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AWR, right to work and the Conduct Regulations
Can a recruitment agency charge candidates a fee? What section 6 bans, what you may charge for, and what happens if you get it wrong
Charging a candidate for finding work is an offence under section 6 of the Employment Agencies Act 1973. What you may charge for, on what notice, and the risk.
A recruitment agency cannot charge a candidate for finding them work. Section 6 of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 bans an agency from asking for or taking any fee for that service, directly or indirectly, and breaking it is a criminal offence punished by a fine. The exceptions are a short list of entertainment, modelling and sports occupations, and services other than work-finding, which the candidate must be free to refuse.
Free tool
Optional paid service notice maker for candidates
Fill in the service, the fee and who it is paid to. The tool writes the notice a candidate must be given before agreeing to any paid service, and the further notice for a new or changed fee.
- Give the notice before the candidate agrees to the service, in a document separate from your work-finding terms.
- Choose ten business days only for living accommodation. Every other service is five.
- Do not use it for a registration fee, a share of first pay or a course the candidate must buy to be put forward. Those are banned with or without a notice.
- If the fee will come out of wages, check the hourly pay against the minimum wage first.
- The guide could not confirm whether a DBS fee may be passed on to a candidate. Take advice before using this notice for one.
The rule this rests on: Employment Agencies Act 1973, section 6; Conduct Regulations 2003, regulations 5 and 13. A draft to check and adapt, not legal advice.
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What section 6 bans
The section has a limb for each kind of business:
- A perm desk, which the Act calls an employment agency, must not charge any person for finding or seeking to find them employment.
- A temp desk, which the Act calls an employment business, must not charge its own worker for finding or seeking to find hirers for them.
The words that matter are "directly or indirectly". A fee does not stop being a fee because it is called registration, or because it is taken out of the first week's pay.
What you may charge for
GOV.UK says an agency can charge for other services "like CV writing and transport to jobs". The Conduct Regulations attach conditions.
AI staff and workflows for recruitment agencies. Starting with cv screening and shortlist.See what we would set up| Condition | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Finding work must not depend on the candidate buying the service or any goods | Regulation 5(1) |
| The candidate can cancel at any time without penalty, on five business days' notice | Regulation 5(2) |
| For living accommodation the notice is ten business days | Regulation 5(2) |
| The first time you offer a service you give notice of the fee | Regulation 13(1) |
| A new or changed fee needs a further notice | Regulation 13(3) |
| The terms go in a separate document, given before the service starts | GOV.UK |
| A fee taken from wages must follow the National Minimum Wage rules | GOV.UK |
The regulation 13 notice says whether the service is one the Act lets you charge for, the amount of the fee or how it is worked out, who it is paid to, what it covers, the right to cancel with its notice period, and what refunds are payable or that none are.
Seven charges, sorted
| Charge | Allowed | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A fee to register or stay on the books | No | It is a fee for work-finding |
| A percentage of the candidate's first pay | No | Section 6 covers fees received indirectly |
| A training course the candidate must buy before being put forward | No | Regulation 5(1): work-finding cannot depend on it |
| A CV rewrite, offered as an extra | Yes | With the notice, separate terms and five business days to cancel |
| Accommodation near the assignment | Yes | Ten business days to cancel, and the minimum wage rules if rent comes out of pay |
| A uniform | Only if told first | GOV.UK: you cannot charge for one without telling the worker in advance |
| The fee for a DBS check | Not confirmed | The pages we read do not say; take advice before passing it on |
One more rule from the same GOV.UK guide sits close to these. If you lend a candidate money for travel or other expenses, you cannot make them repay more than the loan.
The DBS fee itself falls on 5 October 2026, and our guide to what a DBS check costs has the figures.
The exceptions
Regulation 26 lifts the ban for an employment agency finding work in the occupations in Schedule 3:
- actor, musician, singer, dancer, background artist, extra, walk-on or other performer
- a list of production roles that runs from composer and writer to choreographer and theatre designer
- photographic or fashion model
- professional sports person
Even there the fee is limited. It can normally only be a commission paid out of the candidate's earnings from work the agency found, and the exception falls away if the agency also charges the hirer. GOV.UK has a separate guide for entertainment and modelling agencies.
AI staff and workflows for recruitment agencies. Starting with cv screening and shortlist.See what we would set upOne exception reaches ordinary desks. Regulation 26(7) lets an employment agency charge a work-seeker that is a company, outside the Schedule 3 occupations, again only where it does not charge the hirer. Take advice before relying on it.
What happens if you charge anyway
- It is an offence. Section 6(2) makes the person liable to a fine, on summary conviction or on indictment.
- You can be banned. Under section 3A an employment tribunal can make a prohibition order stopping a person from carrying on, or being concerned with carrying on, an employment agency or employment business. The order can last up to ten years.
- The ban can reach the owners. A tribunal can make an order against a company because a director or manager is unsuitable. Where an agency was improperly run, each person running it at the time is deemed responsible unless they show it happened without their consent and was not down to their neglect.
- Wages are protected separately. GOV.UK's list of what an agency cannot do includes withholding wages due and making unlawful deductions from pay.
Since 7 April 2026 the Fair Work Agency has enforced these rules, and its GOV.UK page gives workers a route to complain about pay and work rights. We did not find, in the pages read, a statement of how a candidate gets a banned fee back, so this page does not describe one.
A notice paragraph to copy
Give this before the candidate agrees to any paid service, in a document separate from the work-finding terms:
Finding you work is free. The law does not allow us to charge you for it, and you do not have to buy anything from us to be put forward for work.
We also offer [service]. The fee is [amount, or how it is worked out], payable to [name]. It covers [what is included].
You can cancel at any time, without penalty, by giving us five business days' notice on paper or by email. [For accommodation: ten business days.]
[The refund you will give, or: No refunds are payable.]
Where this sits in your paperwork
A temp gets the notice with their terms and their Key Information Document, before you look for work for them. If any charge comes out of a temp's pay, check the hourly figure in the temp margin calculator against the minimum wage first.
This page is general information, not legal advice.
Short answers from this page
Can a recruitment agency charge a candidate a fee for finding them a job?
No. Section 6 of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 makes it an offence to request or receive, directly or indirectly, any fee from a person for finding them work, outside a short list of entertainment, modelling and sports occupations. An employment tribunal can also ban a person from running an agency for up to ten years.
Source: Employment Agencies Act 1973, sections 3A and 6; Conduct Regulations 2003, regulation 26 and Schedule 3
Where this comes from: Employment Agencies Act 1973 sections 3A and 6, and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 regulations 5, 13 and 26 and Schedule 3, on legislation.gov.uk; GOV.UK "Employment agencies and businesses" and "Charge fees as an entertainment and modelling agency"; GOV.UK Fair Work Agency page; each read in a browser render on 2026-10-01. The table of charges and the notice wording are ours. Not legal advice.
AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.
