Terms and Conditions
These Terms and Conditions apply as of 12th March 2025. Any usage of the Website or Services on or after this date is subject to these Terms and Conditions. Any ongoing use of Services or the Website started prior to this date is now subject to agreement with these Terms and Conditions.
1. Introduction
Please read these conditions carefully before using Candidates Matter Services.
Welcome to Candidates Matter ("Website"). These terms and conditions ("Terms") apply to the use of our Website and services provided to subscribers ("Services"). By accessing or using our Website and Services, you agree to comply with and be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use our Website or Services.
We offer a wide range of Services, and sometimes additional terms may apply. When you use any Service, Website, sub site, blog post or any other service or access and other material, you will also be subject to the terms, guidelines and conditions applicable to that Service (Service Terms). If these Conditions of Use are inconsistent with the Service Terms, those Service Terms will control.
Candidates Matter’s mission is to improve the recruitment process overall for candidates, employers and recruitment agencies (organisations or individuals). Therefore, you accept, acknowledge and agree that the commitments made under the services are intended to improve the recruitment processes and experiences for all involved parties and bring humans back centre stage of the recruitment process. Any attempt to game the commitments or these Terms to continue poor recruitment behaviours (from any party and in the sole discretion of Candidates Matter) will in itself be a cause for termination by Candidates Matter (at its sole discretion). The aim is to drive an ethical approach to recruitment and gaming the system will be deemed to not be in the spirit of Candidates Matter’s mission.
2. Changes to Terms
We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. Any changes will be effective immediately upon posting on the Website. Your continued use of the Website and Services after the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes.
3. Use of Website and Services
3.1. Eligibility: You must be at least 18 years old to use our Website and Services.
3.2. Account: You may be required to create an account to access certain features of the Website and Services. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account information and for all activities that occur under your account.
3.3. Prohibited Activities: You agree not to engage in any of the following prohibited activities:
3.3.1. Violating any applicable laws or regulations.
3.3.2. Infringing the intellectual property rights of others.
3.3.3. Using the Website or Services for any fraudulent or harmful purposes.
3.3.4. Interfering with the proper functioning of the Website or Services.
3.4. Accuracy: You will only provide, to the best of your knowledge, accurate and honest data when requested as part if the use of our Services.
4. Services specific terms and conditions
The Services provided by Candidates Matter are subject to specific terms and conditions.
There are three key services on Candidates Matter. The Candidates’ Service, The Employers’ Service and the Recruiter’s Service.
4.1. Candidates’ Service
The Candidates’ Service enables you, the candidate, to demonstrate that you have entered into a legal agreement to abide by the commitments as laid out in the Services and that you agree to uphold those ethical commitments for the duration of the Service (while you are subscribed). As part of the Candidates’ Service subscription, you shall:
4.1.1. Put the header, as provided by Candidates Matter, on the top of your curriculum vitae (“CV”) including your membership number and the links to the landing page on the Candidates Matter Website. The submission of your CV, without the properly formatted and complete header, to any 3rd party for the purposes of recruitment will be deemed a breach of these Terms and Candidates Matter reserves the right to terminate this agreement immediately for cause at its sole discretion.
4.1.2. Agree to Candidates Matter undertaking an audit of your activity as part of its routine policing of the Services. The Services only have value in the recruitment process if they can be trusted and that will require regular checks and audits. If requested by Candidates Matter, you will provide copies of any documents within which you have claimed membership of Candidates Matter including any use of their logo or IP, use of which was permitted under any subscription in a timely manner and provide reasonable cooperation with Candidates Matter. Failure to provide all documentation and or cooperation with any form of audit or check will be considered a breach of these Terms and Candidates Matter reserves the right to terminate this agreement immediately for cause at its sole discretion. All documentation provided to Candidates Matter will be deleted after the completion and conclusion of any audit or check unless required to keep by law (for example where criminal activity has been detected).
4.1.3. Cooperate with any dispute resolution process as set out in these Terms in a timely manner so as not to frustrate the process. Failure to cooperate in the dispute resolution process will be considered a breach of these Terms and Candidates Matter reserves the right to terminate this agreement immediately for cause at its sole discretion.
4.1.4. Only raise complaints against Employers or Recruiter subscribers where there is a material breach of the commitments considered to have taken place.
4.1.5. Accept that, for the Services to be of any value, there must be consequences to material and or regular minor breaches of the commitments. You agree to pay a fine or resign membership (have your subscription cancelled) should you be found to have breached the commitments following the dispute process. The choice of a fine or cancellation is a choice that will be offered at the sole discretion of Candidates Matters and Candidates Matter has no obligation to provide such an option and may, at its sole discretion, only provide one or other option to you.
