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Referral Programs

  • Understanding the importance of referrals
  • Setting up a referral program
  • Logistics of Program and Parameters
  • Bonus Payment Terms

It is never easy to put together the best team for your project. One way to encourage your employees to recruit is to reward them through qualified candidate referrals.

Details are for Core Contributors

Decide your criteria for eligibility. Do you want your contractors to benefit from a referral bonus scheme?

Conventionally, the below roles are usually excluded from such bonus schemes.

  • Leadership and Executive Team members
  • Direct Managers and/or Hiring Managers of their direct open position
  • The Recruiting Team

While these groups are not eligible for the referral bonus, they should still be encouraged to refer qualified candidates.

What referrals (applicants) qualify for bonus eligibility

Below are some examples of qualifying referrals:

  • Anyone that has not applied, been referred to, or worked at your company (or a subsidiary or spinout) for at least a year.
  • Allow no cap on the number of referrals an employee can make during their tenure at the company.

How to refer a candidate

Consider using a vendor or recruiter to keep track of and assess referrals, but a simple form with a selection of open positions should do.

  • Users choose a job from the list for referral. If you think they might be good for several different jobs, simply choose one and write a note to the recruiter outlining the other jobs as well. The recruiter can then assess the referral's information and make sure they end up in the best job or jobs.

Logistics of Program and Parameters

  • A referral reflects on the employee who is vouching for them. As such, they should be well qualified for the requirements of the position and espouse the Ecosystem Core Values.
  • If two or more employees refer to the same candidate, only the first referrer will be eligible to receive a referral bonus.
  • When submitting your referral, this is your only opportunity to sell the candidate to the Recruiting Team as to why you think they would be a good fit in the specific position.
  • Please do not follow up with the Recruiting Team and/or hiring manager about candidate or process status. You can check "Follow Referral" under the Name & Company section in Greenhouse to receive notifications when/if your referral is moved to a different stage or has their status changed. If you influence the hiring process and/or decision in any way this will immediately exclude you from a referral bonus.
  • The referral will be contacted to interview or rejected from the queue within 5 business days.
  • The Recruiting Team does not personally contact every referral, so please set the correct expectations with your referral that feedback will come from the Recruiting Team as a whole, via the Greenhouse email system.

Bonus Payment Terms

  • The referral bonus could be in USD + the equivalent in your company’s tokens, or the entire amount (USD + Tokens) in tokens.
  • The referral bonus will be paid out on the next regularly scheduled paycheck following the date of the successful completion of the new hire’s 90-day introductory period.
  • The referral bonus is taxable, and all regular payroll taxes will be withheld. Contractors are responsible for paying taxes on the referral bonus.
  • The referring employee must be an employee of NEAR (or its subsidiaries) at the end of the referral’s 90-day introductory period to receive the bonus.
  • Referrers are still eligible for rewards even if a candidate is hired at a later date (within one year) or gets hired for another position.