1
What Every Listing Must Include
Required before a job goes live. No exceptions
Verified Business Email Domain Required
The account email must use your company's registered domain, for example, [email protected]. Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and other personal email providers are not accepted. This is the first and most basic signal that a posting comes from a legitimate organization.
Why: Personal email addresses cannot be linked to a verified business. Domain verification is the fastest way to confirm a company is real.
Named Hiring Contact Required
Every listing must include the full name and job title of the person responsible for this hire. "HR Team," "Talent Acquisition," and similar generic labels are not accepted. The hiring contact's name will appear publicly on the listing.
Why: A named person is accountable. Candidates deserve to know who they are applying to, and employers who attach their name to a listing treat that listing more seriously.
Compensation Range Required
All listings must include an honest pay range, hourly, daily, or annual. "Competitive compensation," "market rate," and "DOE" (Depends on Experience) are not accepted as substitutes for a real number. The range does not need to be narrow, but it must be genuine.
Why: Listings with clear compensation attract better-matched candidates, reduce wasted interviews, and signal that the company is serious about hiring. Vague pay language is one of the top reasons qualified candidates disengage.
Honest, Specific Role Description Required
Descriptions must clearly explain what the person will actually do day to day, what success looks like at 90 days, and what experience genuinely qualifies someone. Vague descriptions, copied-and-pasted generic templates, and descriptions that appear designed to collect free consulting ideas rather than hire someone will be flagged and removed.
Our system automatically flags contradictory requirements, for example, "entry-level position requiring 7 years of experience." These are corrected before a listing goes live.
30-Day Applicant Response Deadline Required
All applicants must receive a response, yes or no, within 30 calendar days of applying. "We'll be in touch" and silence are not acceptable responses. Your Employer Response Score tracks compliance with this requirement and is visible to all job seekers on your listings.
Why: 75% of job applications receive no response. Requiring a reply, even a brief one, is the single most impactful thing an employer can do to build a reputation worth having.
30-Day Listing Expiry Automatic
Every listing automatically expires after 30 days. If the role is still open, it can be renewed, but renewal requires confirming that the details are still accurate and the position is genuinely still being recruited. Listings cannot be set to auto-renew without review.
Why: Stale listings mislead candidates and waste their time. A 30-day limit means every listing on WorkHonest represents a role that someone is actively trying to fill right now.
60-Day Repost Waiting Period Automatic
The same role may not be reposted within 60 days of its original posting without a written explanation of why the previous search did not result in a hire. Explanations such as "the role scope changed," "the selected candidate declined," or "the position was paused and restarted" are accepted.
Why: Perpetually recycled listings signal either that the company is not serious about hiring or that the role is being used to collect candidate data. The 60-day window with written explanation prevents both.
Active Paid Account Required
All employer listings require an active $100/month subscription. This is a flat rate. There are no promoted listing fees, no pay-to-rank options, and no additional charges per posting. All listings are treated equally regardless of spend.
Why: A nominal cost filters out bad actors while remaining affordable for any legitimate business. It also ensures that WorkHonest's revenue comes from employers, not advertisers, keeping the platform's incentives aligned with quality over volume.
2
Location, Be Specific
Choose from five defined location types, "Remote" alone is not accepted
"Remote" has become one of the most misleading terms in job listings. It can mean work from anywhere in the world, work from within a specific US state, or show up three days a week, and candidates have no way to know which. WorkHonest requires employers to select from one of five defined location types so candidates can make informed decisions from the very first moment they see a listing.
| Location Type | What It Means | Additional Info Required |
|---|---|---|
🌍 Remote, International |
Candidate may be located anywhere in the world. No geographic restriction applies. |
Time zone requirements, if any |
🇺🇸 Remote, US Only |
Candidate must be US-based. No specific state restriction, can be in any of the 50 states. |
Work authorization requirements |
📍 Remote, Job State Only |
Candidate must reside in the same state as the role's base location. Common for tax nexus, licensing, or occasional in-person requirements. The state must be specified in the listing. |
State required · reason recommended |
🏢 Hybrid |
A combination of remote and in-office work. The specific schedule must be included, for example, "3 days in office, 2 days remote" or "on-site Tuesday and Thursday." |
City, state · in-office schedule |
🏙 On-site Only |
Candidate must report in person to a specific location. Full city and state required. Street address optional but encouraged. |
City and state required |
3
Military Credentials
Consider military training in place of a traditional 4-year degree. Your strongest candidates may have built world-class skills without a traditional campus
WorkHonest requires employers to be specific and honest about which credentials qualify for a role. If a military credential is selected, it appears on the listing as a fully accepted qualification. Not a "bonus," "considered equivalent," or "a plus." This policy is grounded in the American Council on Education (ACE) Military Guide, which has evaluated over 28,000 military training courses and occupations for college credit equivalency under a Department of Defense contract since 1954.
🎖 Military Training Accepted on WorkHonest
Select the credentials below that genuinely qualify for your role. What you select is what will be displayed on your listing, and what candidates will rely on when deciding to apply.