4.1.6. Not use the logo or your association with Candidates Matter in any other way than on your CV and as part of a recruitment process. All other uses are prohibited.
4.1.7. Not share or allow to be used, your membership number or logo with any other party other than on your CV as part of a recruitment process.
4.1.8. Acknowledge and accept (through the use of the Services) that the Candidates’ Service is limited to a declaration that you will abide by the commitments as laid down in each Service. You accept that the Service does not certify (including but not limited to):
4.1.8.1. Your suitability as a candidate for any role
4.1.8.2. The accuracy of any of your information
4.1.8.3. The veracity of your claims within your CV
4.1.8.4. Your rights to work in any given jurisdiction
4.1.8.5. Any other claim you make verbally or in writing to any 3rd party.
4.1.9. Allow any 3rd party to verify your membership through the provision of your membership number and personal details and that Candidates Matter will provide written verification on the status of your membership.
4.1.10. Not game the system to pervert the intent of the Services. All assessments of your activity and use of the logos and association with the Service must be in the spirit of which it was intended.
4.1.11 You, the Candidate shall provide the full set of required data as set out in the registration and subscription forms. Failure to provide full and accurate data will result in a request for completion and, if you fail to provide the required data, result in a review and possible cancellation of your subscription and account.
4.2. Employers’ Service and Recruiters’ Service
The Employers’ Service and Recruiters’ Service enables you, the employer or recruiter, to demonstrate that you have entered into a legal agreement to abide by the commitments as laid out in the Services and that you agree to uphold those ethical commitments for the duration of the Service (while you are subscribed). As part of the Employers’ Service and or Recruiters’ Service subscription, you shall:
4.2.1. Put the header, as provided by Candidates Matter, on the top of all your job adverts, including your membership number and the links to the landing page on the Candidates Matter Website. The submission of job adverts (whether on your own website, via any other electronic communication or via 3rd party websites or forums (including paid ads) , without the properly formatted and complete header, to any 3rd party for the purposes of recruitment will be deemed a breach of these Terms and Candidates Matter reserves the right to terminate this agreement immediately for cause at its sole discretion.
4.2.2. Agree to Candidates Matter undertaking an audit of your activity as part of its routine policing of the Services. The Services only have value in the recruitment process if they can be trusted and that will require regular checks and audits. If requested by Candidates Matter, you will provide copies of any documents within which you have claimed membership of Candidates Matter including any use of their logo or IP, use of which was permitted under any subscription in a timely manner and provide reasonable cooperation with Candidates Matter. You will also provide copies of all job adverts published anywhere within the Services jurisdiction whether a claim of association with Candidates Matter has been made or not (for clarity, this will mean all job adverts as published which come under the scope of the Services, limited to roles advertised in English). Failure to provide all documentation and or cooperation with any form of audit or check will be considered a breach of these Terms and Candidates Matter reserves the right to terminate this agreement immediately for cause at its sole discretion. All documentation provided to Candidates Matter will be deleted after the completion and conclusion of any audit or check unless required to keep by law (for example where criminal activity has been detected).
4.2.3. Cooperate with any dispute resolution process as set out in these Terms in a timely manner so as not to frustrate the process. Failure to cooperate in the dispute resolution process will be considered a breach of these Terms and Candidates Matter reserves the right to terminate this agreement immediately for cause at its sole discretion.
4.2.4. Only raise complaints against Candidate subscribers where there is a material breach of the commitments considered to have taken place.
4.2.5. Accept that, for the Services to be of any value, there must be consequences to material and or regular minor breaches of the commitments. You agree to pay a fine or resign membership (have your subscription cancelled) should you be found to have breached the commitments following the dispute process. The choice of a fine or cancellation is a choice that will be offered at the sole discretion of Candidates Matters and Candidates Matter has no obligation to provide such an option and may, at its sole discretion, only provide one or other option to you.
4.2.6. Not use the logo or your association with Candidates Matter in any other way than on your job adverts and as part of a recruitment process. All other uses are prohibited.
4.2.7. Not share or allow to be used, your membership number or logo with any other party other than on your CV as part of a recruitment process. This (for employers) includes the provision of the logo and membership details to any recruitment organisation or business outside of your own legal entity, including where you own or partly own an external recruitment entity).
