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If you require assistance regarding your referral link, earnings payment, or status tracking, be assured that you are in the appropriate place.

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How to refer someone

  • Navigate to the Job Listing page for the role to which you would like an individual to apply.
  • While logged in, scroll to the referral section on the listing and click the copy icon to get your unique referral link.
1

Share your unique referral link

Do ensure that you utilise your unique link to guarantee that the referral is properly recorded in your account. You can locate this in your ‘Referral’ section on the Work Platform. Click on the ‘Share’ icon
2

Your referral accepts an offer

A referral is recorded when new talent signs up using your unique referral link and claims it in time. Who can be referred is set out in the referral policy.
3

Your referral starts working and you earn

Mercor uses an earnings-sharing model. Once your referral begins billable work, you earn 20% of what they earn (hourly pay and bonuses), up to a cap known as ‘Earnings Cap’. Work on one-time-payment listings, where the pay is shown as a single one-time amount instead of an hourly or per-task rate, is not included.
4

Earnings are paid

Once eligibility is confirmed, referral earnings are released in the next referral payout cycle (Wednesdays and Fridays at 12:00 PM PST).

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Confirming a referral

When someone you referred accepts an offer, they are asked to confirm the referral. They can select Yes, confirm, or indicate they don’t recognize the referrer. If they confirm, the referral is linked to you; if they decline, it is removed. On your My Referrals dashboard you’ll see your confirmed referrals. When it is enabled for your account, a Couldn’t attach view also lists referral attempts that could not be linked.

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Reminding your referrals

From your My Referrals list, you can send a referral a reminder with a short custom message (10–300 characters). You can also select several referrals at once and send a reminder in bulk. Once a referral has been reminded, it shows as Already reminded.

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Tips for effective referrals

Top talent typically has:
  • A complete Mercor profile and a strong resume
  • A professional, up-to-date LinkedIn with clear credentials
  • A profile photo (and GitHub link if relevant)
  • Camera enabled during the AI interview (required for verification)
  • No VPN usage during the application process
The more data points a candidate provides, the more confident Mercor is when extending an offer.
Frame the opportunity as consulting or project-based work, not a full-time job. Many candidates — especially doctors, lawyers, and senior professionals — respond better to “consulting role” or “expert project” language.Here is a sample message you can adapt:
Hi [Name], I’m working on a short-term consulting project at Mercor and thought of you. I think you’d be a great fit. If you’re open, I’d love to refer you. Best, [Your Name]

Earning status (Hired)

This status indicates that your referral is working and you are actively earning.You will also see your progress toward the earnings cap for that referral.

Payout timing

Referral earnings are released twice per week on Wednesdays and Fridays at 12:00 PM PST. After release, bank transfers typically arrive in 2–3 business days (longer around holidays).

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Your earnings cap

Your earnings cap is determined by the first offer your referral accepts that is not on a one-time-payment listing.

How does it work?

  • Hourly contracts: cap = 4× the hourly rate of the first accepted offer
  • Daily/task-based (DBC/task-based) contracts: cap is explicitly set per contract
If your referral later works on different projects (higher-paying or lower-paying), your cap does not change. You will continue earning 20% across all of their projects until you reach the earnings cap as determined by their first accepted offer. One-time-payment listings are the exception: they do not generate referral earnings and are not used to set the cap.
Case example (earning across projects):
  • If your Earnings cap is 4× the hourly rate of Project 1, you can still earn across Projects 1, 2, and 3—because you may not reach the cap from Project 1 alone (or even from Projects 1 + 2), and only reach it after your referral has worked across Projects 1 + 2 + 3.
  • Your Earnings cap is locked to Project 1 (the first offer your referral accepted), but your 20% earnings continue across Projects 1, 2, and 3 until you hit that Earnings cap.
  • Even if your referral moves from Project 1 to Projects 2 and 3, your earnings continue to accumulate towards the same cap—so you might only reach the cap after their work spans Projects 1, 2, and 3.

UTM parameters

Maintaining UTM parameters (e.g., utm_source=referral…) assists us in channel analysis; however, it is optional. Your referral is still tracked even in their absence. We are currently developing shorter, customizable URLs.

If the link won't load

Refresh using Shift+Cmd+R (Mac) or Shift+Ctrl+R (Windows), or alternatively, access the role directly at work.mercor.com/explore.
You can easily manage your LinkedIn connections from the Referral Dashboard, Go to the My Connections tab:To upload or update your connections:
  • Click on Re-upload to upload a new or updated list of your LinkedIn connections
To delete your connections:
  • Click on the Delete button to remove your uploaded connections
To refresh matches:
  • Click on the Refresh button to revalidate and update your connection matches
Important notes:
  • Mercor does not contact your LinkedIn connections automatically
  • Your connections are only contacted if you explicitly choose to initiate an introduction by clicking the Intro button. This ensures you remain fully in control of outreach to your network.

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Referral Program ID Verification

ID Verification is required before referral payouts can be issued.
If you become eligible to earn a referral bonus, you must complete ID Verification in order to receive payouts. If ID Verification is not completed, referral earnings will not progress toward payout until verification requirements are satisfied.

