Our confidentiality policy
At Synergie (
“us”, “our”, “we”) we protect the personal information and respect the privacy
of our employees, candidates, providers, and clients in every area of our
business activities.
The goal of
this policy is to help you understand our practices regarding the collection,
use, disclosure, and retention of personal information. Even though no
practices are completely foolproof, Synergie International implements
appropriate and necessary measures to protect the personal information that we collect,
and we make sure that this information remains confidential and protected when
providing our services to our clients.
Personal
information is collected, used and disclosed by Synergie in compliance with
this confidentiality policy. Our policy is also designed to comply with
the requirements of Canadian privacy protection laws, including the Quebec Act
respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector.
Type of collected personal information
As a job seeker using the services of Synergie International we ask you
to provide some information to offer you the best service possible. In addition
to your contact information, language preference, date of birth (the date of
birth is only used for conducting background checks if it is required for the position),
resume and a description of the type of employment you are looking for, your
file may have the following information:
·
Our interview notes
·
Information obtained through reference and
background checks
·
Education records
·
Reference letters
·
Skill testing results
·
Information required for payroll services, this includes banking
details, tax deductions and vacation pay. The social insurance number is not
requested at the application stage but only once the candidate has received a
job offer. The SIN is used for tax purposes.
What is the personal information used for?
Synergie uses your personal information to:
·
Understand your qualifications, needs and
preferences;
·
Find the best employment opportunities that
match you background, preferences and needs;
·
Provide information on our candidates to our
clients when requested.
·
Offer you relevant training or career
transition services;
·
Assess and develop our activities and
operations to further improve the service we provide to our job seekers and
clients;
·
Manage payroll;
·
Contact you about your file when necessary;
·
Do a background screening when necessary and legally
permitted;
·
Ensure compliance with applicable legal and
regulatory requirements;
·
Any other purposes for which we obtain your
consent.
Synergie never collects more information than
is necessary to achieve its goals.
Disclosing personal information
Your personal
information will be shared for legitimate business purposes only (which are
listed above) or to meet legal and regulatory requirements, for example to
comply with a court order.
During the
company’s day to day activities, Synergie will disclose your personal
information to its clients only if they believe that you are a potential fit
for a position. As a job seeker you rely on us to share this information. Synergie
will share your information with employers only if there is an employment
opportunity that suits you, and we will only provide the required and requested
information to make an informed decision about a candidate.
We may share personal
information with our affiliates, partners, contractors, or other companies
(collectively called “representatives”) who we provide comprehensive staffing
services to. However, we only disclose information that is strictly necessary
for the function that will be carried out by the representative on our behalf.
·
The types of third parties Synergie shares
your limited information with are:
- Companies that perform background checks, including criminal,
educational and credit, when requested by a client.
- Employee testing centres.
- Technical service providers such as
cloud service providers.
- Our professional consultants and
advisors (accountants, legal counsel, etc.).
We may also
disclose your personal information in the context of a merger, acquisition,
debt financing, sale of assets or any similar transaction, as well as in the
event of insolvency, bankruptcy or receivership which leads to the transfer of
personal information as a business asset to one or several third parties.
As a result of the
practices described above, it is possible that your personal information may be
transferred outside of Quebec to other countries such as the United States,
where less protective laws and regulations regarding personal information may
apply.
Consent
By reviewing
this policy, using our services, and providing your personal information for
the services we offer, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of
your personal information as specified in this policy. For example, if you
indicate the names and phone numbers of your previous employers on your resume
for reference checking purposes, you give us your consent to verify these
references.
When required
under applicable law, if we wish to use your personal information for a purpose
that was not previously disclosed or was not specified in this policy, we will
ask for your consent before using and/or sharing this information.
Personal
information retention
We retain your
information for as long as you use our placement services, this includes if you
choose to be contacted when we find other career opportunities that may be of
interest to you, or longer if required by law.
Security
We have
implemented policies and procedures for our personnel to ensure that your
personal information is protected, both in paper and electronic form. Synergie
protects the personal information you provide using different safety measures
and practices. For example, we have implemented the following security measures:
·
Access to electronic and paper files is limited to
employees/representatives of Synergie and is based on their need to access the
information which depends on their position in the company;
·
Password selection
criteria and their expiration make unauthorized access more difficult;
·
Staff training on the
importance of protecting personal information and information security is done
on a regular basis;
·
Filing cabinets remain
locked at all times.
However, we
cannot guarantee foolproof security when using Information Technologies such as
the Internet. On our website you can ask questions about our services and
provide information about yourself, you can even send an email that includes
your resume. If you provide your personal information by unencrypted email, you
should be aware that there are risks of mail interception fraud over which we
have no control.
Accessing
and changing your personal information
Synergie uses
information that you provide, as well as information received from third
parties, such as third parties providing references, educational institutions
or third parties performing background checks.
You may at
any moment make a written request to access your personal information and we
will provide all the information in our possession to the extent provided by
applicable privacy laws. We reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee for
the transcription, reproduction, or transmission of this information.
Synergie’s
goal is to keep accurate records of your personal information, but this cannot
be accomplished without your help. In order to have up to date information, we
ask you to promptly notify us of any changes to your personal information so
that we can make the necessary changes when it is required.
To notify us
of any changes to your personal information or to request access to that
information please contact us using the contact information provided in the
“contact us” section below.
Contact
us for any requests, questions or concerns
If you wish
to make a request to access and/or change information, if you have questions
regarding this policy or if you believe Synergie is failing to comply with it,
please contact Cora Bucci, Privacy Officer, cbucci@synergie.ca
Confidentiality
policy changes
We may change this policy
periodically. We therefore encourage you to review this policy each time you
visit our website to be up to date on how we handle personal information.
This policy was last
updated: September 2024