> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hitaji360.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Employee referrals > A referral is a candidate that one of your own staff puts forward — "I know someone who'd be great for this". A referral is a candidate that one of your own staff puts forward — "I know someone who'd be great for this". Hitaji 360 captures referrals as their own records so the referring employee is credited, the candidate's details are kept tidy, and, when the referral looks promising, you can turn it into a [job applicant](/hr/user/recruitment/job-applicants) with one click so they flow into your normal hiring pipeline. This page covers logging a referral, tracking its status, the referral bonus flag, and converting a referral into an applicant. **You'll find this at:** `/hr/recruitment/referrals` > 📷 *Screenshot: Employee Referrals list with the New Referral button — to be added.* *** ## Before you start * **Which business am I in?** Referrals belong to the business selected in the switcher. * **The referrer must be an active employee.** You can only log a referral against a current, active member of staff — the system rejects a referrer who isn't active. * **One open referral per email.** A non-cancelled referral already on file for an email address blocks a duplicate. Email is normalised (trimmed and lower-cased) so spacing or capitalisation can't sneak a duplicate through. * **Each referral gets a reference number** automatically (e.g. `REF-2026-0001`). *** ## The referral lifecycle (statuses) | Status | Meaning | | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Pending** | Just logged. Not yet acted on. | | **In Process** | Converted into a job applicant — now in the hiring pipeline. | | **Accepted** | The referred candidate was hired. | | **Rejected** | Not proceeding. | | **Cancelled** | The referral was withdrawn. | A new referral starts as **Pending**. Converting it to an applicant moves it to **In Process**. You cannot edit a referral that is Cancelled or Rejected. *** ## Logging a referral Choose **New Referral** (needs `hr-recruitment:write`). > 📷 *Screenshot: New Employee Referral dialog — to be added.* | Field | Required | Notes | | --------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **First name** | Yes | The candidate's first name. | | **Last name** | No | | | **Email** | No | Must be valid if given; used for the duplicate guard. | | **Contact no.** | No | | | **For designation** | No | The role they're being referred for. | | **Current employer** | No | | | **Current job title** | No | | | **Referrer employee** | Yes | The staff member making the referral (picked from the employee directory). Must be active. | | **Resume link** | No | A link to the candidate's CV. | There are further fields the record can hold — an org unit, a CV attachment, a **referral-bonus** flag, a qualification reason, and work references — that round out the referral. ### The referral bonus A referral can be flagged as **applicable for a referral bonus**, and the record carries a **referral payment status** for tracking whether that bonus has been paid. > ⚠️ **Current state:** The referral-bonus flag and its payment status are **recorded for tracking only** — there is no automated bonus calculation or payout wired to them today. Treat the bonus as a manual, informational marker that HR/payroll action outside the referral screen. (Noted for awareness.) *** ## Converting a referral into an applicant When a Pending referral is worth pursuing, choose **Convert to Applicant** on its card (needs `hr-recruitment:write`). This: 1. Creates a [job applicant](/hr/user/recruitment/job-applicants) from the referral's name, email, and phone, with **source** set to "Employee Referral" and the **source name** set to the referrer (so the dashboard's source-effectiveness chart can credit referrals as a channel). 2. Flips the referral to **In Process**. Only **Pending** referrals can be converted — the **Convert to Applicant** button shows on Pending (and In Process) cards. From there the candidate is a normal applicant: schedule [interviews](/hr/user/recruitment/interviews), make an [offer](/hr/user/recruitment/job-offers), and so on. *** ## Searching & filtering The list has a **search** box and a **status** filter (All statuses, Pending, In Process, Accepted, Rejected, Cancelled). Each card shows the candidate's name and status, the reference number, who they were referred by, the role, and their contact details. *** ## Permissions | Action | Permission | | --------------------------------------------- | ---------------------- | | View referrals | `hr-recruitment:read` | | Log, edit, convert, cancel, delete a referral | `hr-recruitment:write` | *** ## Related * [Job applicants](/hr/user/recruitment/job-applicants) — where a converted referral lands * [Applicant sources](/hr/user/recruitment/applicant-sources) — how referrals are measured as a channel * [Interviews](/hr/user/recruitment/interviews) — interviewing a referred candidate * [Job offers](/hr/user/recruitment/job-offers) — offering a referred candidate * [Recruitment overview & dashboard](/hr/user/recruitment/overview)