Eight simple commitments for employers, and eight for the people applying to them. Free to adopt, written in the open, and short enough to read over a coffee.
Every advert gives a pay range or a fixed figure. "Competitive" isn't a salary. Day rates count: say whether the role is inside or outside IR35, and show base pay apart from any commission or bonus.
Read the range before you apply. If nothing in it would work for you, skip it.
Name the office and how many days a week are on site. For remote roles, name the countries you can employ people in, never nationalities.
Apply if you can work from that place on those days. If you need a change because of a disability or health condition, apply and ask. That's a reasonable adjustment, and you can ask at any stage.
Put one clear sentence in every advert: "You need the right to work in the UK by the start date. We can / cannot sponsor a visa for this role." Never ask for a nationality or passport, and ask every applicant the same question.
Apply where you'll have the right to work in the UK by the start date, or where the advert says it can sponsor a visa.
List the few things the job really needs, written as skills, and mark the rest as optional. Accept other evidence of the same skill, and only turn people down on the must-haves.
Apply when you meet every must-have. Nice-to-haves are optional. If a disability means you'd meet a must-have in a different way, apply and say so.
Every advert is a role you mean to fill now. If you're building a talent pool, say so. Take the advert down once it's filled.
Your CV and answers reflect what you've actually done, at the level you did it.
Explain the stages and rough timeline at the start. Keep unpaid tasks short, and offer adjustments at every stage, such as extra time, a different format or questions in writing.
Send fewer applications and mean each one. AI and assistive tools can help you write. What you say must be true.
Let every applicant know you've received their application, tell them how to ask for adjustments, and tell them the outcome. No more "only successful candidates will be contacted".
If you take another job or change your mind, withdraw. Reply to messages and offers when you said you would.
Everyone you interview hears at least one real reason for the decision. It's about the role's requirements, never about anything personal.
Come to the interviews you book, prepared and on time. If you can't make it, say so as soon as you know.
Each side's worst habits make the other's worse.
When adverts hide the salary and location, people apply for jobs they can't take. Swamped with those, employers stop replying. People who never hear back send more applications with less care, and the pile keeps growing.
Most hiring pledges only ask things of employers, so employers have little reason to sign up. This one asks the same of everyone: be clear about what you need, check before you commit, and close the loop.
The first four commitments fit together on purpose. When an employer does their part, candidates have everything they need to do theirs.
Yes. That's what commitment 4 is for. If you meet every must-have, apply. Employers who follow this only turn people down on the must-haves.
Yes. AI and assistive tools can help you write. What you say must be true and written for that job. Sending the same application to roles you haven't read doesn't meet commitment 6.
A range of £30,000 to £120,000 doesn't tell anyone anything. Keeping the top within 1.5× the bottom keeps the range useful, with room for experience.
Point them to the commitment they missed. Each one has its own page you can link to.
If they're on the adopters list, tell us privately at reports@goodfaithhiring.co.uk. We'll talk to them, and they may be removed from the list. Please don't post about named employers in public.
No, it's voluntary. Where the law already says something, such as on discrimination or right-to-work checks, the commitments are written to fit it. They aren't legal advice.
Future Tech Jobs, which runs UK tech job boards, started it and maintains it. Following it is never a condition of advertising with us. More about who's behind it.
Suggest changes in GitHub Discussions or by email to hello@goodfaithhiring.co.uk.
First draft, published for comment. Eight commitments for each side.