Last updated 07/06/2026
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Thank you for your interest in a career with The Hershey Company (“Hershey,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). This Job Applicant Privacy Notice (this “Notice”) describes how we collect, use, disclose, and protect the personal data of job applicants as part of our recruitment process.
In this Notice, “personal data” refers to information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, to you or your household. Personal data as used in this Notice includes both “personal data” and “personal information” as defined by applicable laws.
This Notice applies to individuals seeking, applying for, considering, or being recruited for employment by Hershey. This Notice does not apply to personal data collected online through the commercial and customer-facing websites we own and operate or your interactions with us as a customer (collectively, the “Services”). For information regarding our privacy practices related to the Services and the personal data we collect from and about consumers or in a business-to-business capacity, please review our consumer-facing privacy policy, which is available here.
Please carefully review this Notice to learn more about our information handling and privacy practices. We take steps to ensure that the personal data we collect about applicants is adequate, relevant, not excessive, and processed for limited purposes. Depending on where you reside or where the position you are considering is located, there may be additional terms applicable to you. Please see our regional addendum for more information.
We (and our service providers acting on our behalf) collect a variety of information and personal data from and about you during the job application and recruitment process. As it pertains to this Notice, personal data does not include publicly available information, including from government records, through widely distributed media, or that the applicant made publicly available without restricting it to a specific audience; lawfully obtained, truthful information that is a matter of public concern; or deidentified or aggregated applicant information. Additional details about our collection of personal data (including the sources of such information) can be found below.
Information you provide
The specific types of personal data that you may provide directly when you apply for employment with Hershey, and throughout the recruitment process, are described below.
Information we collect automatically
When you visit the “Careers” section of our website (https://careers.thehersheycompany.com/) to submit a job application or any other website where this Notice is posted or linked (collectively, this “Website”), we collect certain information automatically about your device, browser, and/or activity. This information may include your device’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, device operating system, browser type, browser settings, language preferences, the time and date of your visit to this Website, the website from which you linked to this Website (referring page), and information about your usage of this Website.
We (and our service providers) may use cookies (i.e., small text files placed on your browser or device when you visit a website) and other similar analytics technologies to facilitate the collection of certain information.
Information we receive from third parties
As part of our background check and recruitment process, we (and our service providers) may collect some of your personal data from other sources. For example, during the job application and recruitment process and subject to applicable laws, we may collect information about you from employment agencies and recruiters, your current and former employer(s) and educational institution(s), your professional references, credit bureaus, and publicly available sources (e.g., government records and social media sites/platforms), background check information (including criminal conviction history and/or drug test information that may be relevant to the position that you apply for with us); and inferences drawn about your abilities, interests, or preferences.
We use the information that we receive from other sources to verify or supplement the information we collect and fulfill other purposes described in this Notice.
Combination of information
We may combine the personal data that we receive from and about you, including information you provide to us, information we automatically collect through this Website, and information we receive from third-party sources. We will protect, and only use and disclose, the combined information as described in this Notice.
We use the personal data that we collect from and about you for our recruitment activities and as otherwise necessary or appropriate in connection with the fulfillment of other related and legitimate business purposes. Those purposes are described in more detail below.
Facilitate the recruiting and interview process. We use your personal data in connection with our general recruitment activities, which may include identifying you as a potential candidate, reviewing your application for a position with us, verifying the information provided to us in connection with your application or received from other sources, determining your eligibility and suitability for a potential position or other opportunities with us, and communicating with you about the status of your application or other opportunities with us that may be of interest to you.
Legal basis for this processing: Your consent, performance of contractual obligations, and/or in furtherance of our legitimate interests related to recruitment and hiring activities. These activities are necessary for us to manage the recruitment, application, and hiring processes.
Analytics. We use your personal data to perform analytics and evaluate and improve our job application and recruitment activities.
Legal basis for this processing: Your consent or consent from an analytics cookie or a checkbox on the profile creation page related to recruitment and hiring activities.
Maintain security and prevent fraud. We use your personal data to help monitor and maintain the security and integrity of this Website as well as our business, network, and systems. We also use your personal data to detect, prevent, investigate, and protect you, our business, and others from fraud and other unlawful or unsafe activity.
Legal basis for this processing: Your consent, or consent from an analytics cookie or a checkbox on the profile creation page related to recruitment and hiring activities.
Satisfy our legal obligations. We use your personal data to comply with applicable law and/or respond to requests and communications from law enforcement authorities or other government officials.
Legal basis for this processing: To comply with and satisfy our legal obligations.
As otherwise necessary or appropriate. We use your personal data as otherwise described in this Notice or as explained to you at the point of information collection. We may also use your personal data for other purposes at your direction or with your consent. Finally, we use your personal data as we believe it necessary or appropriate to protect our rights, privacy, safety, property, and/or those of others.