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How it works

  • When you become eligible for referral earnings, ID Verification becomes required.
  • A Get verified task card will appear on your Home page, with a prompt on your Referral dashboard. Click Verify now to continue.
  • Click the tile to complete verification through our secure provider.
  • Once verification is successfully completed, referral earnings and payouts resume automatically.
Mercor uses Persona to securely verify your identity. This process is a mandatory requirement. You’ll upload a government-issued ID and take a selfie video for facial recognition. Persona Privacy Policy.
Click Verify now, then follow ID Verification for every step, the device requirements, and troubleshooting. You finish the verification on your phone. Most verifications complete within a few moments. If yours needs more time, your Referral dashboard will show it.
ID Verification becomes mandatory once you are eligible to receive referral earnings. Without completing ID verification, referral payouts cannot be issued.
If ID Verification is not completed, referral earnings payout will not be processed. Once verification requirements are satisfied, eligible earnings will resume payout processing.

Note: Any amounts accrued will continue to be tracked and will be paid out once verification is completed.
Yes. ID Verification is a one-time requirement for referrers. Although, if required new ID verification requests maybe issued in future.
Most verifications are completed quickly. In some cases, additional review may be required, which can take up to 1 business day.
If your verification requires additional review, our team will process it. If you believe there is an issue, you may contact support@mercor.com for assistance.

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Vouching & Warm Intro for Referrals

Vouching lets you recommend a referred candidate through a short three-step form — how you know them, why you recommend them, and a written reason (at least 20 characters).To use it, go to work.mercor.com, open the Referrals tab, and find the referred person in your referrals list. If they are eligible, you will see a Vouch button next to their name. When you click it, you will be asked to share more details about how you know the referred person and why you are vouching for them. Once submitted, the vouch is recorded and reflected on your dashboard.
Use vouching only for people you have personally worked or studied with. Keep your endorsement concise and specific.
Your reputation is tied to your vouch. If a vouched candidate commits fraud or submits low-quality work, it reflects on your account as well.
No. Once a vouch is submitted for a referred candidate, it cannot be edited, removed, or taken back. After submission, the Vouch button becomes non-clickable for that referral. Because this action is permanent, you should only vouch for candidates you genuinely know and are comfortable endorsing.
When the project team reviews candidates, they can see whether a candidate was vouched for by their referrer, along with the context the referrer provided.
Warm Intro allows Mercor to reach out to a potential candidate on your behalf. It is only available for candidates the system has identified as high-potential matches.If the Warm Intro option appears next to a connection on your dashboard, it signals a higher probability of that person being selected. Use it when you respect the candidate professionally but prefer not to reach out directly yourself.
Yes. In the My Connections tab, use Check resume to see how well a candidate fits a role before you vouch for them.

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Referral Earning Status and Payments

For hired referrals, the dashboard can show earned + pending. Pending amounts reflect earnings that have been accrued but not yet processed in the next referral payout cycle.
You earn 20% across all of your referral’s projects until you reach the Earnings cap, except on one-time-payment listings, which do not generate referral earnings. The Earnings cap is locked to the first offer your referral accepts that is not a one-time-payment listing, even if they later move to higher-paying or lower-paying projects.
It means your referral’s earnings cap is still to be decided (TBD) and hasn’t been finalized or locked yet for this referred person. Once the cap is determined and locked, the indicator will update to show the exact amount.The cap also stays TBD when every offer your referral has accepted so far is on a one-time-payment listing, because those listings are not used to set the cap.
Eligible earnings are not updated in real time. Your referral bonus (20% of your referred person’s earnings) becomes eligible only after your referred person has been paid for their completed work. (Paid every Wednesday)Eligible and paid referral earnings are typically updated on Wednesdays and Fridays, not daily.If your referred person has recently started working, please allow time for their first payment cycle to complete before expecting updates in your referral dashboard.Earnings also stay at 0 when the work your referral is paid for is on a one-time-payment listing, where the pay is shown as a single one-time amount instead of an hourly or per-task rate. Those listings do not generate referral earnings and are not included in your referral earnings summary.

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Trials, Timelines, and Hiring

No. Work trials (deliverable-based trials) do not count for referral earnings-sharing.
Timing varies depending on the listing, application quality, and demand. Certain roles are filled rapidly.
This occurrence may result from performance issues, timing adjustments, or project modifications. If your referral has already begun billable work, your earnings will reflect eligible work completed (subject to the earnings cap and program rules).
Due to privacy reasons, Specific details about referred individual’s work status, including whether they have started working are not shared. We recommend directly connecting with the person you referred if you would like confirmation about their work activity.

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Updates and Escalations

Yes. We provide you with dashboard updates, as well as weekly and daily email summaries.
Contact any member of the Mercor team, and we will ensure you are included.
Do contact support (support@mercor.com). We will investigate the matter and resolve it accordingly.
Do contact support (support@mercor.com) and include the following information:
  • The name of your referral
  • Their email address
  • Your referral link
  • A brief description of the issue
Mercor’s referral program is structured so that a user is only associated with a referral when they click on a referral link and explicitly opt in through a confirmation step. This arrangement guarantees transparency and obtains user consent. If you believe you were incorrectly linked, you may dispute the assignment via the Not your referrer? option, and our team will review the dispute.
Referral earnings accrue until the referrer reaches the earnings cap for that referral. The cap is determined by the first offer the referred user accepts that is not on a one-time-payment listing. This is a one time event.