Dear Jeff, What are your thoughts on using a really simple agreement for clients? One that simply states the parties involved in the transaction, the fee percentage to be paid based on compensation and payment terms if the company hire my referral. The end. No guaranteed, no what-if scenarios. Then the new client can make the requests, which I [...]
Ask Jeff: Simple Fee Agreements
October 14th, 2008
Recruiters are paid to find people from competitors, for clients who hope the new hires can bring some knowledge along with them to make them a quickly productive addition to their staff. When the same thing happens to the recruiting firm itself, the howls and screams are deafening. Is this hypocrisy? Of course it is! Is it [...]
from the The Fordyce Letter archives
Five Things Every Recruiter Should Know To Budge A Judge
August 1st, 2006
Ultimately, every unresolved fee dispute, trade secrets case, and business disagreement must be decided in court. Since jury trials are long, expensive ordeals, and juries don’t like “employment agencies” (yes, that means you regardless of your protestations), understanding how judges think is an invaluable advantage. Recruiters have difficulty understanding judges because they have opposite personalities. The [...]
Consultants don’t like to admit their fees are negotiable. But over half the ones referred to our offices for collection are below the amount on the fee schedule. This says two things: Reducing fees is a common way to do business and a common way to invite collection problems. This shouldn’t surprise you. Compromising your fee [...]
Nobody likes to pay a candidate. But sometimes that’s the only way to get one to interview or accept an offer. If you’ve thought about the idea but were concerned about the legality, here are the answers to the seven questions most frequently asked: 1. ARE RECRUITER-PAID SIGNON BONUSES LEGAL? Yes. While you might be tempted to hold [...]
If you’ve never been hit with a harassment complaint - whether through the EEOC, your state agency or a civil lawsuit - you probably wonder why you need an enforceable policy. But if you’ve ever been hit with one, you need no further convincing. The competitive, high-pressure, small-office world of permanent placement generates more than the [...]
More and more placement services are being sued — along with their owners. I’ve devoted my career to limiting your liability. But effective defenses don’t usually stop some employer, temp client or ex-employee from filing a lawsuit against you. As a natural promoter, you are considered a “target defendant” — visible, wealthy and not that popular. [...]
We’ve all been there . . . in the hot box for referring a resume with falsified information. Resume fraud is now, and probably always has been, a problem of epidemic proportions. It’s one of the major reasons for Errors and Omissions Insurance. Courts are increasingly holding you responsible for the sins of your candidates [...]
Sooner or later some recruiter is going to really get nailed for not verifying candidate backgrounds. Aside from a few insignificant cases, it hasn’t happened yet. Will you be one of them? Very likely. Search Research Institute estimates that over 98% of our industry relies totally on candidate representations. That’s a shocking statistic — but one that [...]
from the The Fordyce Letter archives
Corporate Recruiting Ethics: An Ongoing Threat
February 1st, 2006
Major corporations are adopting and monitoring codes of ethics with increasing frequency. In a Business Roundtable Special Report “Corporate Ethics: A Prime Business Asset” it was noted that one of the major areas of concern is “attention to values and ethics in recruiting and hiring”. You don’t need a Recruiter’s Roundtable to know employers are tightening [...]
One of the most frequently asked questions in seminars and workshops is what to do about the “placement in the basement” — the “back door hire,” when you discover a referred candidate has magically appeared working for a client.If you go through your recent files, you’ll discover that for every four candidates you know you [...]
from the The Fordyce Letter archives
Some Thoughts On The Candidate Acceptance Agreement
November 1st, 2005
The obvious contractual defect to the Candidate Acceptance Agreement is a failure of consideration. The recruiter is really not giving up anything in exchange (”legal detriment”) for the promise of the candidate to accept. This is because there is no liability on the part of the employer (and therefore no absolute right to the fee) [...]
from the The Fordyce Letter archives
What Makes Them Hire: Fallacies And Realities
October 1st, 2005
The employee selection process is about as random and unscientific as anything can be. Resumes and interviews are nothing more than snapshots of the candidate. They can be touched up, enlarged and changed to present a different image. Successful recruiters know that they are the photographers, and that a placement starts with presenting the right picture [...]
from the The Fordyce Letter archives
By `n by Brer Rabbit - gets where he want to be.
