or executing the transformation/merger of the companies.

 

Where the potential or current acquirer is located outside EU, which is not considered to provide adequate protection for personal data, the legal mechanism for the transfer are EU Model Clauses or their equivalent.

 

Profiling and automated processing of your data 

We may use automated methods to make a decision based on your personal data. The logic used to make this decision is based on the minimum requirements of the job profile and whether your experience and background meet these requirements. The potential consequences and significance of this automated decision making are that your application may be rejected in case your profile does not meet the minimum requirements of the job description. In case we use automated methods, you have a right to obtain human intervention or to express your point of view and to contest the decision by submitting a data subject request at www.abb.com/privacy

We can also use automated methods to analyze your personal data submitted on our recruitment platform and build the profile of our candidates (profiling). The profile will be only used to assess our candidates in a unified manner, ensuring greater consistency and fairness of the recruitment process. The profiling outcome is an additional feedback for the recruiter and does not preordain the results of the recruitment process. 

After your application, irrespective of whether you have been hired or not, we may send you an email asking you to participate in a survey related to the recruitment process. Your participation in such a survey is voluntary. 

How long we keep it 

We will only retain your personal data obtained via this process as long as our legitimate interest or your consent remains valid. In general, although there may be limited exceptions due to local legal requirements (such as tax or commercial law), your personal data will be processed for up to 24 months. This retention period starts with every log-in to your account. 

In case of employment contract conclusion, we will process your personal data for the duration of this contract. 

Based on mandatory legislation, ABB must keep certain personal data for a minimum period of time. For example, employment contracts and information about salary payments and reimbursements need to be kept for a minimum period based on local corporate and tax legislation. 

After the retention period, your personal information will be deleted. 

For more information regarding specific retention periods that apply to your personal data, please submit a request at privacy@abb.com

What are your rights? 

Depending on the jurisdiction in which you are located and in which your personal data is processed, you may have the following rights:

  • correct any error in your personal data or update it;
  • access your personal data and receive a copy of your personal data that we hold;
  • delete your personal data that we no longer have a lawful ground to use;
  • port your personal data to a new supplier (if applicable);
  • restrict how we use your personal data whilst a complaint is being investigated, or
  • withdraw consent, whenever we have asked for your consent for processing of your personal data. 

You may make such request at www.abb.com/privacy. In certain circumstances, we may need to restrict the above rights to safeguard the public interest (e.g. the prevention or detection of crime) and our interests (e.g. the maintenance of legal privilege). 

If you wish to make a complaint about how we have handled your personal data, you may contact our Group Data Protection Officer at privacy@abb.com, or submit your complaint at www.abb.com/privacy

If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your personal data against the law, you may also contact the Data Privacy Authority in your country of residence or work or where you believe an infringement of data privacy laws may have taken place. 

Further information 

By submitting your application, you confirm that your personal data therein is accurate and up-to-date. Further, you confirm that you have read and understood this Privacy Notice and you are aware that by submitting your application you consent for us to process and internationally transfer your personal data (incl. certain types of sensitive personal data, if applicable) to review and assess your application (in the event we rely on a consent) or to do the same in order to take steps to prepare your employment contract.