1. Overview
VSO's External Referral Program allows eligible non-employees to refer candidates for designated hard-to-fill or mission-critical positions through VSO's official website referral form. If a referred candidate is hired into an eligible position and meets the applicable milestone, the referrer may receive a one-time bonus.
Referral bonuses are discretionary, contingent, and not guaranteed. No bonus is earned or payable until VSO confirms that all program requirements have been met, including referrer and candidate eligibility, candidate acknowledgment, required tax documentation, and Finance approval.
2. How to Submit a Referral
Submit referrals only through the referral form on VSO's website, one candidate per submission. Referrals sent by email, text, social media, verbal discussion, or direct contact with a VSO employee do not qualify unless VSO approves an exception in writing.
Provide your name and contact information, the candidate's name and contact information, your relationship to the candidate, the position you believe fits, and the candidate's resume.
3. Eligible Positions and Bonus Amounts
VSO does not publish a standing list of positions approved for the External Referral Program. The program page links to VSO's current cleared openings, but a listing appearing there does not by itself mean the position is eligible for a referral bonus.
After you submit a referral, Recruiting will contact you within three business days to confirm whether the position is eligible. Bonus amounts are set by position or by campaign, and an amount is confirmed only once the referral is tied to a position VSO has designated as eligible. VSO may change eligible positions, bonus amounts, or both at any time, subject to applicable law and internal approval.
4. Referrer Eligibility
By submitting a referral, you represent that you:
Are at least 18 and a U.S. legal resident with a valid Social Security number or other taxpayer identification number, unless VSO approves a business-to-business payment;
Agree to these program terms and conditions at the time of referral submission;
Provide accurate contact information, complete all required program steps, and will supply tax documentation only after VSO confirms payment eligibility;
Are not a current VSO employee;
Are not a federal, state, or local government employee;
Are not an immediate family member of a current VSO employee, unless VSO approves an exception;
Are not a current VSO contractor, subcontractor, consultant, vendor, or temporary worker where the referral relates to VSO work;
Are not acting as a staffing or recruiting agency, search firm, subcontractor recruiter, lead-generation vendor, or professional recruiter seeking a placement fee, and are not otherwise entitled to a fee, commission, placement payment, or other compensation for the candidate;
Are not a customer, partner, contracting officer, source-selection or security official, or anyone whose participation could raise a legal, contractual, procurement-integrity, ethics, security, customer, reputational, compliance, or conflict concern;
Are not barred from referring by law, contract, regulation, employer policy, government rule, fiduciary duty, ethics rule, restrictive covenant, or other legal obligation; and
Are not involved in the candidate's hiring decision, contract award decision, clearance adjudication, customer evaluation, government procurement process, or source-selection activity.
VSO determines referrer eligibility in its sole discretion, subject to applicable law, and may disqualify any person or entity whose participation creates legal, contractual, compliance, security, reputational, or conflict risk.
5. Candidate and Referral Eligibility
A candidate qualifies only if they:
Are referred through VSO's approved website-based referral process for a position designated eligible for the External Referral Program, and are hired into that position;
Were not already in Paylocity or VSO's recruiting database for the same or substantially similar role within the prior twelve months, unless VSO approves a different lookback period;
Have not already been referred by another eligible referrer, VSO employee, vendor, agency, or sourcing partner, and are not already being actively sourced, interviewed, or negotiated with by VSO at the time of referral;
Are not a current VSO employee, and are not a former employee or a current contractor, subcontractor, consultant, vendor employee, or temporary worker unless VSO approves in writing;
Are legally eligible for the position and able to satisfy all job-specific requirements;
Meet any applicable clearance, background, customer, contract, citizenship, export-control, and security requirements; and
Acknowledge, before accepting an offer or by another deadline set by VSO, that the referrer submitted them, if acknowledgment is required.
No bonus is paid for self-referrals, referrals submitted through an unapproved channel, referrals containing missing, false, misleading, incomplete, or unauthorized information, candidates who are not hired or are hired into non-eligible roles, or referrals that create a conflict of interest, procurement concern, security concern, compliance concern, contractual restriction, or other legal concern.
No bonus is paid where a referral breaches another employer's policy, non-solicitation agreement, confidentiality obligation, restrictive covenant, or other legal obligation, or where the referrer engaged in unauthorized recruiting, screening, interviewing, compensation discussion, clearance evaluation, or candidate assessment.
