Running an employment agency or business

You are allowed to charge jobseekers for additional services eg CV writing or transport to jobs. However you are not allowed to charge individuals seeking work for work-finding services unless you are an employment agency in the entertainment sector - see entertainment and modelling agencies.

If you are providing additional services you or anyone connected with your business cannot make the provision of work-finding services conditional on jobseekers using any of these additional services.

Additional services provided by an employment agency

If you provide someone seeking work with more than one service, you must inform them:

• which services are the work-finding services for which you cannot charge them a fee
• which services are the additional services or goods that you can charge for and provide them with details of any such fee, ie the amount or method of calculation of the fee, who the fee will be payable to, a description of what the fee relates to, and the circumstances (if any) in which refunds or rebates are payable to jobseeker

Before providing additional services you must give the jobseeker details of:

• their right to cancel the services at any time, without detriment or penalty
• the amount of notice required if the work-seeker wishes to cancel - ie five working days or ten working days for the provision of living accommodation

If there is a change to the fees for the services offered or the goods provided, you should give the jobseeker further notice detailing the changes.

If you offer any gift or make an offer of any benefit to a jobseeker, for example to entice them to use your services, you must make clear the terms and conditions on which the gift or benefit is offered.