Who we are and how to contact us?

This is a supplemental Privacy Statement of FDC Group (“FDC”) which is intended to provide details on our processing activities associated with recruitment and the processing of candidates’ personal data when applying for a role within FDC Group.

In this statement we use the terms “we”, “our” and “us” to refer to FDC.  FDC is a decentralised multi-disciplined professional services provider, offering key services such as Accounting, Tax and Legal, Financial Services, Agri Consultancy, Management Accounting, Advisory, Banking Audit and Client Business I.T. Solutions.

We may provide the personal information we receive from you such as your CV to other FDC entities which are listed below. We do this in our legitimate interest and in particular to direct your application and curriculum vitae (“CV”) to the most appropriate FDC company. You have the right to object to this at any time by contacting us on gdprqueries@fdc.ie

The purpose of this supplemental Privacy Statement is to outline our position concerning the collection, use, retention, disclosure, and transfer of Personal Data which is gathered and processed by us during the recruitment and candidate selection process. This is not an exhaustive statement of all our data protection practices and we may apply specific policies within certain environments. The aim of this privacy statement is to explain how FDC will process your data during the recruitment process. FDC is committed to being transparent about all activities to which your personal data is exposed. For further information on additional Data Protection practices please see the following Privacy Policy – FDC Group

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, including any request to exercise your legal rights, please contact us by writing to our Designated Privacy Representative (DPR), FDC House, Wellington Road, Cork, Ireland or via email gdprqueries@fdc.ie

The below sections of the privacy statement set out the type of Personal Data collected by us during the recruitment and selection process, the purposes for which such Personal Data is collected and processed and the lawful justifications for processing in the context of recruitment.

1. What is Personal Data?

Personal Data is any information relating to a living individual that allows for the identification of that individual. Personal Data can include a name, address, contact details, an identification number, IP address, image, or details about an individual’s location or any other detail(s) specific to that individual.

2. Categories of personal data and how we use it.

We will collect the following types of personal data from you when you apply for a role in any of our companies. Full name and address, date of birth, contact details such as phone numbers and email address, your curriculum vitae (“CV”) cover letter, work permits (where required), your image (this may be taken from your driver’s license or another form of identity that you provide)or you may have submitted a video application to which your image and voice will be processed. Please note that your CV may also  include relevant information such as employment history and education, relevant educational awards, references, and your hobbies and interests.

We would ask that you do not include any special category data within your CV (such as medical information, gender, religious or philosophical beliefs, political beliefs or affiliation or any financial information). Should you wish to disclose any personal information that would be deemed special category, you can do so directly and securely with our HR Manager or the Hiring Manager.

3. How do we obtain your information?

We may collect your information though our website if we are advertising roles and have provided contact forms for you to engage in. You may have provided the information directly at one of our offices or where we have been part of a job fair or event, or you may have emailed a member of our staff directly. We may also receive information from various recruitment agencies and University career portals that we engage with to support our recruitment activities. Please note that FDC is not responsible for the data protection practices of recruitment agencies or University portals. They are subject to their own privacy statements which may materially differ from those of FDC so candidates should review them for further information.

When you apply for a role in FDC, we may obtain personal data when we are completing pre-employment checks. We will only ever seek information from a third party when we have made a formal job offer to you in writing, and we will inform you that it is our intention to complete these checks (reference checks).

4. The purpose and legal basis for processing your information.

FDC collects and processes your Personal Data when; engaging in a recruitment process with you. See below a variety of purposes where we will process your personal data during the recruitment and candidate selection process.

a)  To enter into and perform a contract with you.

We may process your information in order to take steps to enter into a contract with you .For example, we need to process your personal information to engage in an interview process. To be able to offer you a role in our company and to fulfill our obligations as a potential employer .

b) To comply with our legal obligations

We are required to process your personal information to comply with certain legal and regulatory obligations to which we are subject. For example, we are required to check a successful candidate’s eligibility to work in Ireland before employment commences.

c) For our legitimate business interests

We have a legitimate interest in processing personal data during the recruitment and selection process, and the keeping of records from our engagement .These processing activities support the recruitment process, and it enables us to assess and validate a candidate’s suitability for employment with a view to offering a role to a successful candidate. Please be aware that when we process your information for our legitimate interests, we ensure that there is a fair balance between our legitimate interest and your fundamental rights and freedoms.

An example of the use of personal data under legitimate interest would be the following:

• to process employment applications;
• assessment of qualifications;
• to verify information you provided; and
• to conduct reference or pre-employment check
• to seek feedback from a candidate in the form of a survey regarding our recruitment process

d) With your consent

We may ask for your consent to contact your current employer; however this consent request would be made after we have formally offered you a role in FDC.

e) To protect your vital interests

We will in certain circumstances use your personal information to protect your vital interests or the interests of another. An example, however unlikely it may seem; would be the use of your information in a situation where you became incapacitated at an interview and medical attention is required.