6. Passive Referral and Security Requirements
You may provide only the candidate's name, contact information, and general professional background. You must not:
• Recruit, screen, interview, test, rank, or evaluate candidates for VSO;
• Represent that you are authorized to act or recruit for VSO, or promise employment, selection, clearance outcomes, assignments, remote work, or compensation;
• Discuss compensation, benefits, offer terms, clearance, contract requirements, or start dates on VSO's behalf;
• Request or share classified, controlled, export-controlled, proprietary, customer-sensitive, or other unauthorized information;
• Verify, transfer, sponsor, adjudicate, or attempt to influence a clearance, or take part in any clearance, suitability, background, or customer-approval process;
• Contact security, government, contracting, customer, or client representatives about the candidate;
• Pressure a candidate to apply or accept an offer; or
• Act in any way that makes you appear to be a VSO recruiter, agent, vendor, or representative.
Additional requirements may apply to referrals involving security clearances, public-sector or defense work, or export-controlled programs. Violating this section disqualifies the referral and forfeits any bonus.
7. Candidate Acknowledgment and Duplicate Referrals
VSO may require the candidate to confirm, verbally or in writing, that they know or consent to the referrer, were referred before VSO's deadline, understand a bonus may be paid, and were not promised any part of it. Acknowledgment may be collected through Paylocity, the career site, the referral portal, or onboarding, and does not guarantee payment.
If the same candidate is referred more than once, VSO generally recognizes the first complete, eligible website submission by timestamp. VSO may reject duplicates, resolve disputes at its discretion, or decline payment if the referral source cannot be reliably determined.
8. When a Bonus Is Earned and Paid
A bonus is not earned at submission, application, interview, offer, or acceptance. It becomes eligible for processing only after VSO confirms that the referral came through the website process, the referrer and candidate are eligible, the candidate started work in an eligible position, any required clearance was validated by the Facility Security Officer, the candidate met the applicable milestone and remains employed and in good standing, acknowledgment is complete if required, tax documentation is received, and Finance has approved payment.
Unless an approved campaign states otherwise, the default milestone is six months of active employment. Payment is generally processed within 60 days after all requirements are met, subject to payroll, accounts payable, tax, and compliance timelines.
9. Tax Documentation and Payment
VSO requests tax documentation only after payment eligibility is triggered, never at submission. Before payment, you must provide a completed IRS Form W-9, or, for an approved business entity, appropriate tax documentation and any vendor onboarding Finance requires, through VSO's approved secure process, along with confirmed ACH information. Returned-ACH bank fees are charged to you and deducted from the payment. VSO issues any required tax forms, such as Form 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC, may apply backup withholding, and will not issue payment without complete documentation. You are responsible for all taxes on the payment.
Submit tax documents only through VSO's approved secure process. Never email tax forms, Social Security or taxpayer identification numbers, dates of birth, banking details, clearance documents, or other sensitive personal information.
VSO may, but need not, approve payment to a business entity. Business payments require Finance approval, vendor onboarding if applicable, appropriate tax documentation, confirmation that the entity is not a staffing, recruiting, or search firm or otherwise entitled to placement fees, confirmation the structure is not being used to avoid tax reporting, and any other compliance checks VSO requires. Disregarded entities, sole proprietorships, single-member LLCs, and partnerships may still be reportable.
10. General Terms
Participation creates no employment, contractor, agency, partnership, vendor, or representative relationship. Referrers cannot bind or represent VSO or take part in hiring decisions.
Referral payments may not be used to influence, or appear to influence, any government official, customer, procurement, contract, security, hiring, or business decision. VSO may deny or cancel payment where a referral or payment creates or appears to create a bribe, kickback, improper gift, conflict of interest, organizational conflict of interest, or other legal, ethical, tax, security, or compliance concern. Referrers must share only accurate candidate information they are authorized to share and must comply with applicable anti-bribery, anti-kickback, ethics, procurement, sanctions, export-control, and privacy laws. VSO uses referral information for recruiting, compliance, tax, and recordkeeping purposes.
Any exception must be approved by VSO in writing. No manager, recruiter, or employee may approve an exception verbally or promise payment outside this policy.
VSO may modify, suspend, or terminate the program at any time, subject to applicable law, and may deny or cancel payment if the program ends before a bonus is earned, requirements are unmet, documentation is incomplete, information proves false or misleading, or payment would create a legal, contractual, tax, security, compliance, or conflict concern.
11. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution
This agreement is governed by the laws of Virginia. You agree that any dispute regarding the Program will be resolved through final and binding arbitration in Virginia. You agree that VSO’s total liability under this agreement for any cause of action relating to its subject matter, regardless of the nature of the claim, is limited to the lesser of your actual, direct damages or $5,000.
12. Equal Employment Opportunity
Virtual Service Operations is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or veteran status, and consistent with applicable federal and state laws.
