Helvetia Privacy Policy

The following information on data privacy is geared to the requirements of the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the United Kingdom’s General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). Whether and to what extent these laws are applicable depends on the specific individual case.

Helvetia may process your personal data in accordance with applicable data protection law.

“Processing” means any handling of personal data, regardless of the means and procedures used, in particular the collection, storage, retention, use, modification (including pseudonymisation and anonymisation), disclosure, archiving, erasure or destruction of data.

The processing must not unlawfully infringe the personality rights of data subjects, and any processing may be based on the following legal basis under data protection law:

• Existence of a contract with Helvetia
• Legitimate interests
• Statute
• Consent granted by you or by a person authorised by you

Legitimate interests are aimed at achieving the objectives associated with the purposes listed in the following section.

The processing of your personal data is essential for the application and the conclusion of an employment contract.

Helvetia processes data for the following purposes:

• Registration in the Helvetia candidate profile
• Conducting of the application process
• Application documents and reference
• Background checks, debt enforcement information and extracts from the Register of Criminal Convictions (certificate of good conduct), medical records, driving licence, etc.
• Recruitment-related tests (assessment centre, aptitude tests, etc.)
• Job placement and HR advice
• Feedback and establishing contact
• Responding to questions and concerns as well as evaluation
• Satisfaction surveys
• Analysis and evaluation of the use of Helvetia’s web pages
• Maintaining and organising business operations
• Product and company development
• Exchanging information between Helvetia group companies
• Combating misconduct, abuse, offences and crime
• Conducting legal proceedings or cooperating with and exchanging information with the authorities
• Security and protection of data, confidential information and assets

We process the categories of data described below, although this list is not exhaustive.

In the event of changes to data over time (e.g. due to a change of address, a change in civil status or another modification), we may continue to store the previous status of such data in addition to the current status within the framework of the statutory storage periods.

• Master data
• Data related to contracts and claims
• Data relating to compliance with legal obligations
• Communication data
• Data regarding behaviour and preferences
• Banking, financial and asset-related data
• Health data
• Registration data
• Technical data
• Security, warranty and compliance data
• Data from job applications
• Data from reference requests
• Anticipated annual salary
• Current employment
• Other data

This category includes any data derived from the above.

Depending on the content of the documents you send to us, we may process sensitive personal data (e.g. health data, information about religion or ethnic origin). Helvetia requests your express consent to the processing of this kind of data before you submit it.

We will only request information from the contact persons you provide as references if we have your express consent. You can give this consent during the application process.

For the purposes mentioned in clause 4, we may also process and evaluate your data automatically, i.e. electronically, in order to assess certain personal characteristics or behaviour (so-called profiling). This includes automated data processing, for example for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, for combating insurance fraud, for credit checks or individual risk evaluation and assessment as a necessary calculation basis for the insurance policy, as well as for identifying different interests and personal requirements for marketing purposes, product and service offers and services.

In the event that we base our decisions when concluding a contract or handling a claim exclusively on automated data processing (so-called automated individual decisions) and if such decisions cause legal effects or significant disadvantages for you (e.g. termination, risk exclusions, premium amount, denial of benefits) or if they affect you significantly in a similar way, we will inform you of this in an appropriate manner and separately inform you that you can have the relevant decision reviewed by a member of our staff if necessary. Such fully automated decisions are always based on rules we have established in advance for weighting the information.

To operate the careers portal, Helvetia uses the services of SuccessFactors Ltd., based in Walldorf, Germany, and Prospective Media Services PMS AG, Seestrasse 513, 8038 Zurich. The service providers are contractually obliged not to use the data for their own purposes and to adhere to the current data privacy laws, security standards and Helvetia directives.

Because the applicant details are managed at Group level, the data from the application process are stored centrally by Helvetia Swiss Insurance Company Ltd, Dufourstrasse 40, 9000 St. Gallen in Switzerland.

If you are offered a position, your data may also be passed on to third parties, such as compensation funds or pension funds, which are themselves controllers of your data.

When your personal data is processed by the recipients, it may also be transferred abroad, for example when personal data is passed on to other companies within the group or to service providers. Under certain circumstances, we may also transmit data to third parties abroad who are involved in the processing of the contract (e.g. co-insurers and reinsurers, authorities and courts), as well as to other bodies such as foreign tax authorities.

