Site rules

Rules for the use of ProZ.com

The following rules have been created to extend and protect the pleasant, results-oriented atmosphere of the ProZ.com translation workplace. By using the site, you indicate your acceptance of, and agreement to abide by, these rules.

Site Rule

1.1	ProZ.com's job posting system is provided solely for the purpose of announcing jobs of interest to language professionals. Postings that do not concern jobs, or that concern jobs that are not of interest to translators, interpreters or other language professionals, are not allowed.
1.2	Postings must involve paid work. Jobs posted must involve payment from poster to prospective service providers. (Exception: registered non-profit organizations--link required--may post non-paying jobs.) The job posting form may not be used to advertise any service; in no case may payment of any form in the direction of the job poster be proposed.
1.3	Objectionable content should be left out of job postings. Content that is political, of an adult nature, or otherwise potentially offensive, should not be included in the body of a job posting.
1.4	Multiple postings should not be made unnecessarily. A job should be posted only once, unless the limitations of the job posting system make multiple postings necessary. (It is possible to advertise a project involving multiple language pairs in a single post.)
1.5	One set of calls for CVs (ie. "potential job" postings) is allowed per month. The posting of calls for prospective service providers, without jobs in hand, is limited to once a month. A maximum of five job postings is permitted per call. (Note that it is possible to indicate skills sought and collect applications on an ongoing basis via the Blue Board.)
1.6	It is the poster's responsibility to respect confidentiality. Do not use the job posting form to advertise jobs which are sensitive. Consider using the directory to find service providers who meet your requirements and contact them directly.
1.7	Job postings must conform to the laws of relevant jurisdictions. A job poster is responsible for ensuring that his/her posting conforms to the laws of his/her jurisdiction(s), as well as to the laws of ProZ.com's jurisdiction(s).
1.8	Jobs may not be posted on behalf of third parties. Use the job posting system to post only your own jobs.
1.9	All required contact information must be supplied. Contact details marked as mandatory on the job posting must be provided. Job postings with incomplete details may be removed by ProZ.com staff members. (Note that it is possible to specify that certain contact details not be made public with the job, but the information must be on file with ProZ.com.)
1.10	Payment commitments must be upheld. If reports are received that agreed-upon payment has not been received from an outsourcer (whether for projects initiated via ProZ.com or other means), that outsourcer will not be permitted to make job postings. For more information, see the termination policy.
1.11	It is not possible to edit job postings after they have been published. (It is possible to add notes, however.)
1.12	Jobs postings may not contain extraneous commentary related to rates or payment. Job posters are permitted to state their budgets when posting. However, extraneous commentary concerning rates is not permitted.

Adherence to the above rules is a condition for continued right to access and use the site.

Enforcement

Staff members and moderators may take any of the following actions to enforce the above rules:
* contacting site users to call attention to specific rules
* refraining from approving (or removing/hiding) postings that violate a rule
* causing a message related to the rules to appear to certain users when they undertake certain actions
* suspending, temporarily or permanently, access to site features that have been used in violation of the rules.
* termination of profile or membership (staff only)

Moderators and staff members must act in accordance with, and are protected by, site rules in exactly the same way as other members.

Termination

In rare cases of severe infraction, ProZ.com staff members may terminate a profile (and membership) with immediate effect. In most cases, however, ProZ.com uses a "yellow card/red card" policy, akin to yellow-card/red-card practice in the sport of football/soccer, for terminations.

Yellow and red cards are issued only by staff members. Rules are cited by number, and the date of the card is logged. The terms "yellow card" or "red card" are used explicitly; if an email is sent, the terms appear in the subject line.

A site user who has been issued a yellow card may continue to use the site (sometimes with certain restrictions), but is otherwise under notice that further infractions will lead to termination. A person whose profile has been terminated will not be readmitted to ProZ.com.

Outsourcers are subject to the site's Termination policy.

Clarification

For clarification regarding any of the above rules or rules enforcement, please submit a support request.