By business type

Terms & Conditions Generator for recruitment

Written for candidate data sourced without consent, CV databases, automated screening and the Article 14 notice nobody sends.

Generate your terms and conditions Read the terms and conditions guide

Recruitment terms are commercial documents between the agency and the hiring client, and the clauses that get litigated are always the same: introduction fees, rebate periods and what counts as a candidate you introduced.

Recruitment is the clearest example of processing personal data you did not collect from the person. Sourcing from LinkedIn, job boards, referrals and CV databases means the candidate often has no idea you hold their data until you contact them - which is exactly the situation Article 14 was written for.

That Article 14 notice is a genuine obligation with a deadline: within a reasonable period, and at the latest when you first communicate with the person. Most agencies never send it, and it is one of the easiest failures for a candidate to complain about.

Automated screening raises the second issue. CV parsing, ranking and knock-out questions can constitute automated decision-making with significant effects, and the EU AI Act classifies recruitment and employee-management systems as high risk - which brings documentation, human oversight and transparency obligations beyond GDPR.

What a terms and conditions for a recruitment business has to cover

What constitutes an introduction, and the period during which a fee is payable
Fee structure, rebate or refund terms if a placement does not stick
Exclusivity, if any, and the consequences of a client hiring through another route
Client obligations on right-to-work checks and equal treatment
Data protection roles between agency and client, and the agreement that governs them

How a recruitment business actually moves personal data

Sourced candidate profiles

Scraped or manually copied from professional networks and job boards, held before the candidate has any contact with you.

CV parsing and enrichment

Automated extraction of employment history, education and skills, sometimes enriched from third-party sources.

Screening and ranking systems

Scoring candidates against a role, which is profiling and may be automated decision-making.

Client submissions

Sending a candidate’s details to a hiring client, which is a disclosure requiring the candidate’s knowledge.

Background and reference checks

Right-to-work documents, references and, in some sectors, criminal-records checks with their own conditions.

Long-term candidate databases

Records retained for years against future roles, frequently without any review.

Third parties the draft will ask you about

Bullhorn or Vincere · LinkedIn Recruiter · Indeed or Reed · a background screening provider · DocuSign · Microsoft 365

The rules that apply

Article 14 notice

Where data was not obtained from the candidate, they must be told what you hold, where it came from and why - at the latest when you first make contact.

Automated decision-making

Ranking, scoring and knock-out screening can meet the Article 22 threshold, entitling the candidate to human intervention and an explanation.

EU AI Act high-risk classification

Systems used for recruitment and worker management are classified high risk, with documentation, oversight and transparency obligations.

Retention of unsuccessful candidates

Keeping a CV database "in case something comes up" needs a basis, a retention period and a route to object.

Right-to-work and background checks

Identity documents and criminal-records data carry stricter conditions than ordinary candidate information.

What the generated terms and conditions contains

Who the contract is with and how it is formed
Your legal entity, and the exact moment acceptance happens - account creation, checkout, or continued use.
The service, the licence and its limits
What you are actually providing, what the user may do with it, and what they may not.
Price, payment, renewal and cancellation
Billing cycle, auto-renewal, price-change notice, and how either side ends the arrangement.
Acceptable use and enforcement
The behaviour that gets an account suspended, and the process you follow before you suspend it.
User content and intellectual property
Who owns what, the licence you need to run the service, and the takedown route for infringing material.
Warranties, liability and indemnity
Disclaimers that survive local consumer law, and caps that are actually enforceable rather than theatrically broad.
Governing law, jurisdiction and disputes
The law that applies, the courts that hear it, and any pre-litigation steps you require.

Recruitment compliance essentials

Build the Article 14 notice into first contact
Automated, attached to the first message, naming the source of the data.
Get candidate agreement before submitting to a client
And record it, because disputes here are common.
Set and enforce a database retention period
With a refresh cycle that asks candidates whether to stay on file.
Add human review to any automated ranking
And document how the decision is actually made.
Handle background checks under their own conditions
Especially criminal-records data.
Assess screening tools against the AI Act
Documentation, oversight and transparency for high-risk systems.

Where this usually goes wrong

Never sending the Article 14 notice

The most common recruitment failure, and the easiest for a candidate to complain about.

Submitting a candidate to a client without their knowledge

A disclosure the candidate is entitled to know about, and a common source of complaints.

A CV database retained indefinitely

Storage limitation applies, and a candidate from six years ago has usually moved on.

Automated ranking with no human review

Where the effect is significant, Article 22 gives the candidate a right to human intervention.

Criminal-records data treated as ordinary

It carries specific statutory conditions in the UK and most EU states.

No AI Act documentation for screening tools

Recruitment systems are classified high risk, with obligations that take time to assemble.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need consent to hold a candidate’s CV?

Usually not consent - legitimate interests is the more common basis for recruitment. But where you did not get the data from the candidate, Article 14 requires you to tell them what you hold and where it came from, at the latest when you first contact them.

Can I keep CVs on file for future roles?

With a basis, a stated retention period and a route to object. Indefinite retention with no review is the position that attracts complaints.

Is automated CV screening allowed?

Yes, with care. Where the decision is solely automated and significantly affects the candidate, Article 22 gives rights to an explanation and human intervention - and the EU AI Act classifies recruitment systems as high risk.

Can I send a candidate to a client without asking?

It is a disclosure of their personal data, and doing it without their knowledge is both a transparency failure and the fastest route to a complaint.

Are terms and conditions legally binding?

They are when the user had a genuine opportunity to read them and took a positive step to accept. Clickwrap - a ticked box next to a visible link - holds up far more reliably than a "by using this site you agree" line in the footer.

What is the difference between terms of service and terms and conditions?

Nothing substantive. "Terms and conditions" is the more common phrasing in the UK and Commonwealth markets, "terms of service" in the US and in SaaS. The clauses do the same job.

Can I limit my liability to zero?

No. Most consumer regimes void attempts to exclude liability for death, personal injury or fraud, and unfair-terms rules strike out caps a court considers unreasonable. A cap that is drafted to survive review is worth more than one that is struck out entirely.

Do I need terms if I sell nothing?

If users can register, post, comment or upload, yes - the terms are what let you moderate, suspend and remove content without being in breach of contract yourself.