Below is a summary of these purposes and the lawful justifications that support them:

5. Who do we share information with?

FDC Group Companies: Your information will be shared internally for the purpose of the recruitment process. This would include members of our HR Department such as the HR Manger, interviewers, and Hiring Managers in the business where the vacancy is applicable.

3^rd Parties: We may disclose your data to 3^rd parties whereby they are facilitating document storage, communication services or online interview platforms. FDC operates a strict policy with regard to the engagement of 3^rd parties that operate in the capacity of data processors under our instruction. FDC will at all times remain the Controller of the data retained in these services. The associated 3^rd parties to the processing activity of recruitment in particular are the following; HR solutions partner Bamboo HR and Hub Spot who facilitate the storage of personal data  submitted through QR Code forms.

Insurance Companies: We may disclose personal data to our insurance providers in connection with insurance needs, legal claims, and prospective legal claims.

Garda Síochána, Government or Quasi-Government Bodies, Courts, and Tribunals: We may share your personal information with these organisations and bodies, where required to do so by law.

6. Storage Periods

The period for which we will keep your personal information will depend on the outcome of the recruitment process.

Successful candidates’ data will be retained as per the retention policy of FDC employees .Your data will be securely transferred to the HR department.

Candidates who have participated in interviews and have not been successful, your data will be retained for a period of one year from the date of the end of the recruitment process. Once the year has ended, personal data will be securely destroyed.

Unless selected to proceed to interview, candidates who send in unsolicited applications and CV’s, your personal data will not be retained unless you have consented for us to do so. If you do not wish for FDC to retain your data for this purpose of including it in a talent register, your personal data will be deleted. Personal Data included in the FDC talent register is retained for a period of 12 months from the date consent was obtained. At the end of the 12-month retention period we will contact you and should you wish  to remain on the talent register we will do so with your express consent,

In certain situations retention periods may be longer than the period for which we are processing. For example, if we have a legitimate interest in retaining such information that is not outweighed by your fundamental rights and freedoms, or where we have statutory or regulatory obligations to retain personal information for a longer period, or where we may need to retain the information in the event of a legal claim.

We endeavor to ensure that Personal Data is retained for an appropriate period and no longer than necessary. Retention of data is detailed in our Data Retention Policy.

7.  Transfers outside the European Economic Area

We may transfer, store, or process your personal information to countries outside the European Economic Area. Where the laws of such countries do not afford an equivalent level of protection of personal information as the laws of Ireland, we take specific steps in accordance with data protection law to endeavour to protect your personal information.

We will use one of these safeguards:

• Transfer to a non-EEA country with privacy laws that give the same protection as the EEA.
• Put in place a contract (in a form that is approved by the European Commission) with the recipient of the personal information that means they must protect it to the same standards as the  EEA.
• Transfers to organisations that are part of an EU Framework that sets privacy standards for data sent between countries. These frameworks make sure those standards are similar to what is used within the EEA.

8. If you fail to provide personal data

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide personal data to FDC Group during the recruitment process. However if you fail to provide data when requested, we may not be able to proceed with the recruitment process (for example, we may not be able to process your application).

9. Your Rights

 In certain circumstances, you have the following rights under data protection law in relation to your personal data:

A right to access Personal Data held by FDC.

• Any individual has a right to make an access request, in writing, under data protection law for a copy of their Personal Data held by us.  We may ask for further identification details to confirm your identity before the relevant information is provided.
• It should be noted that there may be specific exemptions relating to accessing Personal Data. If we utilise any of the exemptions, we will provide you with details and our justification for their use.

Other data protection rights

• Rectification of inaccurate personal data;
• Erasure of personal data (also known as the “right to be forgotten”);
• Restriction of processing of personal data;
• Right to data portability;
• Right to object to processing of personal data.

However, under data protection law, these rights are available only in certain circumstances. If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact us using the contact details below. We will endeavor to respond to your request within a month. If we are unable to deal with your request within a month, we may extend this period by a further period of two months, and we will explain why. Please provide as much detail as possible to enable us to respond to your request and to locate relevant personal data about you.

By Post:  DPR, FDC House, Wellington Road, Cork, Ireland

By Email: gdprqueries@fdc.ie

By Phone: + 353 (0) 21 4509022

You also have the right to lodge a complaint to the Office of the Data Protection Commission. For further information please see www.dataprotection.ie

10.   Updates

This privacy statement [“version 2”] was deemed effective on the 24^th of October 2024. We will update this supplemental privacy statement from time to time. Any updates will be made available on our website, and we would ask that you check regularly.