Compliance & Policies

1. Our commitment

We treat everyone who interacts with The Lab with respect and without discrimination. This applies to candidates, employers, partners and our own team. We do not tolerate discrimination, harassment or victimisation in any part of our work.

2. The law we follow

We comply with the Equality Act 2010 and other applicable UK legislation. The protected characteristics we recognise are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. We also recognise socioeconomic background and caring responsibilities as factors that can affect access to a creative career.

3. Candidates

Every candidate can register, build a profile and apply for roles free of charge. We do not filter candidates by any protected characteristic, and we do not operate quotas that would favour or exclude any group. Roles are published on the basis of the skills, experience and qualifications the employer genuinely needs. We will make reasonable adjustments to the platform or to our processes on request, including alternative formats for application material and additional time where a task is set.

Requests for adjustments can be made through our contact form.

4. Employers

Employers listing on The Lab agree to comply with equality law and to assess applicants on their merits. We review every listing before publication and remove any vacancy that sets a requirement which cannot be justified, or that discourages applicants from a particular group. Labels such as Degree or Experience Accepted and No Degree Required describe what an employer accepts, and never restrict who may apply.

5. Our own team and hiring

Our own recruitment is based on the requirements of the role. We advertise roles openly, shortlist against published criteria, and pay the same rate for the same work.

6. Responsibility and reporting

We keep this policy under review and act on any pattern of unequal outcomes we identify. The Lab's Operations Lead is responsible for equality matters. Concerns about discrimination can be raised through the Complaints Procedure on this page or through our contact form, and people who raise a concern will not be treated unfairly for doing so.

1. What you can complain about

For example: the content or accuracy of a role listing, the conduct of an employer on the platform, how we handled your personal data, how we handled an application, or the standard of service you received from us. We cannot review an employer's internal recruitment decisions, but we can review how that employer has behaved on The Lab.

2. How to make a complaint

Send your complaint through the contact form on our Contact page. Please tell us your name and contact details, what happened, when it happened, and the outcome you are looking for. If you would rather not use the form, you can write to the email address shown in the footer of this site.

It helps if you include any listing link, application reference or correspondence connected to the complaint.

3. What happens next

We acknowledge every complaint within 3 working days. We then investigate and send a full written response within 10 working days of that acknowledgement. If the investigation needs longer, we will tell you why and give you a date for our reply.

4. If you are not satisfied with our response

You can ask for the complaint to be reviewed by The Lab's Founder. The review is carried out by someone who was not involved in the original decision. We will give you our final response within 15 working days of receiving your request, and it will set out what we have decided and why.

5. Data protection complaints

If your complaint concerns the way we handle your personal data, you can also raise it with the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK regulator for data protection, at any stage. Our handling of personal data is described in our Privacy Policy.

6. Record keeping

We keep a record of complaints, our findings and the actions we take, and we use those records to improve the platform. Complaint records are retained for 24 months.

7. Responsibility

The Lab's Operations Lead owns this procedure and reports on complaints to the Founder each quarter.

1. Our position

Our environmental impact comes mainly from digital operations, the energy used by our devices, and limited business travel. We act proportionately: we reduce what we can, and we do not claim more than we can evidence.

2. Digital operations

We keep the platform lean and avoid unnecessary data storage. We delete personal data when it is no longer needed, in line with our Data Retention Policy, and we store documents and media in shared cloud services rather than duplicating them across devices.

3. Energy and equipment

We choose energy efficient devices where practical, repair and extend the life of equipment before replacing it, and power devices down when they are not in use.

4. Meetings and travel

We meet online by default, and use public transport for the journeys that need to happen in person.

5. Waste and procurement

We buy only what we need, avoid single use items in our workspace, and reuse stationery and equipment wherever we can.

We prefer suppliers who can describe how they manage their environmental impact, and we expect our hosting and software providers to run efficient, well managed services.

6. Responsibility and review

The Lab's Operations Lead is responsible for this policy. We review it annually, record the changes we make, and update it if our operations change significantly.

1. Our organisation

The Lab is an independent recruitment platform based in the United Kingdom, operated by The Lab Creative Agency. We connect emerging creatives with employers and publish entry level creative roles across the UK and Ireland. We operate software and services rather than manufacturing, so we have no physical production supply chain.

2. Our business and supply chain

Our supply chain is made up of technology and professional services providers, including cloud hosting, software subscriptions, payment processing, and accounting and legal support. We do not use agencies for the supply of labour.

3. Our policies

Our Equality & Diversity Policy, Complaints Procedure and Data Retention Policy set out the standards we expect across the business. Any member of our team can raise a concern, and no one will be treated unfairly for doing so.

4. Due diligence

Before we engage a significant supplier, we consider the risk of modern slavery in the country and sector in which it operates. We prefer suppliers who publish a modern slavery statement or equivalent commitments, and who can answer questions about their labour practices.

5. Employers on The Lab

Every employer listing a role on The Lab confirms that they comply with applicable employment law, that the role is paid at or above the applicable minimum rate, and that workers are engaged lawfully. We review every listing before it is published and we reject roles that are unpaid, that rely on extended unpaid trials, or that suggest debt bondage, withheld identity documents or excessive recruitment fees. We also check that the pay shown meets The Lab's published minimum for the employment type.

Where we identify a listing that may involve exploitation, we remove it immediately and, where appropriate, report our concerns to the Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline or the police.

6. Training and awareness

The people who build and run The Lab, including those who review job listings, are briefed on the signs of modern slavery and on how to escalate a concern.

7. Reporting a concern

Anyone can report a concern about a role, an employer or our supply chain through our contact form. Reports are reviewed by the Operations Lead and, where needed, by the Founder.

8. Approval and review

This statement was approved by the Founder of The Lab Creative Agency. It is reviewed annually, and sooner if our business or supply chain changes.