Frequently asked questions

Questions, answered plainly.

The whole model in one place: how vetting works, what access costs, and what we take from the worker (0% of their pay, forever). If your question is not here, email info@vali.example and a founder will reply.

Employers

Hiring from the pool, what it costs, and what happens after.

How is this different from an agency or a BPO?: An agency places a person and takes a cut of their pay, often 15 to 40%, for as long as they work for you. A BPO employs the person and rents them back to you at a markup. Vali does neither. You pay us for access to a vetted pool, you hire the person directly, and we take 0% of what they earn. They are your contractor, not ours. When you are done, your access locks again and the relationship stays entirely yours.
How do you vet candidates?: Every candidate goes through the same scored process: identity and right-to-work checks, a skills assessment for their category, a structured interview, and reference checks. Each part is scored against a fixed rubric, so two bookkeepers are judged the same way. You see the composite score and the dimension breakdown on every profile. The scoring is mechanical, so below the bar is arithmetic, not opinion. The full method is on the transparency page.
How do you vet the businesses?: Access is not open to anyone with a card. We check that you are a real, registered business and that you intend to hire, not scrape contacts or resell them. Candidates gave us their details on the promise that only genuine employers would see them, so we hold up our end. If we cannot confirm you are legitimate, you do not get in.
What does Vali cost, and what do you take from the worker?: You pay for access, never for the person. A one-off category pass is £99 and lasts 30 days; all-access plans are annual. We take 0% of the worker’s pay, forever. The worker earns 1.5 to 3x what they earned before, you save 40 to 70% against a local hire, and none of that saving comes out of their wages. The full breakdown is on the pricing page.
How quickly can I hire?: The pool is already vetted, so there is no waiting on a search. Once your access is live you can browse, read full scorecards, and reach out the same day. Most hires happen in days, not the weeks an agency search takes, because the checking is done before you arrive.
What happens when my access expires?: It locks. A one-off pass runs for 30 days and then stops. It never auto-renews, so you are never billed by surprise. Contacts you have already saved stay yours, and anyone you have hired stays hired: the expiry ends your access to the pool, not your relationship with the person. When you need to hire again, you buy access again.

Candidates

What it costs you, how vetting works, and how you get paid.

Is it really free?: Yes. Candidates never pay Vali anything, and we never take a cut of your pay. Not a signup fee, not a placement fee, not a percentage of what you earn. Businesses pay us for access to the pool. You keep 100% of what you are paid, always.
How does the vetting work at a high level?: You complete a few steps: verify who you are, show your skills through an assessment in your field, sit a short structured interview, and give us references. We score each part the same way for everyone and build the result into your Talent Passport. If you go live, verified businesses can see your profile. We keep the exact scoring detail private, on purpose, so nobody can game it and so every candidate is measured on the same terms.
Can my current employer see me here?: Candidate profiles are not public. They do not show up in Google, they are not in any sitemap, and search engines are blocked from indexing them. Only verified, paying businesses that have unlocked your category can see you, and your contact details stay hidden until one of them has access. If you are worried about a specific employer, tell us at info@vali.example and we will help.
How do I get paid?: You bill the business directly and they pay you directly. Vali is not in the payment chain and never handles your money. Most candidates invoice monthly and receive payment into a local account or through a service built for foreign currency. Our tax guides walk through invoicing and getting paid from abroad for your country.

Money & Legal

Contracts, tax, and what happens if a hire does not work out.

Is hiring a contractor abroad legal, and how do they handle tax?: Yes, hiring an independent contractor in another country is legal and common. The contractor is self-employed where they live, so they invoice you and handle their own tax locally, the same as any freelancer. You are buying a service, not employing them, so you are not their employer for payroll or benefits. Our tax guides set out, country by country, how a contractor registers, invoices, and declares income. They are educational, not legal advice, so confirm the detail with a local professional.
What if the hire does not work out?: Because you hire directly, the contract is between you and the person, so you can end it on the terms you agreed, the same as any contractor arrangement. Our templates include a plain-English contract with a notice period, so both sides know where they stand from day one. If a candidate misrepresented something we verified, tell us. We take that seriously and will look into the profile.

Still weighing it up?

See the prices anyone has paid on the transparency page, read the plain-English templates before you hire, or check the tax guides for your country. Anything else, email info@vali.example.