Terms for a recruitment or job board platform

A job board publishes vacancies and lets candidates apply; a recruitment platform does more, and the more it does the closer it comes to being an employment agency with the regulatory obligations that carries. The terms have to say which the platform is and keep it there, govern employers and recruiters who post, protect candidates whose data the platform holds, set the advertising rules that keep the platform out of discrimination claims, and deal with fees and the introductions that employers try to route around. I draft the employer, recruiter and candidate terms for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Businesses in England and Wales operating a job board, a candidate database, a matching platform or a recruitment marketplace where employers and agencies post roles and candidates apply, whether free to candidates and paid by employers or on another model.

What matters in recruitment platform terms

Employment agency or publisher

A platform that only publishes advertisements and passes applications to the advertiser is a publisher; one that selects, shortlists, introduces or supplies candidates is providing the services of an employment agency under the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and is subject to the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, which regulate fees, information, and the terms with work-seekers and hirers. The terms should describe the service so that the platform stays on the side of the line it intends, and where it crosses it, should meet the Regulations.

Employer and recruiter terms

The terms for those who post should cover verification, the accuracy and lawfulness of adverts, the requirement that a vacancy exists, the treatment of applications received, prohibited postings, the platform's right to remove adverts and suspend accounts, and the fees for posting, featuring and access to the candidate database. Where recruiters post on behalf of clients, the terms should require them to comply with the 2003 Regulations, including regulation 27 on advertisements, and should say whether the platform allows agency postings at all.

Candidate terms and CV data

Candidates contract with the platform for its service, and the terms should say what the platform does with their profile and CV (who can see it, for how long, whether it is searchable), how they control visibility, that applications go to the employer who then holds their data, that the platform does not guarantee interviews or jobs, and how to close an account. Candidates are consumers, so the terms are tested for fairness under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and free services are still contracts.

Advertising rules and discrimination

An advertisement that indicates an intention to discriminate on a protected characteristic is unlawful for the employer under the Equality Act 2010, and a platform that publishes it can be drawn in; the terms should prohibit discriminatory wording, require compliance with the Act, allow the platform to reject or edit adverts, and address adverts for roles abroad and for self-employed or agency work, which have their own rules. Salary transparency and the description of the role are matters of accuracy under Part 4 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 where candidates are consumers.

Fees, introductions and back-door hires

Where the platform charges on placement rather than on posting, the terms should define an introduction, the period during which a hire counts as arising from it, the fee and when it is payable, the employer's obligation to report hires, and the platform's right to audit; a back-door hire clause is enforceable if it is clear and the period is reasonable. Where the platform operates as an employment agency, the 2003 Regulations restrict what can be charged to work-seekers and require terms to be agreed with hirers before services are provided, and the terms should follow them. Interest on late fees runs under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

Data protection for candidate data

Candidate data is personal data and often includes special category data (health, ethnicity for monitoring) and criminal records data, and the platform is controller of the profiles it holds while employers become controllers of the applications they receive; the terms should say so, require employers to comply with the UK GDPR in their handling of applications, set retention periods for inactive profiles, and address any matching or ranking the platform performs, which can be automated decision-making under Article 22 of the UK GDPR where it has significant effects on candidates.

What it costs

SaaS terms of service, £995. Your standard customer-facing terms. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the saas and technology contracts page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how your product is sold, delivered and supported
• Service levels you can meet, with remedies that are proportionate rather than aspirational
• A liability position that is defensible and will survive enterprise procurement
• IP and data provisions that fit together rather than contradicting each other
• A commercial note on where you will get pushback and what is worth conceding
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Negotiating individual enterprise deals, which I quote separately
• Advice on the law of jurisdictions outside England and Wales
• Technical security certification or audit
• Regulatory advice for regulated sectors such as financial services or health

Questions I am often asked

We shortlist candidates for employers using an algorithm. Are we an employment agency?

Selecting and putting forward candidates is what an employment agency does, so probably. The terms then have to meet the Conduct Regulations, and the algorithm has to be considered under the automated decision-making rules.

An employer hired a candidate they found on our board and did not pay the placement fee. Can we claim it?

If the terms define an introduction, set a period, and the employer agreed them before accessing the database, yes. The terms are drafted to make that claim provable.

How long can we keep candidates' CVs?

For the period the terms and the privacy notice state, with a review or deletion when a profile is inactive. The terms set the period; the platform's practice has to match it.

Related guidance and services

• SaaS and technology contracts, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Data protection agreements and privacy terms, £795
• Reviewing recruitment agency terms of business before you hire
• Terms of business for a recruitment agency making permanent placements

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.