Does The Employer Have An Obligation To Delete CVs Of Candidates After The Recruitment Process?

• Published date: 02 April 2024
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Privacy, Discrimination, Disability & Sexual Harassment, Data Protection
• Law Firm: Schoenherr Attorneys at Law
• Author: Piotr Podsiedlik

Recently, a groundbreaking ruling was issued in Poland by the Supreme Administrative Court regarding the matter of whether companies must delete candidates' CVs immediately after a recruitment process.

The whole case started with the would-be employee asking the recruiting company to remove her data from its database. The company refused, arguing that it needed to keep the data in case one of the candidates accused the company of treating candidates unequally. In addition, the company indicated that the data would be kept for the period required by the GDPR and the company's internal acts, but was unable to provide the exact period.

As a result, the would-be employee filed a complaint to the Personal Data Protection Office (PDPA). In response to the complaint, the President of the PDPA ruled negatively for the company and imposed a warning on it for unlawfully processing the personal data of the would-be employee after the recruitment process had been completed and failing to properly comply with the information obligation in relation to the acquisition of personal data during the recruitment process.

After receiving this decision, the company filed a complaint to the Provincial Administrative Court (PAC). The PAC ruled in favour of the company and overturned the decision of the PDPA. In the justification, the court stated...