Hermes Worldwide, Inc. Applicant Privacy Policy

Effective Date: June 25, 2025

At Hermes Worldwide, Inc., we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. This Applicant Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, store, and disclose the personal data of individuals who apply for employment with us, whether for driving positions or other roles.

Please read this policy carefully to understand our practices regarding your information and how we will treat it.

1. What Information We Collect

When you apply for a position with Hermes Worldwide, we collect various types of personal information to assess your qualifications, manage our recruitment process, and comply with legal obligations. The specific information we collect may vary depending on the role you apply for (e.g., driver vs. administrative staff).

Categories of personal information we may collect include:

• Contact and Identification Information: Your full name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth, and Social Security Number (SSN).
• Application Materials: Information provided in your resume/CV, cover letter, and any other application documents, including your work history, educational background, skills, and qualifications.
• Employment Preferences: Desired salary, preferred work schedule, and availability.
• Eligibility to Work: Information regarding your legal right to work in the United States (e.g., citizenship, visa status).
• References: Names, contact information, and relationship to you for professional references.
• Pre-Employment Screening Information (especially for drivers):
  • Driver's License Information: Driver's License Number, Issuing State, Class/Endorsements (e.g., Commercial Driver's License - CDL), and Expiration Date.
  • Driving Records (Motor Vehicle Records - MVR): History of traffic violations, accidents, and license suspensions. This may include information obtained through the FMCSA Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) for commercial drivers.
  • Drug and Alcohol Testing History: Results of any previous Department of Transportation (DOT) mandated drug and alcohol tests, including verified positive results, refusals to test, and Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) evaluations.
  • Medical Examination Records: Documentation of physical fitness to operate a commercial motor vehicle, including DOT medical examiner's certificates.
  • Safety Performance History: Information from previous DOT-regulated employers concerning accidents and drug and alcohol violations for safety-sensitive positions.
  • Road Test Records: Documentation of successful completion of a road test, if required for the position.
• Background Check Information: Results from criminal history checks, employment verification, and education verification.
• Voluntary Self-Identification Information: In compliance with equal opportunity employment laws, you may be invited to voluntarily provide information regarding your gender, race/ethnicity, veteran status, and disability status. This information is used for diversity monitoring and reporting purposes only and will not be used in hiring decisions.
• Interview and Assessment Information: Notes and assessments made during interviews, skills tests, or other evaluations.

2. How We Collect Your Information

We collect personal information from various sources during the application process, including:

• Directly from You: When you submit an application through our website, via email, in person, or during interviews and assessments.
• From Third Parties:
  • Former Employers: For employment verification and safety performance history.
  • References: From individuals you provide as references.
  • Background Check and Drug Testing Providers: Third-party services that conduct criminal background checks, motor vehicle record checks, drug and alcohol testing, and employment/education verification on our behalf.
  • Publicly Available Sources: Such as professional networking sites, to the extent legally permissible.
  • Job Boards and Recruiters: If you apply through a third-party job board or recruiter, they may share your information with us.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the personal information we collect for the following purposes:

• Recruitment and Hiring: To assess your qualifications, skills, and experience for the role(s) you applied for.
• Communication: To communicate with you about your application, schedule interviews, and provide updates on the hiring process.
• Verification: To verify your identity, employment history, educational qualifications, and references.
• Legal and Regulatory Compliance: To comply with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations, including those related to DOT/FMCSA, equal employment opportunity, background checks (e.g., Fair Credit Reporting Act - FCRA), and drug and alcohol testing.
• Safety and Security: To ensure the safety of our operations, employees, and customers, especially for safety-sensitive roles like drivers.
• Internal Operations: To improve our recruitment processes, conduct internal audits, and analyze recruitment trends.
• Defense of Legal Claims: To defend our legal rights and interests in the event of a dispute or legal claim.

4. Legal Basis for Processing (Applicable to Certain Jurisdictions)

Where required by law, our legal basis for processing your personal information generally includes:

• Necessity for Pre-Contractual Steps: Processing is necessary to take steps at your request prior to entering into an employment contract.
• Legal Obligation: Processing is necessary to comply with our legal obligations (e.g., DOT regulations, FCRA, EEO laws).
• Legitimate Interests: Processing is necessary for our legitimate interests in recruiting qualified candidates, managing our workforce, and ensuring operational safety, provided these interests do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms.
• Consent: In certain limited circumstances, where required or appropriate, we may ask for your explicit consent to process specific types of information.

5. Who We Share Your Information With

We may share your personal information with the following categories of recipients:

• Internal Personnel: Relevant employees within Hermes Worldwide, Inc., including HR personnel, hiring managers, and department heads who are involved in the recruitment and hiring process.
• Service Providers: Third-party vendors and service providers who assist us with recruitment activities, such as:
  • Background check providers (e.g., for criminal records, MVRs, PSP reports).
  • Drug and alcohol testing facilities.
  • Recruitment software providers.
  • IT and system support providers.
  • Legal and professional advisors (e.g., attorneys, auditors).
• Governmental Authorities: Law enforcement, regulatory bodies (e.g., DOT, FMCSA), or other government agencies when required by law or in response to a valid legal process.
• Affiliates/Successors: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

• For successful candidates: Your applicant information will become part of your personnel file and will be retained for the duration of your employment plus a period afterward as required by law (e.g., DOT regulations, state employment laws).
• For unsuccessful candidates: We generally retain applicant data for a period of three years after the recruitment process is completed, unless a longer retention period is required by law (e.g., for EEO reporting) or for the defense of potential legal claims. This allows us to consider you for future opportunities and to meet legal obligations.
  • For DOT-regulated driver positions, specific records (like drug/alcohol test results, safety performance history) are retained for periods mandated by FMCSA regulations, which can range from 1 to 5 years, regardless of hiring outcome.

After the applicable retention period, we will securely dispose of or anonymize your personal information.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:

• Restricting access to personal data to authorized personnel on a "need-to-know" basis.
• Using secure servers and encryption technologies where appropriate.
• Implementing physical security measures at our facilities.
• Providing regular privacy and security training to our employees.
• Maintaining strict internal policies and procedures for data handling.

8. Your Rights

Depending on your location and applicable laws, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information. These rights may include:

• Right to Access: The right to request access to the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to Correction/Rectification: The right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Right to Deletion/Erasure: The right to request the deletion of your personal information under certain circumstances.
• Right to Object: The right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain situations.
• Right to Data Portability: The right to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Where we rely on your consent for processing, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the "Contact Us" details provided below. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.

9. Automated Decision-Making

We do not currently use automated decision-making processes that would significantly affect your employment opportunities without human review. If we introduce such technologies in the future, we will update this policy and provide information about the logic involved and your rights.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Applicant Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will post any updates on this page and revise the "Effective Date" at the top of the policy. 

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Applicant Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Hermes Worldwide, Inc. 6240 E 49th Dr Denver, CO 80022 Email: hr@hermesworldwide.com