4.2.8. Acknowledge and accept (through the use of the Services) that the Services are limited to a declaration that you will abide by the commitments as laid down in each Service. You accept that the Service does not certify (including but not limited to):
4.2.8.1. Your suitability as an employer
4.2.8.2. The accuracy of any of your information, including on the job advertisement
4.2.8.3. The veracity of your claims within your job advert or other material wherever and however so published and or provided
4.2.8.4. Your rights to recruit in any given jurisdiction
4.2.8.5. Any other claim you make verbally or in writing to any 3rd party.
4.2.9. Allow any 3rd party to verify your membership through the provision of your membership number and details and that Candidates Matter will provide written verification on the status of your membership.
4.2.10. Not game the system to pervert the intent of the Services. All assessments of your activity and use of the logos and association with the Service must be in the spirit of which it was intended.
4.2.11 You, the Employer or Recruiter shall provide the full set of required data as set out in the registration and subscription forms. Failure to provide full and accurate data will result in a request for completion and, if you fail to provide the required data, result in a review and possible cancellation of your subscription and account.
4.3. Verification process
The Services and Website include the use of the verification form. The form will enable any 3rd party to ask for verification of a claim of membership (active subscription) of any other party that is claiming to be a member of Candidates Matter. All parties using this form agree that Candidates Matter does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy of the information it holds nor the accuracy of the search of its data used to verify the membership. See liability clauses in these Terms. Candidates Matter provides no service level agreement on the accuracy or timeliness of response. The verifier agrees that the verification process shall only be used to verify entities (candidates, employers, recruiters) as part of an active recruitment process and not be used where these parties are not intending to be part of a recruitment process.
4.4. Reporting a breach
4.4.1. Any active member of Candidates Matter Services (active subscription) is permitted to report a potential breach of commitments by another member (with an active subscription).
4.4.2. All parties using this procedure agree that Candidates Matter does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy of the information it holds nor the accuracy of the search of its data used to consider a breach of commitments. See liability clauses in these Terms. Candidates Matter provides no service level agreement on the accuracy or timeliness of response. The party making the complaint agrees that the process shall only be used to report entities (candidates, employers, recruiters) as part of an active recruitment process and not be used where these parties are not intending to be part of a recruitment process.
4.4.3. Candidates Matter will use reasonable endeavours to investigate the reported breach of commitments of another member. Candidates Matter will make a judgement based upon the evidence found. Should insufficient evidence be found (either it does not exist, or one or more parties to the process does not cooperate) then Candidates Matter will, at its sole discretion, make a judgement on the complaint with the evidence it has or decline to progress the complaint. Where a party refuses to cooperate or provide evidence, then Candidates Matter, at its sole discretion reserves the right to find against the uncooperative party (but likewise, for clarity, is not obliged to do so).
4.4.4. All parties using this procedure acknowledge, accept and agree that this is their sole legal approach to resolving issues of breaches of commitments with Candidates Matter. Should any party wish to take further action, they agree to using the dispute resolution process as laid out in these Terms after which all parties agree that any further action will be taken directly between the two (or more) involved parties and not with Candidates Matter.
4.5. Breaches of Terms
Candidates Matter reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to terminate without cause and or without notice this agreement with you. Termination of this agreement is covered in these Terms.
4.6. Commitments
The commitments you make through the use of the Services must be abided by. Where you are unable to abide by these commitments for any reason, a waiver must be sought from Candidates Matter prior to any deviation from the commitments. Candidates Matter reserves the right to terminate any membership (subscription) where, at its sole discretion, it deems a material breach of the commitments has occurred, or a number or minor breaches, to be determined solely by Candidates Matter has occurred.
4.7. Termination
4.7.1. Either party may terminate this agreement for convenience at any time by cancelling the membership and subscription. Candidates Matter further reserves the right to cancel memberships and subscriptions without notice at is sole discretion where it deems a breach of these Terms or the commitments has occurred.
4.7.2. Upon termination, Candidates, Employers, and or Recruiters who are subject to the termination (whoever causes the termination event) shall , with immediate effect, stop the use of all Candidates Matter logos, IP, documents, membership numbers, names and any trademarks in use as permitted under the Services. No further claim of association shall be made by any party, all CV headers must be deleted, all job adverts still in use will have all Candidates Matter name and material removed and any material or name removed from your website or other publications (electronic or otherwise). Any use of Candidates Matter IP post termination will be a breach of these Terms.
