Recruiting guidelines

Conestoga College offers recruitment events throughout the year. For more information please see the events and promotions web page.    

Pyramid-type or multi-level marketing organizations are not permitted to attend on-campus promotional events. The College's independent newspaper, The Spoke would be a great place to advertise your job opportunities to our students, with a distribution of over 15,000. Please email spoke@conestogac.on.ca to find out more information.    

Employment practices must meet provincial and federal laws. Please refer to the Government of Ontario website for information about employment standards. Conestoga College's Co-operative Education, myCareer Services, and Community Career Centre reserve the right to refuse any job postings on the MyCareer job board including but not limited to situations where:   

1. Compensation is based 50% or more on commission. Example: All persons hired for an opportunity will be self-employed and compensation for this position is 100% commission-based.
2. Payment of "up-front" fees for training and/or materials is required before the employee is able to begin work. Example: To work for our organization, you will be required to pay professional license fees, training and/ or materials before you can start working.
3. The purchase of a service or product or monetary deposit / fee must not be required as a condition of employment.
4. When fees are charged if the employee leaves before their contract is over. Postings must clearly indicate these characteristics in the job description in order to be approved. Example: If you leave before your contract is over; you are liable to pay a financial penalty.
5. Incorrect or misleading or incomplete information has been provided. Example: Duties and responsibilities, hours of work and location of the position as well as detailed and specific application instructions must be complete and accurate.
6. There are founded complaints from students or college personnel regarding unethical recruitment practices. We also reserve the right to refuse any job postings or participation in on-campus events, including job fairs, if the behaviour or conduct of an employer in any scope of their involvement with the college, fails to represent ethical recruitment practices as determined by Conestoga College.
7. The employment opportunity is considered to not represent a viable work opportunity for students, alumni or job seekers.
8. Employment requires recruitment of other members, sub-distributors or sub-agents as a condition for employment. Positions must not require work that is multi-level marketing (MLM) in nature, or work for organizations that are pyramid-type or where an MLM structure is part of the organization’s structure.
9. Positions are for the recruitment of replacement workers during a labour dispute or lay off.

Conestoga College does not advertise jobs for personal services such as in homecare for children, the elderly or disabled, photography services for one day special events or unpaid general labour for homeowners. For other advertising options, we recommend that you contact the local Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) or specialized homecare support agencies. The ESDC number can be found in the telephone book blue pages or through the website at ESDC .   

Statement on unpaid co-op postings

Conestoga affirms the positive contribution that co-op students make in the workplace and they should be remunerated for their work. Unpaid co-op postings will only be considered on a case-by-case basis and may only be posted on the Career Services job posting board. Positions must offer wages, or a base salary plus commission where such industry recruitment practices are the norm. Where wages are not offered, the employer must offer some form of compensation such as paid parking passes, an honorarium, gas mileage for company business or training allowances. Students should not be expected to experience a financial loss as result of accepting unpaid co-op work terms. The college reserves the right to decline unpaid and commission-based opportunities at our discretion.   

Non-traditional work locations and non-traditional student remuneration

Definitions:

Home based business: a business operated by an employer out of a residence. 
Virtual employment: an employment opportunity without a physical work location (i.e. students own residence or public space).
Independent contractor: student is typically not paid via a payroll system, may not receive workplace insurance, may work on a freelance basis, and may not be physically located at the employer site.
WSIB: Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.

On a case-by-case basis, postings for non-traditional work locations may be advertised on MyCareer. The following considerations may be evaluated by staff. Disclosure must happen at the time of job posting and a pre-posting site visit may be required.   

• Will you provide the student with the required technologies or resources?
• Is WSIB or other private workplace insurance available? Note: Workplace insurance is wage replacement in the event of workplace injury, as opposed to general accident or liability insurance (which may also be required).
• Do you agree to provide a safe and respectful workplace environment?
• Is the employment location in a residence and/or are other employees working out of the same location? Note: Alternate meeting arrangements may be required in the event of residential work location.
• Is the student being hired on the company payroll or as an independent contractor?
• Will travel expenses be reimbursed?
• Will hours meet minimum co-op eligibility requirements?
• Are the hours of work (in particular if they are more than 40 hours per week, or if they may occur outside of typical business hours) clearly indicated?
• Will student wages be paid via a payroll system?

In the case of students being employed as independent contractors or via third party recruitment agencies, the method of remuneration may affect the employers’ ability to claim the Co-operative Education Tax Credit.   

Conflict of interest reporting

Employers must disclose at the time of posting and/or hiring when there is a conflict of interest reporting relationship between the student and employer. Immediate family should not complete student work term evaluations.

Ethical co-op recruitment

As part of ethical co-op recruitment practices, employers should not attempt to translate a co-op assignment into a full-time position, encouraging a student to take a full-time role rather than complete their education.

Conestoga is a member of the national co-operative education association (CEWIL Canada), and subscribes to CEWIL's recruiting ethics for employers, students and institutions. For more information, see Recruiting Ethics on the CEWIL Canada website.

Third party recruiters are agencies, organizations or individuals recruiting students/graduates for employment opportunities on behalf of another organization.    

Graduate recruitment

1. Third-party recruiters will be asked to pay a fee of $50 per posting to advertise their positions on Conestoga’s job posting portal, MyCareer.

Co-op recruitment

To ensure the co-op experience remains positive for students and serves as a meaningful learning opportunity, the following guidelines must be adhered to where a recruiting firm is involved in the recruitment process:   

1. The name of the organization wishing to employ the student(s) must be disclosed.
2. The hiring organization must provide a detailed job description, including work location, skills required and other pertinent information.
3. The student should not be required to pay a fee to be considered for the position.
4. Once the student has been hired, the recruiting agency must:
   1. Log in to MyCareer and complete an online Work Term Record for the student, disclosing who is the employer of record for the student, if it is different than the employer work location.
   2. Allow college staff to interact with the student’s supervisor to discuss work performance, satisfaction levels or any issues that may impact the student’s co-op work term success
   3. Pay the student a competitive wage based on the level of study and program wage ranges in the Co-op Education and Graduate Recruitment Guide.
5. Upon completion of the work term, the direct supervisor must provide the college with a final Student Work Term Performance Evaluation.