Welcome to HardworkingPH ("HardworkingPH", "we", "our", or "us"). These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the HardworkingPH website, mobile applications, and services (collectively, the "Platform"). By creating an account or using the Platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms.
1. Who we are
HardworkingPH is an online marketplace connecting employers ("Employers") with independent professionals ("Workers") for remote work engagements. We provide tools for posting jobs, vetting candidates, communicating, contracting, and processing payments. We are not a party to any engagement between Employers and Workers; we are a venue and a facilitator.
2. Eligibility and accounts
- You must be at least 18 years old to create an account.
- You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to keep it up to date.
- You are responsible for safeguarding your password and for all activity that occurs under your account. Notify us immediately of any unauthorized access.
- One person may operate both a Worker and an Employer account, but each account must represent the same legal person and must not be used to circumvent platform rules.
3. Worker obligations
If you use the Platform as a Worker, you agree to:
- Represent your skills, experience, certifications, and identity honestly.
- Complete agreed work in good faith and within agreed timelines.
- Communicate professionally with Employers and respond to messages within a reasonable timeframe.
- Not solicit Employers to move payment off-platform once a working relationship has been established through HardworkingPH.
4. Employer obligations
If you use the Platform as an Employer, you agree to:
- Post jobs that are real, lawful, and described accurately.
- Pay agreed compensation on time, either via the Platform's escrow flow or through an off-platform arrangement that you and the Worker have explicitly agreed to.
- Treat Workers with respect, comply with applicable labor and tax laws in your jurisdiction, and not use the Platform for discriminatory hiring practices.
- Not use the Platform to mass-recruit candidates outside of legitimate hiring needs, or to send unsolicited promotional invitations.
5. Fees and payments
HardworkingPH charges a platform fee (currently 4%) on hourly engagements processed through our payment rails. Workers receive 100% of the rate they set; the fee is paid by the Employer on top of the Worker's payout. Subscription plans, à la carte addons, and other fees are described on our Pricing page and may be updated from time to time. Fees in effect when you transact apply to that transaction.
Payments are processed by third-party providers including PayPal, Stripe, Wise, GCash, Maya, and others. By using these methods, you also agree to the respective provider's terms. We are not responsible for currency conversion losses, provider fees, or provider-side delays outside our control.
6. Escrow and releases
Funded engagements hold the Employer's funds in escrow until release conditions (typically Employer approval of a milestone or invoice) are met. Funds in escrow are held by our payment provider, not by HardworkingPH directly. If an Employer fails to release funds without reasonable cause, the Worker may open a dispute (see Section 7).
7. Disputes and refunds
Workers and Employers are expected to resolve disagreements directly and in good faith. If you cannot, you may open a dispute via the Platform. HardworkingPH may, at its sole discretion, mediate the dispute and decide the release or refund of escrowed funds based on the evidence presented. Decisions are final between you and us, but they do not waive your right to pursue legal remedies against the other party.
8. Prohibited conduct
You may not:
- Misrepresent your identity, qualifications, employment status, or affiliations.
- Post unlawful, fraudulent, harassing, hateful, or sexually explicit content.
- Use the Platform to facilitate illegal activity, including money laundering, sanctions evasion, or tax fraud.
- Scrape, crawl, mass-download, or otherwise extract data from the Platform without our written consent.
- Circumvent security features, rate limits, anti-spam measures, or fees owed to HardworkingPH.
- Use AI-generated submissions to impersonate a person or pass a skill test fraudulently.
9. Intellectual property
You retain ownership of content you post (resumes, portfolio items, job descriptions, messages). By posting content, you grant HardworkingPH a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, display, distribute, and adapt that content as needed to operate and promote the Platform. The Platform itself, including code, design, logos, and the HardworkingPH name, is owned by us and protected by applicable IP laws.
10. Termination
You may delete your account at any time from your profile settings. We may suspend or terminate your account if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms, posed a risk to other users, or our payment providers. Sections that by their nature should survive (fees owed, IP, disclaimers, limitation of liability, governing law) will survive termination.
11. Disclaimers
The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available". We do not warrant that engagements will be successful, that Workers and Employers will perform as expected, or that the Platform will be uninterrupted or error-free. Worker verifications, skill tests, ratings, and badges are best-effort signals — they are not guarantees.
12. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, HardworkingPH is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill. Our aggregate liability arising from your use of the Platform is limited to the greater of (a) the fees you paid to HardworkingPH in the twelve months preceding the claim or (b) USD 100.
13. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute between you and HardworkingPH that cannot be resolved informally will be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Cebu City, Philippines.
14. Changes
We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be announced via email or an in-product notice with at least 14 days' notice. Continued use of the Platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance.
15. Contact
Questions about these Terms? Reach us via the contact page or email [email protected].
Not legal advice. This document is provided in good faith and aims to be readable. It does not replace tailored legal counsel — if you operate at scale or in a regulated industry, please review with a qualified attorney in your jurisdiction.