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) [...]
Artices Tagged ‘legal’
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,” [...]
For years now I have relied on A. Bernard Frechtman?s book, Employment Agency Law, A Guide for the Personnel Professional.? In the book I have (which I purchased in 1985), Chapter 3 is entitled, ?Collecting The Fee You Think You Earned.?? In this chapter Frechtman deals with what he calls The Efficient Procuring Cause principle.? [...]
FORDYCE FORUM Dear TFL: I had a situation when a Vice President interviewed one of my candidates. He left his company and went to another, and took my candidate’s information with him. He hired my candidate at his new company. He pointed out that my agreement was with his former employer, and not [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Background Checks… Criminal Checks … Motor Vehicle Records … Employment History Verification … Electronic Resume Submission … Personality and Psychometric Tests … Behavioral Interviews … Online Application Forms … Whew! The job search is becoming more like walking through a minefield these days and can be quite daunting. Unless, of course, you [...]
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 [...]
Two situations have arisen immediately after the last issue hit the streets. We asked Jeff for advice: Situation #1 Major law firm client posts new opening on their website. Recruiter sees it, recruits perfect person and Emails resume. Immediately upon receipt, the client calls and says “Sorry, that person is known to one of our [...]
You’ve presented the perfect candidate and interviews have taken place. An offer is about to be made (and probably accepted) when you get the call from an HR representative who tells you they won’t pay you a fee because (pick one): The candidate was [...]
PACKAGING YOUR LOAN REQUEST Let’s assume that you want to borrow money from a conventional lending institution. The best time to become acquainted with your banker is before you need them. The best way to assure favorable lending terms when you need them is to develop a relationship with a banker. Periodic lunches, submitting [...]
I am frequently asked how to go about developing a long-term strategic plan for firms in our business, usually because some banker wants some assurances before coughing up some loan money or because some practitioner thinks they can really predict what will happen in their future and can plan accordingly. Pro formas, 1, 3 & [...]
Let’s face it … once you’ve made the placement, you’ve lost your leverage. Oh, you’ll think and even talk about pulling your candidate off the job, but there’s less than 1% chance it will happen. So if you want to see any money for you effort, you’ll just have to confront the em?ployer, [...]
As the placement industry has developed over the past 40 years, placers have become more candid about who they are and what they do. From the misleading “counselor” designation of the applicant-paid days through the “consultant” title that implied objective advice to employers and the “account executive” tag that represented an ongoing “client” relationship, we’ve [...]
In our September issue, we chronicled the fact that in order to collect a fee from a New Jersey company, you must be licensed (if you are in New Jersey) and you must be registered with the state (if you operate outside the state of New Jersey. Many have asked if other states have this [...]
When a client or prospect presents you with a one-sided, arbitrary, compromising agreement with a “take it or leave it” attitude, you have a choice between several alternative responses. You may choose to surrender and accept the terms of the agreement, which generally will limit your ability to effectively serve the client. You will choose [...]
Kentucky Court Holds Staffing Firm Not Liable for Negative Reference
November 1st, 2003
The Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a defamation action brought by a former employee of a staffing firm, based upon the staffing firm’s allegedly negative reference given to another staffing firm.In Wanda Jones vs. Addecco Staffing, Ms. Jones had been employed by Adecco as a temporary executive assistant at Humana, Inc. She [...]
The Court of Appeals of Texas has upheld a lower court ruling that a placement firm was entitled to collect its fee of twenty-five percent of a candidate’s salary from its client, even though it was not clear whether the parties had specifically agreed upon the amount of the fee to be charged.In Burnside Air [...]
There are two purposes of every contract: To protect the “reasonable expectations” of the parties. To compensate one or more parties for “damages” caused by “reasonable reliance” on those expectations. Your printed fee schedule (or letter) is a contract with the employer, whether it’s signed or not. (Note: There are a few states that require a signed agreement [...]
Heard from a New Jersey practitioner who is having trouble collecting a fee from a N. J. client who claims they don’t have to pay him because he isn’t licensed. We were surprised that this recruiter (who has been in business in N.J. for 4 years) was unaware of his own state’s draconian regulations. Even [...]
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