Please note that if you accept a job offer from us, the personal data that we collected from and about you during the recruiting and interview process may be transferred internally to include your personnel file and related systems. Our current employee privacy policy will then apply at that time.
In connection with the purposes outlined above, we may disclose your personal data to the categories of recipients listed below.
We may disclose your personal data for other reasons that we will describe at the time of collection and/or prior to disclosure, as applicable.
Additionally, we may de-identify, anonymize, or aggregate information and disclose such information to third parties for various purposes as permitted by law.
We employ and maintain reasonable administrative, physical, and technical measures designed to safeguard and protect the personal data under our control from unauthorized access, use, and disclosure.
Data Retention & Deletion
We will keep your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we have collected it, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal or reporting requirements.
To determine the appropriate retention period for the personal data in our possession or control, we consider: (i) the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the information; (ii) the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of the information; (iii) the purposes for which we use the information; (iv) whether we can achieve those purposes through other means; and (v) the applicable legal requirements.
Once retention of your personal data is no longer necessary for the purposes outlined in this Notice, we will either delete or de-identify it. If deletion or de-identification is not possible (for example, because the information has been stored in backup archives), we will securely store the personal data and isolate it from further processing until deletion or de-identification can be completed.
If we de-identify information, we will maintain and use the information in de-identified form and not attempt to re-identify the information except as required by law.
International Data Transfers
If you apply for a job outside of the United States, your data will be transferred out of your country and to the United States, in accordance with and subject to applicable data transfer requirements and restrictions.
California Privacy Rights
The California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act and its implementing regulations (collectively, the “CCPA”) provides California residents with certain rights in relation to their personal data (or “personal information,” as defined in the CCPA). Pursuant to the CCPA, this section provides additional details regarding our collection, use, and disclosure of personal data relating to job applicants residing in California. This section also describes the rights available to you as a California resident in relation to your personal data and how you can exercise your rights.
Personal data collection and Disclosure
The following chart details which categories of personal data we have collected from and about job applicants residing in California in the past twelve (12) months, the source(s) of each category of information, and the categories of third parties to whom we have disclosed each category of information for a business purpose. Please note that the first column in the chart lists by category the types of information described in the “Types of Information We Collect” section above, as required by the CCPA.
| Category of Personal Data | Categories of Sources | Disclosures of Personal Information for a Business Purpose |
| Identifiers, including names, postal addresses, email addresses, IP addresses, and other similar identifiers. | Directly from individuals Through automated means From third-party sources | Our affiliates and subsidiaries Our service providers Our personnel |
| Personal data as defined in the California Customer Records statute, including names, postal addresses, telephone numbers, education and employment information (including information regarding professional licenses and certification and membership in professional organizations), and financial information. | Directly from individuals From third-party sources | Our affiliates and subsidiaries Our service providers Our personnel |
| Protected classification characteristics under California law or federal law, including age (over 40), race, religion, sex/gender, gender identity/gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, military or veteran status, national origin, disability information, and leave requests. | Directly from individuals | Our affiliates and subsidiaries Our service providers Our personnel |
| Internet or other electronic network activity information, including information regarding interactions with this Website. | Through automated means | Our affiliates and subsidiaries Our service providers |
| Geolocation data, such as approximate location determined from IP addresses, timestamps, or other log data. | Through automated means | Our affiliates and subsidiaries Our service providers |
| Professional or employment-related information, including professional history and qualifications, educational records, references, interview notes, background checks, drug testing results, work authorizations, compensation history, and other information. | Directly from individuals From third-party sources | Our affiliates and subsidiaries Our service providers Our personnel |
| Education information, including education records such as transcripts. | Directly from individuals From third-party sources | Our affiliates and subsidiaries Our service providers |
| Inferences, meaning inferences drawn from any of the above-listed categories of information and used to create a profile reflecting a person’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, or aptitudes. | Through automated means From third-party sources Created internally or by us directly | Our affiliates and subsidiaries Our service providers Our personnel |
| Sensitive personal data, including information revealing or concerning racial or ethnic origin and personal data collected and analyzed concerning sexual orientation. | Directly from individuals | Our affiliates and subsidiaries Our service providers Our personnel |
Purposes for collecting personal data
As described in more detail in the “How We Use Your Personal Data” section above, we generally collect the above-listed categories of personal data for our recruitment activities and as otherwise necessary or appropriate in connection with the fulfillment of other legitimate and related business purposes.
Disclosures of personal data
As detailed in the “Who Your Personal Data Is Shared With” section above, we disclose personal data to fulfill specific processing purposes. We may also disclose certain categories of personal data to competent governmental and public authorities and other third parties as necessary and appropriate, including when we have a legal or contractual obligation to disclose the information.
