Employers are required to read our Code of Practice before registering on City CareersHub.

Vacancies will only be advertised if they comply with our Code of Practice, Equal Opportunities legislation and National Minimum Wage (NMW thereafter) legislation. CityCareers reserves the right to reject vacancy adverts which do not comply. 

We will endeavour to review each vacancy advert within 2 working days.

Vacancy Advertising Guidelines and Code of Practice

• The Employer Engagement Team will endeavour to assist employers with locating suitable student employees by advertising vacancies via City CareersHub.
• The employer must make clear the nature of the work offered and specify any necessary skills required, the proposed wages and other terms. If possible, the employer should also state the number and distribution of hours to be worked and the date that the employment will end.
• It is the responsibility of the employer to let all candidates know the result of an application as soon as possible and to inform the Employer Engagement Team when posts have been filled
• The employer should be aware of students' study obligations and not ask them to work in excess of 20 hours per week, except during vacations and other periods when a student does not have the usual pressures of study. We recommend you to be flexible and provide alternative times and dates for selection activities where these may clash with exams and other important academic demands.
• It is the duty of the employer to meet all the statutory legal requirements with regard to students employed from the University. In particular the employer is reminded of the following requirements:
  • Payment of National Insurance contributions, tax or, where appropriate, submission of Declaration of Income forms (P38(s)) to the Inland Revenue
  • Adherence to health and safety regulations
  • Provision of adequate insurance
  • Compliance with legislation against discrimination in employment on the basis of gender, ethnic origin, disability, age etc.
• The Employer Engagement Team reserves the right to edit vacancy adverts for purposes of brevity and clarity
• The Employer Engagement Team reserves the right to reject vacancy adverts which do not comply with Equal Opportunities legislation, the NMW legislation and our Code of Practice. A member of the team will contact employers, where appropriate, to clarify wording and details of adverts, or to obtain reassurance of exemptions from any relevant legislation.

We are unable to advertise vacancies which:

• Are placed by private individuals and require students to work in the employer's own home. Please see further guidelines below
• Discriminate against candidates on the basis of sex, race, disability, religion, sexual orientation or age, or do not comply with Equal Opportunities legislation in any other way
• Promote or endorse illegal activity
• Do not pay the NMW unless of the exemptions specified within the NMW framework applies. Please see CityCareers policy on unpaid opportunities below
• Pay on a commission only basis
• Include unpaid trial periods
• Require an up-front financial investment by the student / graduate
• Represent an undue health and / or safety risk to the students
• Are connected to the adult / sex industry, or are associated with adult content
• Have misleading, incomplete or inaccurate job descriptions
• Pay on a project basis and the pro rata equivalent is not stated
• Are placed by a recruitment agency and the client's name is not disclosed to the Employer Engagement Team. Please see further guidelines below.

Please note that this list is not exhaustive and CityCareers reserves the right not to advertise any vacancies which it believes not to be in the best interest of our students and graduates.

We are unable to approve employer registration requests which:

• Are incomplete, i.e. for example do not specify company registration number, full postal address and a valid contact number
• Are submitted by employers using their personal email addresses. Please use your work email address when registering on City CareersHub.

Please note that this list is not exhaustive and CityCareers reserves the right not to approve any registration requests from employers association with whom could potentially bring CityCareers or our students into disrepute.

Advertising unpaid opportunities

CityCareers will only advertise opportunities, including internships and work experience schemes, which comply with the NMW legislation.

If an opportunity is based outside of the UK, it is must comply with the NMW legislation of the country where it is offered.

Unpaid opportunities will be advertised if one of the specific exemptions from the NMW framework applies. The most relevant exemptions in the careers context are:

Work shadowing

Students doing work-shadowing need not be paid the national minimum wage because they are only observing work and do not undertake any work themselves. They do not have any contractual arrangement and are not classed as workers. They can come and go as they please, do not have set work obligations or have set hours. In order for these opportunities to be advertised on our website, the organisation must cover reasonable travel and lunch expenses to ensure that students are not left out of pocket and the opportunity cannot be longer than 1 or 2 weeks (irrespective of whether it is full-time or part-time). Typically, "insight" weeks or programmes fall within this category.

