Guides · United Kingdom · agency & staffing desks

When the client’s brief should not become the live job ad

The hiring manager’s email is not the job board line. On a busy desk, the gap between “what the client said” and “what we published” is where wording risk often sits — for the client and for the agency that places or publishes the advert. This guide is literacy and habit for UK recruiters, not legal advice and not Equality Act clearance.

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Two documents, one vacancy

Experienced consultants usually keep three layers in mind:

• Client brief — notes, calls, “they want someone young and hungry”, budget caps, off-the-record preferences.
• Agency draft — the person spec and advert copy your desk edits before sign-off.
• Live advert — what candidates actually see on the board, careers site, or social post.

Wording hygiene means the live advert describes skills, tasks, and genuine requirements — not shorthand from the brief that never survived an edit. VacancyCheck scans the text you paste; it does not know which line came from the client’s mouth versus your rewrite.

What public EHRC guidance says about instructions

The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s advertising FAQ (EHRC, PDF) includes a direct example:

Q. Can an employer request an employment agency to advertise for a young graduate?

A. No. Giving instructions to discriminate, and complying with them, is unlawful. An advert that indicates that only young people are eligible for selection, unless the requirement is objectively justifiable, is an example of age discrimination. Both the employer and the employment agency would be liable for any discrimination.

Its equality-law advertising guidance gives the same pattern: an employer instructs an agency to advertise for a “young graduate” — the employer is liable, and so is the agency if it complies (EHRC PDF).

This guide cites those public documents for desk literacy. It does not state whether any particular brief or advert is discriminatory, and it is not a finding about any named client or agency.

REC-style professional habit (Code 4a)

The REC Code of Professional Practice (standard 4a, paraphrased for wording desks) expects members not to act on a client instruction they know or ought to know is discriminatory, and to take reasonable steps to educate the client. Association press and desk training often pair that standard with the EHRC examples above.

Practical habits that match the code’s spirit without turning this page into a conduct manual:

• Rewrite on the draft — replace “young graduate” with skills, qualifications, and experience tied to the role.
• Record the published text — archive the signed advert, not the raw brief email.
• Push back in writing — a short email that the requested line would not appear on the live ad, with neutral alternative wording.
• Paste the edited draft into a wording check before the board — not the client’s unedited notes.

How you manage the client relationship, terminate a role, or escalate internally is outside this guide.

Common brief-to-board leaks

What the brief often says	What the live line should do instead
“Young, dynamic, hungry”	Describe pace, shift pattern, or targets — see age-coded titles guide.
“Max 3 years — cheaper on pay”	Early-career band and salary range; avoid a naked cap — see years-of-experience cut-offs.
“Native English speaker”	Language skill tied to customer-facing tasks; separate right-to-work from nationality wording.
“Local only — no long commute drop-outs”	Factual location, on-site days, and response-time needs if genuinely job-related.
“Must be fully fit” (warehouse)	Manual handling tied to actual loads and shifts — not a blanket fitness line.
“Culture fit with the boss”	On-shift behaviours: feedback style, handover routine, peak-volume calm.

Scan pattern lists in wording patterns to self-check and run the seven-step checklist on the agency draft before client sign-off.

Workflow for a volume desk

1. Consultant receives brief → consultant produces agency draft (not a copy-paste of the email).
2. Second pair of eyes on the draft — someone who did not write the brief notes.
3. Paste into VacancyCheck — free limited check (1 per verified email per rolling week) or full PDF £9.99; desks shipping many roles: £79.99/mo for up to 20 full PDFs.
4. Client approves the advert text, not a vague “looks fine” on the brief.
5. Publish; keep the signed wording on file. Use paste pre-publish; live URL only for retrospective cleanup.

Compare sample free check vs sample full report to see how flags and rewrites land on a fictional multi-flag draft.

Related guides

• Years-of-experience cut-offs on UK job ads
• Age-coded and gendered job titles
• Draft text first — why paste beats a live URL
• Pre-publish job-ad wording checklist

Paste draft text — free check See pricing

Not legal advice. Not Equality Act clearance. Informational wording hygiene only. Last reviewed 9 September 2026.