August 1st, 2005
Even adding interest or “finance” charges can be risky unless you do it with other employers. You want it to appear that you expect payment, and are just being patient. Otherwise when your other records are subpoenaed, you’ll blow your cover. Since you should be referring past due accounts to your lawyer after 30 days from [...]
The recruiting business is tough. You fight for every assignment and every placement. Most are made by convincing employers that their job requirements are unrealistic, then convincing someone else’s employees to work for them. There can only be only one successful candidate in each placement. The high roll; the big race; the whole enchilada. Winner [...]
Once you introduce yourself to an employer, the subject invariably turns to negotiating your fee. It’s as though they consider your services not worth the money. Most consultants are ready to negotiate too. Some even offer a reduction before they’re asked! They justify it by a multitude of excuses (”easy placement,” “important client,” “preferred list,” [...]
These days, it’s like every recruiter on the placement planet is tripping over cadaver candidates. Some recruit is pitched to some employer and somehow ends up working there. Why? When? How? Good questions, gory answers. Don’t expect much help from your cadaver candidate. They have every motivation to stay stinkin’ stiff. It doesn’t matter what the story [...]
“I’ll just steal their people.” We hear that comment all the time. It’s the ultimate way a recruiter reacts when an employer won’t pay their fee — either before or after a placement. The ultimate in sadism. Of course, the employer never hears that comment and its employees are never “stolen.” At best, one or two [...]
from the The Fordyce Letter archives
Eliminating The Most Popular Fee Collection Defenses
March 1st, 2005
Placement fee avoidance has reached epidemic proportions, and no two fact patterns are the same. Since the subject is so critical and so complicated, here are the most popular defenses and the ways to eliminate them: 1. THE “UNAUTHORIZED” HIRING AUTHORITY The title sounds illogical, because the defense is. This occurs when someone employed by [...]
JOINING THE ADVICE SQUAD: MANAGEMENT CONSULTING There isn’t a recruiter alive that hasn’t thought about being a “management consultant”. Oh, we call contingency-fee recruiters “consultants”, and they give advice to management all the time. But that’s the difference. They give it. Here are some things to think about if you decide to [...]
Since the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 USC 206 et seq.) defines your consultants (”counselors,” “account executives,” “senior vice-presidents in charge of anything you say,” etc.) as employees, federal and state labor laws apply. This means you must fully adhere to the minimum wage and overtime pay laws in the identical manner as for clerical [...]
Consultants don’t like to admit their fees are negotiable, but over half the ones referred for collection to attorneys are below the amount on the fee schedule. This says two things: Reducing fees is a common way to do business and a common way to invite collection problems. This shouldn’t surprise you. Compromising your fee is compromising [...]
from the The Fordyce Letter archives
How Long Must You Wait To Recruit From A Former Client
October 1st, 2004
This is an easier question to ask than to answer. Perhaps that’s why we’re asked so often … and why we answer it differently almost every time. It’s an important question, though, and one for which our industry must develop workable standards if the legal problems addressed in “Re-Recruiting A Placed Candidate” (TFL, 2/04) are [...]
We are constantly asked about the “law” that covers compensation to a consultant when he or she leaves with placements still outstanding. Determining when a “placement” has occurred under these circumstances is a little like trying to figure out when a fetus becomes a human being. Owners tend to sound like abortionists, ex-employees like [...]
from the The Fordyce Letter archives
How To Spot Hiring Authorities With Higher Priorities
July 1st, 2004
“Getting a job order.” “Obtaining a search assignment.” The very words imply that you need to talk someone into something. Or even worse — out of something. The object is writing up the almighty JO. Some offices even have quotas for them. Contests. Awards. But are they “hot?” Are they even “real?” Let’s look at [...]
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