PRIVACY POLICY

Privacy Policy: Your Information Security

Effective date: 06/10/2026 · Version: Master policy 2

Protecting Your Privacy

We respect the privacy rights of our clients, employees, applicants, associates and those we conduct business with. Any information provided to Express, or that is gathered by Express, will be kept strictly confidential and will only be used or shared for the purposes for which it was collected, as set out in this policy, and on a lawful basis recognised by the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”). Unless we have your express consent, Express will not sell, rent, loan, trade or lease your personal information to any third party. We will use the utmost care in protecting the privacy and security of your information.

Express Employment Professionals SA (Pty) Ltd (“Express”, “we”, “us”) is the responsible party, as defined in POPIA, for the personal information it processes. Each Express franchise office is independently owned and operated; is a responsible party for the personal information it processes and is required to apply this policy.

This policy explains our information practices and the ways Express collects and uses information. This Privacy Policy covers the information you provide to us offline and at Express websites. Our Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party websites that may be accessible through Express websites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of those third parties to learn how they collect and use information about you.

Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal information only where POPIA (section 11) permits it, namely where:

• you have given your consent;
• processing is necessary to conclude or perform a contract to which you are a party, such as a placement, assignment or service agreement;
• processing is required to comply with a legal obligation, for example under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Labour Relations Act, the Employment Equity Act, tax legislation or the Unemployment Insurance Act;
• processing protects your legitimate interests; or
• processing is necessary to pursue our legitimate interests or those of a third party to whom the information is supplied (for example, a client considering you for a position).

Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing that took place before it, or processing we may lawfully do on another basis. You may also object, on reasonable grounds, to processing based on legitimate interests (see Your Rights below).

Collection and use of information

Express collects and uses personal information to respond to requests for information, products and services. Unless we have your express consent, your personal information will only be used or shared to fulfil your request. Express collects personal information when you:

• Subscribe to newsletters or use our websites to seek employment or employees: Your e-mail address is collected and will only be used to send you the newsletter(s) or the services you have requested. You may subscribe or unsubscribe from our e-mail communications at any time.
• Request Express’ staffing services: Information such as name, e-mail address, phone number, physical address and company-related information may be requested. If you purchase one of our services, we may also collect a valid credit card number, expiration date and billing address.
• Participate in a promotion or online survey: We ask you for contact information (like e-mail address), and we may ask for additional optional survey information (like service preferences). We use this information to administer the programme or activity, to notify winners, and, if you give us your opt-in consent at the time we collect your information, to send you promotional materials.
• Contact Express with a question or suggestion: We collect your name, e-mail address and any comments you have. We only use this information to respond to and/or resolve your question or concern.
• Apply for employment with Express: We ask you to submit your contact information and resume. This information will only be used to evaluate your skills, work history and qualifications for the desired position and possibly to contact you for further information.
• Resume viewing: If you choose to place a resume with us, your information will be available to all our franchise offices and our professional placement affiliates (RWJ and Express Professional). Your information will not be made available to outside companies or entities except for job opportunities at our clients.
• Provide optional information on our websites: When accessing Express websites, we may give you the option of submitting other general information, such as company name, title and how you heard about Express. Optional information is requested to help us better understand our clients, customers and web visitors. If you have requested that we send you additional information regarding Express services and events, we may also use the optional information to fulfil this request.
• Technical information: When you visit our website, Express may collect technical information that does not by itself identify a specific individual. This information (sometimes referred to as “non-personally identifiable information”) may include the address (or “URL”) of the website that you came from before visiting our site, which pages you visit on our site, which browser you used to view our site and any search terms you have entered on our site. This technical data is aggregated and used to measure and improve the effectiveness of the Express website. We do not attempt to combine this technical data with the personal information we collect on our site.

Candidates and Placed Associates

If you register with us as a candidate, or we place you with a client as an associate (temporary employee), we also collect the information we need to place you, employ you and pay you. This may include:

• your identity or passport number, date of birth and contact details;
• your qualifications, work history, skills assessments and references;
• the results of background, qualification, credit and criminal record checks, where relevant to the position, permitted by law and done with your consent;
• your banking details, income tax reference number and UIF information, for payroll;
• emergency contact details; and
• timesheets, attendance, performance and disciplinary records relating to your assignments.