4.7.3. Where a Candidate, Employer and or Recruiter has been terminated by Candidates Matter due to a breach of commitments event, the terminated party will be banned from resubscribing for any of the Services for a period of 1 year. At Candidates Matter’s sole discretion, a terminated party can apply to rejoin (re subscribe) upon provision of an improvement plan which (at Candidate Matter’s sole discretion) shows that the terminated party is going to put in place material improvements. Where Candidates Matter agrees for the terminated party to restart their subscription, it will be subject to regular and ongoing audits by Candidates Matter of the party’s recruitment activities for which the terminated party will pay reasonable Candidates Matter costs.
4.8. Charges, cancellations and refunds
4.8.1. Charges are made as laid out in the services on our Website. Charges advertised elsewhere do not take precedent over the charges as set out on the Website and Service definitions. All Services are for the duration of 1 year and are renewable or cancellable annually. Candidates Matter reserves the right to vary its charges at any time (up or down) without notice. These changes to charges will only take effect for either new service subscriptions or at the renewal point. All charges for existing subscriptions (until renewal) will remains at the level when the subscription was made.
4.8.2. Cancellations of subscription are possible at any time, without cause, by the subscriber. Cancellation of any subscription is subject to clause 4.7.2
4.8.3. No refunds in whole or in part are provided for cancellations. Should a subscription be cancelled during the 1-year period over which it runs, no refund will be provided.
4.9. Fines
Where breaches of commitments have been made, at the sole determination of Candidates Matter, an option (available at the sole discretion of Candidates Matter) of a fine may be levied against the offending candidate, employer and or recruiter. Should the option to pay the fine be turned down by the entity being fined, Candidates Matter reserves the right to terminate the agreement immediately. Note that breaches will be measured on a per role, recruitment process only. Multiple commitment breaches within a single recruitment process will be deemed a single breach event).
To avoid conflict of interest, Candidates Matter will put all fines into a charity fund, held by Candidates Matter and distributed to registered charities (local and international). Note that due to earn back potential, money will not be distributed to any charities until the fine is clear of earn back liabilities. All charitable donations from this fund will be publicised on the Website. Selection of charities and amounts for donation to any individual charity will be at the sole discretion of Candidates Matter.
Fines are outlined as follows:
4.9.1. For Candidates
4.9.1.1. £50 (plus Vat) for the first breach
4.9.1.2. £50 (plus Vat) for the second breach
4.9.1.3. £100 (plus Vat) for the third breach
4.9.1.4. Automatic termination for the fourth breach
4.9.2. For Employers
4.9.2.1. 30% of their annual subscription cost (plus Vat) for the first breach
4.9.2.2. 40% of their annual subscription cost (plus Vat) for the second breach
4.9.2.3. 50% of their annual subscription cost (plus Vat) for the third breach
4.9.2.4. Automatic termination for the fourth breach
4.9.3. For Recruiters
4.9.3.1. 40% of their annual subscription cost (plus Vat) for the first breach
4.9.3.2. 60% of their annual subscription cost (plus Vat) for the second breach
4.9.3.3. 80% of their annual subscription cost (plus Vat) for the third breach
4.9.3.4. Automatic termination for the fourth breach
4.10. Earn back of fines
Where a fined party completes a further year of subscription (i.e. remains subscribed) beyond the date of the fine, Candidates Matter will repay the fined party (subject to prior agreement and correct invoicing) the total amount of the specific fine providing no further complaints for breaches of commitments have been received and upheld by Candidates Matter. Only the final fine is subject to earn back. For example, and for clarity, if an employer is fined for their first breach and remains subscribed for a year beyond the date of the fine (both parties acknowledging that would require a renewal of the subscription) and has no further complaints upheld, the fine will be refunded. Should a further fine be given to that party (a second fine) then the earn back trigger point would be 12 months post that fine date. Only the second breach fine would be qualifying for earn back and the first fine would be non-refundable. Should the fined party terminate, fail to renew (or be terminated) then no earn back of fines would be possible.
4.11. Dispute resolution
Where a Candidate, Employer or Recruiter deems materially unfair treatment (noting that the commitments made by the subscribing parties are a display of ethical behaviours and intent and not rules to be gamed), they may request the triggering of the dispute resolution process.
The dispute resolution process will consist of a panel made up of both Candidates Matter representatives and external individuals nominated by Candidates Matter. The panel will, within 30 working days of the panel being formed, reach a majority-based decision on the dispute. The panel’s decision is final. Note, the investigation by the panel is only for disputes between subscribing parties (i.e. Candidates vs Employer or Recruiter vs Candidate) and is not for any consideration of the performance or otherwise of Candidates Matter in this agreement.