Retention of personal data
As described in the “Data Retention & Deletion” section above, we will retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we have collected it. See above for more information on the criteria we consider to determine retention purposes.
Sale and sharing of personal data
We do not “sell” or “share” (as such terms are defined in the CCPA) personal data of any applicants and we do not share any applicant personal data for cross-context behavioral advertising.
Use and disclosure of sensitive personal data
As detailed in the chart above, we collect certain sensitive personal data. However, we do not use or disclose sensitive personal data for the purpose of inferring characteristics about individuals or for any other purpose outside of the limited permissible purposes set forth in the regulations implementing the CCPA.
Your legal rights
Regardless of where you live globally, you have certain rights related to the processing of your personal data.
Right to Know and Data Portability
You have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal data (the “right to know”), including the specific pieces of personal data we have collected about you (a “data portability request”). You may exercise your right to know twice in any 12-month period. Once we receive your request and confirm your identity (as described in greater detail below), we will disclose it to you:
Right to Delete and Right to Correct
You have the right to request that we delete any of your personal data that we have collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions and limitations (“right to delete”). Once we receive your request and confirm your identity, we will delete your personal data from our systems unless an exception allows us to retain it. We will also notify our service providers and other recipients to take appropriate action.
You also have the right to request correction of personal data we maintain about you that you believe is inaccurate (the “right to correct”). We may require you to provide documentation, if needed, to confirm your identity and support your claim that the information is inaccurate. Unless an exception applies, we will correct personal data that our review determines is inaccurate and notify our service providers and other recipients to take appropriate action.
For California residents, we will not discriminate against you if you decide to exercise your rights under the CCPA.
If you are interested in exercising any of your rights, you can do so by completing this form or emailing us at privacy@hersheys.com.
Residents of other jurisdictions may have other rights available to them. Please see our regional addenda for more information.
Verification Process and Authorized Agents
Only you, or someone legally authorized to act on your behalf, may make a request to know, delete, or correct related to your personal data. If your minor child is an applicant, you may also make a verifiable request on their behalf. To designate an authorized agent, contact us at privacy@hersheys.com. We may request specific information from you or your authorized representative to confirm your or their identity before we can process your request regarding your personal data rights.
To protect your privacy, we will require the matching of up to three pieces of personal data provided with your request with information we maintain to verify that it is you making the request. Where applicable, we will use the requested information for verification purposes only. Please note that we may decline a request where we are unable to verify your identity and confirm the personal data we maintain relates to you.
Responding to Your Requests to Know, Delete, or Correct
We will confirm receipt of your request within ten (10) business days. If you do not receive a confirmation within the ten-day timeframe, please contact us at privacy@hersheys.com.
We endeavor to substantively respond to a verifiable request within 45 days of receipt. If we require more time (up to another 45 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. We will deliver our written response to your email address, or if we do not have an email address for you, to your mailing address. Our substantive response will tell you whether or not we have complied with your request. If we cannot comply with your request in whole or in part, we will explain the reason, subject to any legal or regulatory restrictions. Applicable law may allow or require us to refuse to provide you with access to some or all of the personal data that we hold about you, or we may have destroyed, deleted, or made your personal data anonymous in compliance with our record retention policies and obligations.
Any disclosures we provide will cover information for the 12-month period preceding the request’s receipt date. For data portability requests, we will select a format to provide your personal data that is readily useable and should allow you to transmit the information from one entity to another without hindrance. We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable request unless it is excessive, repetitive, and manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.
At the Hershey Company, we use technology-assisted tools to support certain aspects of our recruitment process, such as screening applications, matching qualifications to job requirements, and conducting initial interviews. These tools are designed to improve efficiency and consistency; however, the decisions impacting the outcomes of the recruitment and hiring processes are made by our recruitment team and not by automated systems. If automated processes are used, they operate under strict oversight to ensure fairness, to be compliant with applicable laws, and to align with Hershey’s commitment to equal opportunity.
As part of our recruitment process, we use technology platforms that analyze information you provide in your application such as skills, experience and career history to identify opportunities that align with your background. The use of AI supports a more efficient hiring process by focusing on capabilities and potential rather than solely on keywords or job titles. While we use AI tools to support parts of the recruitment process, final decisions are always made by our recruitment team. Humans are actively involved at every stage – not just reviewing final outcomes but continuously monitoring and guiding the process to ensure alignment to our company values.
We may update this Notice from time to time to reflect changes in our information handling and privacy practices and/or changes in applicable law. The “Last Updated” date at the top of this page indicates when this Notice was last revised. If we make changes, we will revise the date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this Notice periodically to remain informed about our information handling and privacy practices.
If you have any questions or comments about this Notice or our privacy practices, please contact us at privacy@hersheys.com.