We may receive some of this information from third parties, such as referees, previous employers, verification agencies and the clients you work for. We share your information with a client only to the extent needed to consider you for, place you in, or manage an assignment.

Special Personal Information

POPIA gives extra protection to special personal information: religious or philosophical beliefs, race or ethnic origin, trade union membership, political persuasion, health, sex life, biometric information and criminal behaviour. We process it only with your consent or where POPIA otherwise permits. For example, we may process:

• race, gender and disability information, to comply with the Employment Equity Act;
• health information, where needed for occupational health and safety or to make reasonable accommodation for a disability;
• criminal record information, for positions where a check is relevant and lawful; and
• biometric information, such as fingerprints for time-and-attendance systems at our or our clients’ sites.

Access to special personal information is restricted to staff who need it for these purposes.

Cookies, Web Beacons and Third-Party Advertisers

Cookies may be used to keep track of what you have selected as you click through our site. When filling out an online form, session cookies may be used to capture an applicant’s progress as they complete portions of the forms up to and including the point of submission. We may use cookies to allow you to access areas of our website that are limited to registered users. We do not, however, use cookies to track the navigational habits of identified visitors. Furthermore, we do not allow other companies (third parties) to set cookies via Express websites.

Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually refuse cookies, or selectively accept cookies, by adjusting your browser preferences. If you turn cookies off, some features of our site may not be available to you and some web pages may not display properly. Instructions for managing cookies are available in the help pages of your browser (for example Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari).

Express websites do not use electronic images known as web beacons, or clear GIFs, to monitor activity on our website. Express does not use third-party advertising companies to provide advertisements or allow third-party advertisers to track your browsing activities on Express websites.

Sharing information

Unless we have your express consent, Express will not sell, rent, loan, trade or lease personal information such as membership data or e-mail lists to any third party. We treat all information you provide as confidential. We contract with other companies to provide certain services on our behalf, such as IT and cloud hosting, payroll processing, background screening and verification, and professional, legal or audit services. These service providers (“operators” under POPIA) may process your information only on our instructions, must keep it confidential and secure, and are bound by written agreements as required by sections 20 and 21 of POPIA. Candidate and associate information are also shared with our clients and with other Express franchise offices, as described under Collection and Use of Information.

From time to time, we may be required to provide personal information in response to a valid court order, subpoena, government investigation, or as otherwise required by law. Unless prevented by law, we will notify you prior to the release of such information. We also reserve the right to report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we, in good faith, believe to be unlawful. We may release certain personal information when we believe that such release is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property and safety of others and ourselves.

Transfers outside South Africa

Some of our franchises or service providers, such as cloud hosting and software providers, may store or process personal information outside South Africa. Express has franchises in other countries such as Lesotho, Botswana and Mozambique. Personal information is also shared with the Express franchisor or its systems outside South Africa. We transfer personal information across borders only as permitted by section 72 of POPIA, namely where:

• the recipient is bound by a law, binding corporate rules or a binding agreement that gives a level of protection substantially similar to POPIA;
• you consent to the transfer;
• the transfer is necessary to perform a contract with you, or a contract concluded in your interest; or
• the transfer is for your benefit, and it is not reasonably practicable to obtain your consent, but you would be likely to give it.

How Information is Used

You remain in control of your information. Express will not use or share the personal information we collect in ways unrelated to the purpose for which you provided the information without first obtaining your consent (opt-in). At the time you provide your information, you can choose whether you want to receive further communications about special offers, product information or other marketing messages. If we collect your information and you are not presented with a choice, that indicates the information you submit will only be used to fulfil your request. If you do opt in to marketing communications from Express, you can opt out at any time. All e-mail communications from us, such as newsletters, tell you how to stop receiving them.

We send direct marketing by electronic communication (such as e-mail or SMS) only with your consent or, if you are an existing client, about our own similar services. Every such message gives you a free and simple way to opt out, as required by section 69 of POPIA.