Your data may therefore be processed worldwide, including outside Switzerland or the European Union or the European Economic Area (i.e. also in so-called third countries such as the USA). Many third countries currently do not have laws that ensure a level of data protection equivalent to the applicable FADP.

Therefore, following a risk assessment, we take contractual precautions to contractually compensate for the weaker legal protection, as well as further measures (e.g. pseudonymisation) to reduce the risk of state/government access abroad authorised by foreign legislation.

We rely on the guarantees required by law, insofar as the recipient is not already subject to a legally recognised set of rules to ensure data protection and we cannot rely on an exceptional provision. An exception may apply in particular in the case of legal proceedings abroad, but also in cases of overriding public interests, if the performance of a contract requires such disclosure, if you have given your consent or if it is a matter of data that you have made generally accessible and you have not objected to its processing.

A detailed list of the countries to which we may transfer data can be found in the separate list of recipients and countries, which you can access at www.helvetia.ch/privacy or request from our Data Protection Unit.

As part of the application process, you must provide the necessary information. While this is voluntary, not providing this information may impede or preclude the application process. 

When processing personal data, Helvetia takes appropriate technical and organisational measures to prevent unauthorised access and other unauthorised processing. These measures are based on the international standards in this area and are checked regularly and adjusted if necessary. 

In accordance with the applicable data protection law and under certain conditions, you have the following rights:

Right of access

You may request information as to whether we process your data and, if so, what data is being processed, and receive a copy of this personal data.

Right to rectification

You can request that we correct incorrect data or complete incomplete data.

Right to erasure

You can request the erasure of your data unless we are obliged or authorised to retain your data under applicable laws and regulations.

Right to restriction of processing

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data at any time with future effect, provided that the processing is not strictly necessary for the performance of a contract and/or that we are not obliged or authorised to process the data under applicable laws and regulations.

Right to object to data processing and withdraw consent

Where applicable, you have the right to object to the processing of your data, in particular for the purposes of direct marketing, profiling conducted for direct marketing and other legitimate interests in the processing

In cases where data processing is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw this consent at any time. If you withdraw your consent this does not affect the lawfulness of the data processing undertaken on the basis of your consent up until the withdrawal.

Right to data portability

You may request that the data provided by you be released or transmitted in a commonly used electronic form to another data controller, provided that the processing is carried out by means of automated processing or you have consented to the processing.

Rights in the case of automated individual decision-making

You have the right to express your point of view in the case of exclusively automated individual decisions and to request that the decision be reviewed by a natural person.

Right to complain

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with our Data Protection Unit or the competent data protection supervisory authority if you do not agree with our handling of your rights.

Contact details of regulatory authority

If your rights have been infringed, you have the option of lodging a complaint with the relevant data protection authority (in Switzerland, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) (www.edoeb.admin.ch); in the EU, the relevant national data protection authority).

We would like to remind you that the Internet is an open, global network that is accessible to everyone. Communication via email is not usually encrypted and takes place only during regular office hours. It is possible that data may be lost or intercepted and/or manipulated by third parties, for example, to make it appear authentic. We take technical and organisational security measures to prevent the risk within our systems. Nevertheless, the confidentiality of data transmitted by email cannot be guaranteed. This applies, in particular, to the transmission of sensitive personal data (such as health data). Emails may be delayed, deleted, misrouted or shortened during transmission due to transmission errors, technical defects or other malfunctions. External access devices (PC, smartphone, etc. of end users) and parts of the infrastructure involved in the transmission between the sender and us are located outside the security area under our control. It is the responsibility of each Internet user to find out about the necessary security precautions and to take appropriate measures (e.g. up-to-date anti-virus software, etc.). We are not liable for any damage or consequences arising from the electronic exchange of information, particularly from the misuse of the email system, for which we were not at fault. We reserve the right to claim compensation from you for any intentional damage we may suffer as a result of our business dealings with you via the electronic exchange of information. We reserve the right in individual cases not to reply by email or to additionally require a different form (e.g. a form with a signature) for the order or information received by email.

Only Helvetia employees involved in the recruitment process, as well as selected individuals who carry out technical system administration and support tasks, have full access to and can view the documents and data you have uploaded. The data is treated confidentially and not processed for any purposes other than those mentioned here.