Privacy policy for job applicants – Planted Foods
This privacy policy applies to the processing of your personal data in connection with your online application. You will find information on how we process personal data as part of the application process. «Personal data» is any information that can be linked to a particular individual, and «process» means any handling of personal data, such as the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data.
1. General information
For the purposes of this privacy policy, job applicants (hereinafter also referred to as «you») are persons who apply for a position advertised by us or submit a spontaneous application to us.
Please take the time to read this privacy policy to understand how and why Planted Foods processes your personal data, how Planted Foods protects your personal data, and to learn more about your rights.
This privacy policy applies in addition to our existing «General Privacy Policy» on our website, which provides you with specific information on how we process your personal data in the context of your visit to our website and for topics not related to your application.
2. Who is responsible for processing your personal data?
For data processing under this privacy policy, the company which is your potential employer is in each case the «controller», i.e. the party primarily responsible under data protection law (hereinafter referred to as «we»). If you have any questions regarding data protection, please feel free to contact us at dataprotection@eatplanted.com.
3. What data do we process?
We process your personal data if it relates to your suitability for the employment contract or with your separate consent and insofar as the processing is permitted by law and in accordance with our internal guidelines. Information on the purposes of this data processing can be found in section 4.
You may provide data to us that relates to other individuals, such as reference information. If you do so, we understand that you confirm this data is correct and that you are authorised to provide us with this data. We ask you to inform these third parties about our processing of their data (for example, by a reference to this privacy policy).
We process the following personal data from you as far as they are or become known to us, in each case with the current and also the previous information, if information changes over time:
- Master data and contact information: first and last name, home address, phone number, email address, date of birth and age, place of origin and nationality(ies), gender, language skills, marital status, family status and number of children, work and residence permit, photo(s) and video(s), passport and identity card details, military status, information on any trade union affiliation and political offices, details of hobbies and interests, your religious affiliation and details of previous convictions and debt collection;
- Data in connection with your current position and the organisational framework: information on the notice period of the current employment contract, data in connection with your job and employment contract, professional achievements, work content and job satisfaction, desired salary, your motivation, information on a disability if applicable (only if relevant for the advertised position), information on special health, religious and other needs in connection with your employment, and, if required, union information;
- Applications, professional career, education and training: curriculum vitae, certificates, diplomas, job references or confirmations of employment, information about skills, competencies and qualifications, language skills, information about previous jobs and employers, reference persons and their contact details, information from references, information from official registers, information from interviews, assessments and aptitude tests, information about external mandates, offices and functions, and information from publicly accessible professional profiles in social media (in particular LinkedIn profiles, insofar as these are intended for business or professional use) and other information from the application, from the internet and other public sources; details of salary expectations, availability, notice periods and work permits; where required for the specific position or permitted by law: further information such as health aspects, special needs, criminal records, debt enforcement records or other background information;
- Data in connection with consent: insofar as further personal data is processed with your separate consent, we process the relevant data including the date, subject matter and, if applicable, your withdrawal of consent;
- Further data: it is possible that we process further personal data which we cannot list here conclusively. We will inform you separately about the processing of such data if this is possible or we are obliged to do so.
If you disclose particularly sensitive personal data during the application process, or if such data is required for the specific position, we may also process it to the extent permitted by law.
If you are already employed by a Planted Foods company, we may also use information we already have based on your previous employment. We process much of the above-mentioned data only if you voluntarily disclose it. However, certain data must be processed for us to consider an application.
4. Processing purposes
We process the data mentioned in section 3 for various purposes related to your job application, in particular for the following purposes:
- Assessing application documents and the suitability of a job applicant: evaluating the suitability for a specific position with us or another group company for which you apply via our online portal or by other means, including for suitable alternative positions within the Planted Group; verifying references; conducting background or security checks (if required). Legal basis: pre-contractual measures, legitimate interest in assessing suitability and conducting an orderly application process, and where applicable consent or legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(b) / (f) / (a) / (c) GDPR; Art. 31(1) and (2) revFADP);
- Preparation and conclusion of employment contracts: drafting, negotiating and concluding the employment contract. Legal basis: pre-contractual measures and contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR / Art. 31(2) revFADP);
- Analysis of the application process: checking your satisfaction with the application process, provided you have given us your consent to do so. Legal basis: consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR);
- Ensuring business operations and other security purposes: building security including access controls; documentation of security incidents, data breaches, complaints, interactions with authorities and third parties and other relevant events and corresponding measures that relate to you or contain information about you. Legal basis: legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR / Art. 31(1) revFADP);
- Investigations and legal proceedings: the prevention, investigation and prosecution of possible misconduct against the law by job applicants, including reviewing complaints, tips and objections, evaluation of surveillance measures and the conduct of investigations, participation in official investigations and proceedings, and the assertion, exercise or defence of legal claims. Legal basis: legitimate interest and legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c) / (f) GDPR / Art. 31(1) revFADP).
5. To whom do we disclose your personal data?
In principle, only persons involved in your job application have access to your personal data, in particular HR specialists from Planted Foods and potential supervisors. These persons are subject to a duty of confidentiality and are sensitised to data protection and data security.