Security of Personal Information

Express uses a variety of safeguards to protect your information from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction. For example, we use internet and network security technology to prevent unauthorised parties from viewing any personal information transmitted to or from Express. We only provide access to your personal information to Express employees and other authorised parties on a “need to know” basis. Our websites and sub-domains use TLS (SSL) certificates issued by a recognised certificate authority, so your browser can confirm our server’s identity and your connection is encrypted.

We regularly identify and review the risks to the personal information we hold and update our safeguards accordingly, as required by section 19 of POPIA. If we have reasonable grounds to believe that your personal information has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, we will notify the Information Regulator and you as soon as reasonably possible, as required by section 22 of POPIA.

Please be careful whenever sending personal information to Express via e-mail. E-mail may not be a completely secure means of transferring information.

How Long Information is Stored

Express believes it is important, for privacy and security reasons, to delete information when it is no longer needed. Data retention periods differ depending on the type of information collected and its intended purpose. For example:

• If you have subscribed to one of our newsletters, we will store your e-mail address until you opt out (tell us you no longer wish to receive communications from us).
• The Basic Conditions of Employment Act requires employers to retain employee information for 3 years.
• The Tax Administration Act, and the requirements of SARS, require financial information to be kept for a period of 5 years. 
• Audits or Disputes: If SARS has notified us of an audit, or if an appeal/objection has been lodged, records must be kept until the audit or dispute is officially finalised, even if that exceeds 5 years.
• If you order services from us, account and billing information will be archived according to legal requirements.
• If you send us a question or concern, we will maintain your information for a reasonable period and then delete it.

In line with section 14 of POPIA, we keep personal information only for as long as needed for the purpose it was collected for, unless a longer period is required or authorised by law, required by a contract, or you consent. The CVs and applications of candidates who are not placed are kept for 24 months so that we can consider you for future opportunities, unless you ask us to delete them sooner. When information is no longer needed, we destroy, delete or de-identify it securely.

Your Rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• be told when your personal information is being collected, and when it has been accessed by an unauthorised person;
• ask whether we hold personal information about you, and request a copy of it and a list of the third parties who have had access to it (section 23);
• ask us to correct, update or delete information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading or unlawfully obtained, or that we are no longer authorised to keep (section 24);
• object, on reasonable grounds, to processing based on legitimate interests, and object at any time to direct marketing (sections 11(3) and 69);
• withdraw your consent where we rely on it;
• not be subject to a decision with legal or similarly significant effects based solely on automated processing, such as automated CV screening, except as POPIA permits (section 71); and
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator and institute civil proceedings regarding an alleged breach of POPIA.

To exercise these rights, contact our Information Officer (see Contact Us). Requests for access to records are dealt with under our Section 51 PAIA Manual, using the prescribed forms. We may ask you to verify your identity before acting on a request, and a prescribed fee may apply to some access requests.

Privacy Policy Changes

If there are changes or additions to this Privacy Policy, we will post those changes so that you will always know what information we collect online or offline, how we use it and what choices you have. Regardless of any changes we make to our Privacy Policy, we will only use your personal information in accordance with the version of the Privacy Policy in place at the time you provided your information, unless you later give your express consent for us to do otherwise.

Contact Us

If you wish to change or delete your registration information or opt out of any promotional materials, please contact Express Employment Professionals Headquarters South Africa using the details below. If you have any questions or complaints regarding our personal information handling practices and policies, please contact Express Employment Professionals Headquarters:

Express Employment Professionals SA (Pty) Ltd
85 Regency Drive, Route 21 Corporate Park
Irene, Centurion
0157
South Africa

Email: talk2us@expresspros.co.za 

We will address your concern and attempt to resolve any problem.

Information Officer

Our Information Officer is responsible for compliance with POPIA and for handling requests and complaints about personal information:

• Information Officer: Bennise Visser / Gareth Mathebula 
• Deputy Information Officer: Roche Houman
• Email: talk2us@expresspros.co.za
• Telephone: 012 641 0100

The Information Regulator

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your concern, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa):

• Website: inforegulator.org.za
• Email: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
• Toll-free: 0800 017 160
• Telephone: 010 023 5200

Section 51 PAIA Manual (2021)

The Section 51 PAIA Manual of Express Employment Professionals SA is available here: Section 51 PAIA Manual (2021) – Express Employment Professionals SA