Employment Agency Advice

[Guest av1]

I recently uploaded my CV onto a jobsite and an employment agency who found me a placement about 6yrs ago called to say they had a job I might be interested in, An interview was arranged over the phone (so nothing signed) and I attended said interview last week.

The company has just contacted me directly and told me that they are keen to offer me the role but can't afford the extortionate finders fee that the agency are asking.

I told him to screw the agency and just employ me directly but the agency have been rather heavy handed and told him unless they pay the fee they can't have me. Does anyone have any idea where I and this company stand? Surely just because I briefly worked for this agency's 6yrs ago doesn't make me their property?

Thanks in advance.

[tonyh29]

my brief understanding is that a company isn't entitled to deprive you of work so tell them to jog on

 

However , if they are stubborn they could make an issue out of , and you wouldn't be allowed to start the new job whilst it was in dispute  ...... so tell them to jog on politely

[Wainy316]

Can't they just employ you without saying anything?

[Guest av1]

Can't they just employ you without saying anything?

I asked that but it appears that the company have a few employees through the agency so there is a chance the agency may find out.

I just can't understand how I'm some how tied to these clowns.

Edited April 8, 2014 by av1

[Wainy316]

Wear one of these....

 

[OutByEaster?]

If the agency placed you in the interview then they have a right to a fee. Ask the new employer if they'd consider a temp to perm arrangement where the agency is compensated by supplying you to the company for an initial period (usually around 12 weeks) - it might mean a small difference in the price for the new company during this period and it may mean you get a slightly reduced salary for this period, but it'll get you into the job.

[Guest av1]

If the agency placed you in the interview then they have a right to a fee. Ask the new employer if they'd consider a temp to perm arrangement where the agency is compensated by supplying you to the company for an initial period (usually around 12 weeks) - it might mean a small difference in the price for the new company during this period and it may mean you get a slightly reduced salary for this period, but it'll get you into the job.

The company discussed that with the agency and the agency wanted about £6ph ontop of my wage which they can't afford, and if I took the £6ph hit I'd basically be working for minimun wage.

Its really wound me up today because I've been out of work for a couple of months and I'm now in a situation were a company are really keen to employ me, I'm keen to take the role and the agency are putting the brakes on by claiming a ridiculous fee. All the prats did is found my CV online and forwarded it on to the company, all in all about 5mins work for them.

[troon_villan]

They want £6 ph for how long exactly?? If it's for a few weeks can't you just take the hit?

[dont_do_it_doug.]

Send the CV in yourself independent of the agency. There will be an email chain to fall back on.

If they really want you and feel they're being held over a barrel by the agency then why are they using them at all? There are plenty of recruitment agencies out there.

[thetrees]

I am the last person to stick for employment agencies, but they are a business, and they do have a right to make money.

Any dispute here is between the employing company and the agency, not you as an individual. You can accept a position, and if your employer refuses to pay whatever they have contractually agreed with the agency, then the agency will presumably pursue your employer for payment.

Agency fees are extortionate, but that is what we as employers sign up for, and therefore they should be paid. As far as I am can see, the only 'bad guy' in this is your prospective employer. I don't know in what capacity the proposed employment is but remember, down the line, if they will do this to one of their suppliers (an agency), they will have absolutely no qualms in trying to screw over an employee.

But it's a tough world, and you can't necessarily pick and choose who you go to work for.

[Davkaus]

The company would have agreed to the agency's fee prior to being sent any applicants, so them only saying they can't pay it (and directly engaging an applicant) would ring alarm bells for me.

[The_Rev]

Can't you just apply for the job again, independently of an agency? 

[Davkaus]

The contract between the agency and the employer will almost certainly have a clause preventing them from hiring anyone who the agency has recommended without paying a fee for a period of at least a few months.

 

If it were so trivial to avoid the fee, no one would pay agencies.

[Guest av1]

The contract between the agency and the employer will almost certainly have a clause preventing them from hiring anyone who the agency has recommended without paying a fee for a period of at least a few months.

 

If it were so trivial to avoid the fee, no one would pay agencies.

6 months apparently.

[snowychap]

All the prats did is found my CV online and forwarded it on to the company, all in all about 5mins work for them.

How many occasions of '5mins work' did they do?

It's unlikely that you were the only candidate whose CV they forwarded, it's unlikely that your CV was the only one they looked at, &c.

The fee is not for placing you with the company but for them having satisfied their part of the contract with that company.

As with thetrees above, I'm not always the biggest fan of employment agencies (I've had experience of the exceptionally good and the truly awful - almost criminal) and I agree with pretty much all of his post (especially the warning about this potential new employer).