In the competitive world of recruitment, agencies can have a tough time recovering their permanent fees.
The most common dispute is that the agency didn’t introduce or place the candidate in the role or they were one of many companies to do so. To resolve this, the recruiter will have to prove that it is the ‘effective cause’ of the engagement. This means that they can’t just simply hand to the client a CV and then request their fee – they have to ensure that they have introduced the candidate to the role and then placed them into the role with the client.
To help avoid this type of dispute, here are our top tips for recruitment agencies:
- When sending the candidate’s CV to the client, be clear that it is an introduction by referring to the terms and conditions and attaching a copy of these.
- After sending the CV, follow up with the client by giving them a call.
- Ensure that you set up the interview between the client and the candidate – and that you prep the candidate.
- After the candidate has had the interview, follow up with them by phone and email.
- Always keep in contact with the candidate and the client by email and telephone until the employment starts.
- Once the candidate has started working for the client, follow up again to check everything is going OK.
- Make sure you keep a record of any telephone calls or emails with the client – this will be crucial if there is a dispute as provides the evidence to support the ‘effective cause’ argument.
If you are a recruitment agency and need further advice on the effective cause argument, please contact us.