4.12 The Recruitment Process Test Services
4.12.1 The service will provide exactly one application to an advertised role. The limit of activity on the Service will be 3 months from the date any test application has been sent. Recruitment processes that go beyond this length of time will be only continued subject to prior agreement with Candidates Matter and further charges may apply, You understand and agree that the application will be fake and that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or special damages or losses arising out of or in connection with the provision of this service.
4.12.2 The service ends upon either an offer of an interview or a rejection. Candidates Matter will not provide fake interview services as the ability to find credible individuals to interview correctly will be impossible for the purposes of this exercise and is explicitly out of scope of this service. Further, once interview stage has been reached, the numbers of individuals are greatly reduced and the impact from poor processes are more generally felt prior to the interview stage. You accept and agree that we will notify you and end the testing process at that stage to enable you to offer another candidate an interview stage opportunity to ensure your process continues as intended.
4.12.3 Following completion of the review process (rejection or interview offer), Candidates Matter will provide a written report covering its review of your process. You agree to accept the report in writing within 5 working days of receipt. Where you fail to provide written acceptance or a request for clarification or correction, the report will be deemed accepted by you.
4.13 Job Advert Review
4.13.1 The Job Advert Review Services will provide a written review of your Job Advert against the Candidates Matter standards (which may vary over time as improvements are made and the recruitment market changes). Candidates Matter will provide a written response to your advert within 3 working days.
4.13.2 Candidates Matter will provide its opinion on the content and structure of the advert. Should you decided to change your advert as a result of our feedback, you do so entirely at your own risk and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or special damages or losses arising out of or in connection with the provision of this service. Should you disagree with the recommendations and feedback, you are at liberty to ignore the recommendations and feedback and either use your original job advert or any variation of that advert. Any decision to ignore the recommendations and feedback (in part or in whole) will not result in any acceptance by Candidates Matter as a failure to provide the service in part or in whole.
5. Subscriptions and Payments
5.1. Subscription Plans: We offer various subscription plans for our Services. Details of the subscription plans and pricing are available on our Website.
5.2. Payment: By subscribing to our Services, you agree to pay the applicable subscription fees. Payments are processed through a range of payment providers which you can choose from at time of payment.
5.3. Cancellation and Refunds: You may cancel your subscription at any time. Refunds are subject to our Refund Policy as set out in these Terms.
6. Intellectual Property
All content on the Website, including text, graphics, logos, and images, is the property of Candidates Matter or its licensors and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. You may not use, reproduce, or distribute any content without our prior written permission.
All content included in or made available through any Website or Services, such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, audio clips, digital downloads and data compilations is the property of Candidates Matter or its content suppliers and is protected. The compilation of all content included in or made available through any Website or Services is the exclusive property of Candidates Matter and is protected international copyright and database right laws.
You may not extract and/or re-utilise parts of the content of any Website or Services without our express written consent. In particular, you may not utilise any data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools to extract (whether once or many times) for re-utilisation any substantial parts of the content of any Website or Services, without our express written consent. You may not utilise any data, information or graphics, logos, images, icons or any other digital media on the Services or Website for the purposes of training of AI or similar services of products without written concept first. You may also not create and/or publish your own database that features substantial parts of any Website or Service (e.g. our prices and subscription and service listings) without our express written consent.
You may not use any trademarks of Candidates Matter without its prior written agreement.
7. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or special damages or losses arising out of or in connection with your use of the Website or Services.
We will do our utmost to ensure that availability of the Website and Services will be uninterrupted and that transmissions will be error-free. However, due to the nature of the internet, this cannot be guaranteed. Also, your access to the Website and or Services may also be occasionally suspended or restricted to allow for repairs, maintenance, or the introduction of new facilities or services. We will attempt to limit the frequency and duration of any such suspension or restriction.
Nothing in these conditions limits or excludes our responsibility for fraudulent representations made by us or for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or wilful misconduct.
8. Communications (including electronic communications)
When you use any Candidates Matter Service or Website or send e-mails to us, or use any other form of electronic communication, you are communicating with us electronically. We will communicate with you electronically in a variety of ways, such as by e-mail, text, in-app push notices or by posting e-mail messages or communications on the website or through the other Candidates Matter Services. For contractual purposes, you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing, unless mandatory applicable laws specifically require a different form of communication.
9. Waiver
If you breach these Terms in whole or in part and we take no immediate action, we will still be entitled to use our rights and remedies at any point and in any other situation where you breach these Terms.
10. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the use of the Website or Services will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
11. Contact Information
If you have any questions or concerns about these Terms or our Services, please contact us at info@candidatesmatter.com or via the contact us form on our website.