Unsolicited resume policy template for recruitment agency submissions, with reply emails

An unsolicited resume policy is an employer's written rule for resumes that recruitment agencies send without being asked: no fee is paid unless there is a signed agreement and a written request for that specific role, unsolicited submissions are logged and either deleted or treated as direct applications, and hiring managers forward anything they receive to talent acquisition instead of replying. It works only if it is published (careers page, agency terms, email replies) and if managers act consistently with it, because an agency fee is a matter of contract and conduct. Not legal advice.

The agency side of these arguments, and how they are settled once they start, is in candidate ownership disputes. This page is the employer's policy that stops most of them from starting: the policy, the public notice, the handling steps, a receipt log and five reply emails. Examples are invented.

What should an unsolicited resume policy say?

• The fee rule: fees only under a signed agreement plus a written request, from talent acquisition, for a named role.
• What happens to unsolicited resumes: deleted, or considered as direct applications with no fee, but one rule for all.
• Who may engage agencies: only talent acquisition, never individual managers.
• How managers handle direct submissions: forward, do not reply, do not contact the candidate.
• Logging: date and time of first receipt, sender, candidate, role, action taken.
• Notices: careers page, agency terms, and a standard reply.
• Privacy: how long unsolicited resumes are kept, and what the candidate is told.

The unsolicited resume policy template

THIRD-PARTY RECRUITER AND UNSOLICITED RESUME POLICY
[Company name]   Owner: [Head of talent acquisition]   Effective: [date]

1. WHO MAY ENGAGE AGENCIES
Only [talent acquisition] may engage a recruitment agency, search
firm or independent recruiter ("agency"). No hiring manager or other
employee may agree, orally or in writing, to pay a fee or ask an
agency to submit candidates.

2. WHEN A FEE IS PAYABLE
[Company] pays an agency fee only when all of these are true:
(a) a written agreement signed by [role] is in force with that
    agency;
(b) talent acquisition has asked the agency in writing to work on
    the specific role (requisition [number]); and
(c) the agency submitted the candidate to talent acquisition through
    [vendor portal / named email] for that role, before the candidate
    was otherwise in our records for it, as the agreement defines.

3. UNSOLICITED SUBMISSIONS
Any resume or candidate information sent by an agency outside
section 2 is unsolicited. [Company] does not pay a fee in connection
with an unsolicited submission, including if we later hire that
person through any source. Unsolicited submissions are
[deleted within (X) days / held as direct applications with no fee
and with a privacy notice sent to the candidate].

4. WHAT EMPLOYEES DO
Employees who receive an agency submission or sales email:
- forward it to [ta-agencies@company] without replying;
- do not open attached resumes, share them, interview, or contact
  the candidate;
- do not tell the agency they will "pass it on" or "keep it on file."

5. LOGGING
Talent acquisition logs every submission (Appendix A), saves the
original email with its headers, and sends the standard reply within
[2] business days.

6. CANDIDATES WHO APPLY DIRECTLY
A candidate first received as an unsolicited submission may apply
directly and is considered like any other applicant.

7. ENGAGED AGENCIES ON OTHER ROLES
An agency with an agreement that submits a candidate for a role it
was not engaged on is treated as unsolicited for that role, unless
talent acquisition agrees in writing, before reviewing the
candidate, to accept the submission under the agreement.

8. NOTICE
This policy is published at [careers page URL] and included in our
agency terms and supplier onboarding.

The careers-page and agency notice

A NOTE FOR RECRUITMENT AGENCIES
[Company] works with a small number of agencies under written
agreements, engaged by our talent acquisition team for specific
roles. We do not accept unsolicited resumes or candidate profiles
from agencies, and we will not pay a fee for any candidate submitted
without a signed agreement and a written request from talent
acquisition for that role, whether sent to a hiring manager, an
employee or any company address. If you would like to be considered
as a supplier, contact [email]; please do not contact hiring
managers directly.

Put the same paragraph in a footer on job postings if agencies often reach managers from your ads, and in the terms you send to every agency you do work with, alongside the agreement itself (see the contingency recruiting agreement template).

How should hiring managers handle a resume sent straight to them?

1. Do not reply. A friendly "thanks, I'll take a look" is the line agencies quote later.
2. Forward to the talent acquisition mailbox with the original attached, not pasted, so the date and headers survive.
3. Do not open, save or share the resume, and do not look the candidate up. If you already know the person, say so in the forward.
4. Do not interview or contact the candidate through any route until talent acquisition has decided under the policy.
5. Repeat sender? Tell talent acquisition; they handle the agency, not you.

Managers are the weak point because they are the ones agencies target. A short note in manager onboarding and in the intake meeting ("if an agency contacts you about this role, forward it") does more than the policy document.

Appendix A: the first-receipt log

Received (date, time, time zone) | Received by | Agency, sender |
Candidate name | Role / req | Agreement in force? (Y/N) |
Engaged on this role? (Y/N) | Candidate already in ATS? (date, source) |
Action (deleted / held as direct, notice sent / accepted under
agreement) | Reply sent (date) | Logged by

The "already in ATS" column settles most disputes, because the usual argument is about who introduced the candidate first. Record the source and date of the existing record before you reply.

Reply templates

To an agency with no agreement:

Subject: Re: [candidate / role]

Hello [Name],

Thank you for getting in touch. [Company] works only with agencies
under a signed agreement, engaged by talent acquisition for a
specific role, so we do not accept unsolicited submissions and no
fee will be payable in connection with this one, as set out in our
policy at [URL]. We have [deleted the resume / not reviewed the
candidate]. Please do not send further candidates to our employees.
If you would like to be considered as a supplier, write to [email].

[Name], Talent Acquisition

To an agency with an agreement, on a role it was not engaged for:

Thanks, [Name]. You are not engaged on [role], so we can't accept
this submission under our agreement and won't review it. If that
changes we will tell you in writing first. Please send submissions
only for the roles listed in your current brief.

When the candidate is already in your pipeline:

Thanks, [Name]. This candidate was already in our process for
[role] before your email of [date and time], from [another source /
a direct application]. We won't be using your submission, and no fee
applies to it.

To an agency that answers by pointing to its own "terms of business" in the email footer:

Thank you. We have not agreed to your terms of business and do not
accept them by receiving or deleting an email. Our position is as
stated in our earlier reply and our policy at [URL].

To the candidate, if you hold the resume as a direct application:

Hello [Name], we received your details on [date] from [agency], which
does not represent you for us. We would be glad to consider you
directly for [role]. Our privacy notice, including how long we keep
your information, is at [URL]. If you would rather we deleted your
details, reply and we will.

What about privacy law?

An unsolicited resume is personal data the candidate did not send you. Under the GDPR, when data is not obtained from the data subject, Article 14(3) requires the privacy information to be given "within a reasonable period after obtaining the personal data, but at the latest within one month," or at the first communication with the person (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). That is a practical reason to delete unsolicited agency CVs quickly, or to send the candidate reply above. US state privacy laws may apply as well. Our GDPR candidate privacy notice template and candidate data retention policy template cover the wording and the retention period.

Worked example

Common mistakes

If you do want a small, managed agency bench, set it up deliberately: see what a preferred supplier list is and how to choose a recruiting agency. General information as of October 2026, not legal advice.