We may disclose personal data to other recipients to the extent necessary for the stated purposes (section 4) and to the extent permitted by law. In particular, we disclose personal data to recipients of the following categories:
- Former employers and other third parties, e.g. when we review an application and verify references (to the extent permitted). We also work with clients, affiliates and other third parties (e.g. advertising service providers, debt-collection agencies, credit reporting agencies, etc.);
- Online application platforms: If you apply to us online, this is done via the service provider Teamtailor (Sweden). Teamtailor acts as a data processor on our behalf under a data processing agreement. The privacy policy of Teamtailor can be found here: https://career.teamtailor.com/privacy-policy;
- Other service providers: We work with other service providers domestically and abroad (e.g. IT service providers, maintenance and support service providers, cleaning companies, security companies, etc.). As part of their tasks, these service providers may process or access your personal data. We ensure through the selection of service providers and through appropriate contractual agreements that data protection is also ensured by such service providers throughout the processing of your personal data;
- Group companies: If a job applicant is considered for a position with another group company of Planted Foods, we may disclose personal data to that company as well;
- Industry organisations and other bodies, e.g. associations, federations, etc. with which you are involved in connection with your current employment relationship;
- Governmental authorities and official agencies, when we deem it necessary or appropriate in order to comply with laws and regulations or to verify compliance therewith, to respond to inquiries from competent authorities (e.g. in the context of a criminal investigation) or to participate in official or judicial investigations and proceedings;
- Parties to legal proceedings, e.g. opposing parties and other parties, experts, witnesses, etc., if we participate in legal proceedings or are considering participation;
- Acquirers or parties interested in acquiring business units, companies or assets.
6. Do we disclose personal data abroad?
Recipients of personal data are not only located in Switzerland. This applies in particular to certain service providers. Recipients may also be located outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, in particular the USA, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong but also in other countries worldwide. Not all of these countries currently guarantee an adequate level of data protection according to the standards of Swiss law. We therefore take contractual precautions to compensate for the lower level of legal protection, especially with the standard contractual clauses issued by the European Commission and recognised by the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (EDÖB). For more information and a copy of these clauses, please visit www.edoeb.admin.ch.
In certain cases, we may transfer data in accordance with data protection law requirements even without such contracts, e.g. if you have consented to the corresponding disclosure or if the disclosure is necessary for the performance of the contract, for the establishment, exercise or enforcement of legal claims or for overriding public interests.
7. How long do we store your personal data?
We store your personal data as long as it is necessary for the implementation of the specific application process or for compliance with legal requirements and as long as we have a legitimate interest in storing it (e.g. for documentation and evidence preservation purposes and for the protection and defence of legal claims). If we can consider you for the position for which you have applied, we will also retain your personal data for the performance of the employment contract.
In the event of unsuccessful applications:
- Without consent: we will delete all of your personal data within 6 months after the application process has been completed.
- With consent to retention: Planted Foods will retain the data from your application for a period of up to 12 months after your application in order to assess your suitability for a specific position or for purposes related to subsequent applications or vacancies and to be able to contact you.
- Minimum data: Certain minimum application data (in particular first and last name, date of birth and position for which the application was submitted) may be retained in reduced form for a longer period to the extent necessary for documentation, evidence or the safeguarding of our rights, but will be definitively deleted within 5 years.
8. How do we protect your personal data?
We take appropriate technical (e.g. access regulations and restrictions) and organisational measures (in particular instructions and directives) to protect your personal data and continually adapt these to technological developments. Encryption ensures the secure transmission of your personal data.
9. What rights do you have with regard to your personal data?
You have certain rights with respect to your personal data processed by us in order for you to control or influence our processing. These are in particular the following rights:
- Information: You have the right to obtain information about your personal data processed by us at any time in writing and generally free of charge.
- Correction: You may, at any time and free of charge, request that we correct, complete or update your personal data if it is incorrect.
- Objection and deletion: You may object to our data processing and request that we delete your personal data at any time if we are not obliged to continue processing or storing this data and if it is not necessary for the employment contract.
- Data portability: Where applicable, you have the right to receive certain personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, or to request its transmission to another controller, where technically feasible.
- Withdrawal of consent: If we process your personal data based on your consent (see section 3), you may withdraw consent at any time. Such withdrawal of consent is only effective for future data processing.
- Right regarding automated decision-making (Art. 22 GDPR): Where the GDPR applies, you have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing – including profiling – which produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you. We do not currently make such automated decisions in the application process.
Some of these rights may not apply in individual cases, and we may be entitled or obligated to restrict or postpone the fulfilment of a right. We will inform you accordingly in such a case.
For Switzerland: You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (EDÖB) at any time if you do not agree with our processing of your personal data (www.edoeb.admin.ch).
For EU Member States: You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent data protection authority at any time if you do not agree with the processing of your personal data by us.
For UK: You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk
To exercise your rights, please contact us at: dataprotection@eatplanted.com
Status of this privacy policy: April 2026