Navy A School
Initial technical specialty training
Navy C School
Advanced technical training, degree-level in discipline
Army MOS
Military Occupational Specialty
USAF AFSC
Air Force Specialty Code training
USMC MOS
Marine Corps Occupational Specialty
Coast Guard Rating
Enlisted rating / specialty training
⚖️
By selecting a military credential, you agree to evaluate candidates holding that credential on equal footing with candidates holding the equivalent civilian degree. Selecting a credential and then rejecting a qualified veteran on that basis will result in immediate listing removal and a permanent flag on your company profile. Source: ACE Military Guide, acenet.edu/militaryguide · View our Military Credentials Reference →
4
What Is Not Permitted
Listings or behaviors that violate these standards will be removed
Requesting salary history from applicants
Asking candidates what they currently earn or have earned in the past is not permitted on WorkHonest, regardless of whether it is legal in your state. All compensation conversations must be anchored to the range you posted, not to what a candidate previously accepted elsewhere.
Contradictory experience requirements
Requirements that contradict the stated experience level, such as "entry-level position requiring 5 years of experience" or "junior role, must have led teams of 10+", are automatically flagged by our system before a listing goes live. These must be corrected prior to publication.
Vague or misleading role descriptions
Descriptions written to attract resumes rather than to genuinely describe a role, or written to solicit free strategic thinking from experienced candidates, will be flagged and removed. If a description reads like a consulting brief rather than a job posting, it will not be approved.
Reposting the same role within 60 days without explanation
Reposting a role that was recently listed, without explaining what changed or why the previous search did not result in a hire, is not permitted. Brief written explanations are easy to provide and are all that is required.
"Always Hiring" or perpetual pipeline listings
Listings posted to build a candidate pipeline rather than to fill a specific, currently open role are not permitted. Every listing on WorkHonest must represent a genuine, active hiring need. The 30-day expiry and renewal process enforces this automatically.
5
How We Verify Listings
Multiple layers, automated, community-powered, and manual
🔒
At the point of posting, gate checks
Before any listing goes live, our system automatically checks for a verified business email domain, a named hiring contact, a compensation range, and a paid active account. Listings that fail any of these checks cannot be submitted.
Automated · Instant
🕵️
New employer 24-hour review period
First-time employer accounts are held for a brief review before their first listing goes live. This allows our team to verify that the company and contact are legitimate. After three successful postings with good response scores, accounts move to instant publishing.
Manual · First posting only
🚩
Community flagging
Any verified WorkHonest member can flag a listing as suspicious, outdated, misleading, or in violation of posting standards. Three independent flags from three different accounts triggers an immediate manual review. Listings under review are held from public visibility until the review is complete.
Community-powered · Ongoing
📊
Response Score monitoring
Every employer's response behavior is tracked automatically. Failure to respond to applicants within 30 days reduces the Employer Response Score. Scores below certain thresholds trigger automatic listing visibility reductions. No manual review required.
Automated · Continuous
🔍
Random weekly spot-checks
Our team conducts random audits of active listings each week, verifying that the named contact exists, the company domain is active, and the role description reflects a genuine hiring need. Listings that fail a spot-check are reviewed and may be removed or corrected.
Manual · Weekly
6
The Employer Response Score
Your public reputation, built by how you treat people
Every employer account has a public Employer Response Score that is visible on every listing. It is calculated from real applicant interactions and updated continuously. A strong score signals to candidates that your company is worth their time, and attracts higher-quality applications as a result.
How the score is calculated
Response ratePercentage of applicants who received any response
40% weight
Response timelinessAverage days to first response, measured against the 30-day standard
30% weight
Member reviewsWritten reviews from candidates and contractors who worked with this employer
20% weight
Listing accuracyWhether listings expired naturally vs. removed for violations or community flags
10% weight
7
What Happens When Standards Aren't Met
Escalating, and proportionate
WorkHonest applies consequences proportionately. A single missed response is not treated the same as a pattern of ghosting. A listing removed for a technical issue is not treated the same as a listing removed for deliberately misleading candidates. Here is how the levels work.
Level 1
Score Reduction
Response Score drops automatically when applicants go unanswered past 30 days. Visible to all candidates. Improves as behavior improves.
Score Below 70
Level 2
Reduced Listing Visibility
Listings from low-scoring employers appear lower in search results. Employers are notified and given a clear path to improving their score.
Score Below 50
Level 3
Posting Suspension
New listings are suspended until the score improves or the specific violation is addressed. Existing applications can still be managed.
Score Below 30
Immediate removal. No warning
Listings are removed immediately, without prior notice, for: deliberate misrepresentation of the role or company, selecting military credentials and rejecting qualified veterans on that basis, three independent community flags, or any indication the listing is designed to harvest candidate data rather than fill a genuine role.
The WorkHonest Employer Pledge
By posting on WorkHonest, every employer agrees to the following. This is not fine print, it is the foundation of what makes this platform worth using for the candidates you want to attract.
Respond to every applicantYes or no, within 30 days. Every person who applied deserves to know.
Keep listings currentRenew only if the role is genuinely still open. Update details if anything has changed.
Post honest compensationA real range that reflects what you will actually pay the right person.
Name a real contactA person, not a team. Someone a candidate could find and verify.
Honor military credentialsIf you marked them as accepted, treat them as equal, every time.
Be specific about locationChoose one of the five defined location types. No vague "Remote."
Write an honest descriptionWhat the person will actually do. Not a wish list. Not a fishing expedition.
Accept your public scoreYour Employer Response Score reflects reality. It improves when you do.
"These standards exist because candidates deserve them, and because employers who meet them consistently attract better people, make better hires, and build better reputations. We built WorkHonest for both sides of this equation."
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