Voluntary work with charities or similar bodies

Registered charities, voluntary organisations, associated fund-raising bodies or statutory bodies (such as schools and hospitals) have a special exemption in the NMW legislation, called the "Voluntary Worker exemption". This exemption allows such organisations to engage “workers” that would normally be entitled to the NMW.

Voluntary workers at such organisations are exempt from the NMW as long as they receive no monetary payments and their compensation is limited to specified expenses and benefits. Please note that a number of circumstances may invalidate such exemption.

We can only advertise such opportunities if they are no longer than 3 months (irrespective of whether they are full-time or part-time) and the employer covers reasonable lunch and travel expenses to ensure that students are not left out of pocket.

If you are submitting a volunteering opportunity, please use City's volunteering portal.

Unpaid opportunities submitted by other organisations will be considered on a case-by-case basis. However, vast majority of unpaid opportunities submitted by commercial organisations will not be approved as they are likely to be illegal.

Individual's entitlement to the NMW depends on whether they are a "worker". Please see the resources listed below for information on how this is determined. In a nutshell, it depends on whether the individual has a contract of employment or whether there is any other explicit or implicit arrangement which could be interpreted as such. If the individual is a "worker", they must be paid at least the NMW, unless one of the exemptions applies.

All commercial organisations wishing to engage unpaid staff should seek advice from the professional legal counsel to ensure they comply with all relevant legislation. The terms "internship" or "work experience" do not have a defined legal meaning and what matters is the nature of the relationship between the individual and the organisation they are working at.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of each employer to ensure they comply with relevant legislation.

Further information and useful resources

Further information on the NMW legislation, including exemptions, can be found here.

The Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) and National Union of Students (NUS) advice on internships can be viewed here.

The CIPD's "Internships that work guide" gives comprehensive guidance to help employers start an internship scheme or improve their existing programme. It covers all the main issues surrounding internships, including:

• Helping interns and businesses get the most out of internships
• Guidance on how much to pay interns
• The best way to recruit interns
• Creating a good induction process for interns
• Effective ways to supervise and support interns
• How to structure short- and long-term internships.

There is also:

• A checklist for running an internship
• A model internship agreement.

If in doubt, please contact us and we will be able to advise you on the suitability of your advert and on possible changes that need to be made in order for the advert to comply with the above requirements.

Advertising vacancies based in private homes

We are unable to advertise opportunities based in private homes due to personal safety and liability insurance issues.

We do, however, accept these vacancies where they are endorsed by a third party such as the local council or an agency and are distributed to us directly via these organisations. We expect that the third party will have vetted the home working environment and provide insurance and support as well as a payroll for their employees.

Please also note that the University advises students not to carry out private work/therapy unless it is a programme set by a qualified therapist. It is strongly suggested that requests for help come from a therapist rather than parents, which also ensures that the client is under the regular care of someone who is qualified.

Recruitment agencies

In the case of recruitment agencies, the agency must disclose the name of their client to the Employer Engagement Team for the vacancy to be advertised via City CareersHub.

If the name of the client is not specified on the vacancy form, the advert will be removed. 

You may choose not to disclose your client's name to our students. If this is the case, please tick the relevant box on the vacancy form. However, we strongly suggest that the client details are disclosed in vacancy advertisements because this helps students tailor their applications. Any general advertisements for recruiting temporary workers will not be advertised on our website.

International employers and opportunities must meet our minimum standards, which are intended to provide assurance that an organisation is legitimate and that the opportunity costs and policies are clear. Therefore, as a minimum, we must check the presence and clarity of information on:

1. Organisations legal status (e.g. charity, not-profit, registered company)

2. Organisation’s contact details

3. Student’s employment status – with organisation or by a third party

4. Financial agreements which could include:

a. Fees: application fee, deposit, programme fee, fundraising requirement

b. Subsistence: meals, accommodation, work related travel

c. Over and above: travel, visa, insurance and medical

d. Pay

5. Refund policy relating to the above costs

6. Support policy – confirm what student support is in place in the event something goes wrong.