Why am I getting onboarding emails if I never applied?

Applies to: Workers who got an invitation, onboarding reminder or background check request from Ascen but have not started a job with the company behind it: employees in the US and Canada, and independent contractors in the US or in other countries. If you are an employee working outside the US and Canada, your onboarding is handled by your in-country HR partner, so this article does not apply to you.

Summary: These emails mean a staffing agency or work platform has added you to Ascen, which handles its onboarding and pay as the employer of record (or, for independent contractors, the agent of record). Ascen does not recruit or choose who gets placed, so these emails on their own do not mean you have been offered a specific job. Some agencies set you up before any project is available. If you already do this work and your employer moved its payroll to Ascen, see Your employer moved to Ascen instead.

Why you are hearing from Ascen

We send an invitation only after an agency adds you, and we cannot create an assignment on our own. If you applied with a staffing agency or work platform, it may be the one using Ascen for its onboarding. See What is an Employer of Record (EOR) and Agent of Record (AOR)?

How to tell who added you

• Check the invitation email. Its subject names the company: "[Company name] has invited you to Ascen".

• Log in at app.ascen.com yourself rather than through a link (you only need the invitation link to set your password the first time).

• Ask us. Forward the email to support@ascen.com and we will confirm who engaged us.

Do not send ID documents or bank details by email; you enter them yourself in the portal. See Emails, texts, and calls from Ascen.

If the agency set you up ahead of a project

Some agencies have you complete onboarding before a project is available, so you can start as soon as one comes up. You cannot be paid for work until onboarding is finished, so doing it early avoids a delay. If your agency has done this:

• The start date and pay rate on that assignment, and on its offer letter or other documents, may be placeholders, not the terms of a real job.

• No hours are entered or paid under it.

• A real project comes with its own assignment and documents showing its rate and start date.

If you are not sure whether your assignment is one of these, ask the agency before you sign the offer letter or other documents. If the agency confirms it is a placeholder, you can finish onboarding; the placeholder date and rate do not apply to your real work. If it is for a real job and the rate is not what you agreed, do not sign. Email support@ascen.com with the rate you expected and we will check the assignment; see Who sets my pay rate, and how do I dispute it?

Background check requests

Background checks are part of onboarding, and the agency that added you orders them. A background check step in your checklist, or an email from a screening provider, belongs to that same setup.

If you don't want to go ahead

Tell the agency you do not wish to continue. You can also email support@ascen.com (or reply to an onboarding reminder) to confirm it, and we can end the assignment on our side, which stops the notifications. Replying "unsubscribe" does not work, because the reminders are tied to the assignment. If you do nothing, they continue until the open steps are finished or the assignment is ended. See Why am I still getting onboarding reminder emails, and how to stop them.

Where to get help

• Ascen, at support@ascen.com: who added you, stopping the emails, onboarding questions, and a wrong rate on a document for a real job.

• The agency that invited you: whether there is a job, when a project starts, and what it pays.