How participant declines and refunds work
A participant can decline FirstSourceTeam's services with the link in their invitation email within 14 days of their invitation being sent, while their status is still Scheduled or Contacted. If the seat was paid, the refund is the seat price minus a $50 administrative fee. The decline is recorded in the portal's activity history and audit log.
In FirstSourceTeam, a participant who doesn't need outplacement declines it themselves, from the link in their invitation email, and the decline shows up in your portal straight away; HR has no form to file. A decline is accepted when both of these are true:
- it's within 14 days of the participant's invitation being sent, and
- the participant hasn't started the program: their status is still Scheduled or Contacted.
If your organization paid for that participant's seat, FirstSourceTeam refunds the seat price minus a $50 administrative fee.
The decline terms
| Term | Value |
|---|---|
| Decline window | 14 days, counted from when the participant's invitation was sent (not from when they were added to the portal) |
| Who can decline | Only the participant, using the decline link in their invitation email. HR can't set Declined in the portal |
| Eligible statuses | Scheduled or Contacted. Once a participant is Engaged, Completed or Expired, the decline option closes |
| Administrative fee | $50, kept by FirstSourceTeam |
| Refund | The price paid for that seat minus the $50 fee, never less than $0. Nothing is refunded for a seat that wasn't paid |
| Can it be undone? | No. The participant confirms that the decline can't be undone, and the Declined status is final |
Because the window starts when the invitation is sent, you can add people ahead of time and invite them once they've been told. See Send invitations.
What the participant sees
- They open the decline link from their invitation email. The page names your organization and shows how many days are left to decline. If their seat was paid, it also shows the amount your organization will be refunded (the seat price less the $50 fee).
- Optionally, they pick a reason: already found a new position, using other career services, not currently searching, retiring, or other.
- They tick the box confirming they're declining the services your organization arranged and that this can't be undone.
- They select Decline Services. The page confirms the decline.
If the link can't be used, the page says why:
| Page shown | When |
|---|---|
| Already declined | They have already declined |
| Already enrolled | Their status is Engaged, Completed or Expired |
| Decline window has closed | More than 14 days have passed since their invitation was sent |
| Invalid link | The link doesn't match any participant |
Each of these pages gives hello@firstsourceteam.com for questions. A participant who changes their mind after declining can also write to that address.
How the refund is paid
Seats are bought per plan in Settings → Billing; see Plans and seats.
| How the seat was paid | Refund |
|---|---|
| Paid by card or bank transfer (ACH) | Refunded automatically to the original payment |
| Paid by invoice, or a payment still processing | FirstSourceTeam issues the refund or credit by hand and contacts you |
| Billed under your agreement with FirstSourceTeam (no seat bought in the portal) | FirstSourceTeam handles the refund or credit by hand (the plan price less the $50 fee) and contacts you |
| Not paid | No refund |
If an automatic refund fails, FirstSourceTeam is alerted, retries it and contacts you.
What HR sees
- The participant's status changes to Declined on the dashboard status cards, in Participants → All (filter by Declined) and on their participant page.
- Their activity history gets the entry
Declined via the participant decline link, recorded byparticipant. - The audit log records
participant.declined, with the actor Participant (decline link), and the refund result when a refund was made. - Every admin on your account gets an email, and the participant gets a confirmation email. The wording follows what happened to the money (see the table below).
- The reason the participant chose is not shown in the employer portal.
| What happened | Admin email subject | What the admin email says | Participant email |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic refund made | Participant declined: <name> (refund issued) | The refund amount and the $50 fee retained, to the cent | Your employer has been notified and a refund has been issued to them |
| Refund owed but made by hand (invoice or processing payment, or the automatic refund failed) | Participant declined: <name> (refund to follow) | The amount to be refunded and the fee; FirstSourceTeam will issue the refund or credit and confirm | Your employer has been notified, and we'll handle their refund with them directly |
| No paid seat on record (or the seat price didn't exceed the fee) | Participant declined: <name> (no refund issued) | No refund was issued in the portal; any refund follows your agreement with FirstSourceTeam | Your employer has been notified |
Declines in your reports
Declined participants stay in your participant count, so they're part of the denominator for the engagement and completion rates. See Dashboard and reports.
Removing someone isn't a decline
To take someone out of the program yourself, change their status to Expired (see Change a participant's status). That doesn't go through the decline flow and doesn't trigger a refund.
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