Essential elements of a recruitment contract: top 6 clauses to include

1. Scope of services and responsibilities

As with all service agreements, your recruitment contract should clearly outline the services that will be provided, setting out both the recruiter’s and client's responsibilities throughout the hiring process.

The recruiter's obligations will most likely include conducting candidate searches, providing candidate details, arranging interviews, and facilitating the hiring process. The recruiter may also offer additional services, such as creating job descriptions and advertisements or conducting qualification checks. If this is the case, it is imperative that the recruiter includes these in their recruitment contract, and specifies if there will be any additional fees chargeable for such services.

On the other hand, the client's responsibilities may include providing accurate job descriptions, and promptly notifying the recruiter about any engagement with a candidate or if a candidate is already known to them. It's vital to set out all of the parties' responsibilities from the outset in writing - for more information about the importance of a written recruitment contract, check out this comprehensive guide.

2. Fee structure and payment terms

At the heart of every recruitment contract lies a recruiter’s all-important payment terms. Fee structures can be diverse, particularly in the recruitment industry. Depending on the type of candidates you hire and the industries that they work in, you’ll come across different types of fees within recruitment contracts. Let's explore some of the most popular fee structures:

• Contingency: with contingency payment terms, recruiters operate on a success-based model. This means the recruitment agency will only be compensated upon the successful placement of a candidate. Typically, the fee is a percentage of the candidate's salary or a predetermined fixed amount. This model aligns the interests of the recruiter and the client, ensuring that payment is contingent upon results.

• Retained: retained recruitment involves an upfront partial fee to access the recruiter’s talent pool. This demonstrates the client's commitment to sourcing top-tier talent on an exclusive basis with the recruiter. The remaining fee(s) will be paid upon successful placement or at predetermined intervals. Retained recruitment is typically common for more senior roles and often some or all payments will be non-refundable.

• Fixed fee: under the fixed rate recruitment structure, recruiters charge a predetermined flat rate for their services. This fee is typically consistent irrespective of the candidate's salary. However, recruiters may implement tiered pricing based on salary brackets, ensuring fairness and transparency in the pricing model. The fixed-rate model simplifies budgeting for clients and provides clarity in terms of financial expectations.

• Hourly rate: for clients seeking flexibility and granularity in billing, recruiters may opt for an hourly rate fee structure. Recruiters invoice clients based on the time expended on sourcing, screening, and presenting candidates. This model offers transparency regarding the investment of time and resources, allowing clients to gauge the cost-effectiveness of the recruitment process.

• Hybrid structure: some recruiters adopt a hybrid fee structure, combining elements of contingency and hourly billing. This flexible approach accommodates diverse client preferences and project complexities. For instance, recruiters may charge a fixed fee for initial recruitment services while billing additional hours for specialised tasks such as conducting previous employment checks of candidates.

Before drafting your recruitment contract, it’s crucial to conduct a thorough assessment of the roles, clients, and industries that you will be recruiting for. Once you have decided which fee structure is the right one for you – ensure that this is meticulously outlined in your recruitment contract. This clause should also specify the payment terms, such as when the recruiter will issue an invoice, how long the client will have to pay and the consequences of late payments.

If you’re looking for a recruitment contract template that caters for a wide range of fee structures, you can find our fully customisable template here.

3. Unsuccessful recruitment

Dealing with unsuccessful recruitment can be a challenging aspect of the hiring process for both recruiters and clients. When a candidate leaves a position prematurely, it not only disrupts operations but also raises questions about financial implications and contractual obligations on both sides. In recruitment contracts, the clause addressing unsuccessful recruitment plays a pivotal role in clarifying the procedure and subsequent responsibilities that address this scenario.

There are two distinct policies that recruiters will typically include in recruitment contracts to address the early departure of a candidate:

Rebate policy with total or partial refunds

With this policy, the recruiter will actively seek to remedy this issue, offering a rebate to mitigate financial risks for the client. Here's how it works:

• Finding a replacement: the recruitment contract may include a term that states that if the candidate leaves their role within a specified timeframe, the recruiter will aim to find a replacement candidate. This could be offered free of charge or with a discounted replacement fee to ease the client's financial burden.

• Rebate percentage: the recruitment contract may specify refund criteria if a replacement candidate cannot be found. Refunds are typically based on the duration the candidate remained in the role. For example, clients may receive a full refund if the candidate leaves within 1 week, decreasing to 10% if the candidate leaves after 10 weeks. Refunds may also hinge on the candidate completing their probation period.

Non-refundable policy

Contrary to the rebate policy, this policy adopts a strict stance with no refunds under any circumstances once the candidate begins their first working day. Here's what it entails:

• No rebate: once the candidate begins their role, whether permanent, temporary, or contract, the recruiter does not offer any portion of the fee as a refund under any circumstances.

• Risk mitigation: while this approach protects the recruiter from financial risks, it places the onus on the client to bear the full cost of recruitment in case of early terminations.

Unsuccessful recruitment is an unpreventable aspect of the hiring process, but how recruiters handle it can vary significantly. When drafting recruitment contracts, you must carefully consider the implications of your unsuccessful recruitment policies. It’s important to understand the client's expectations and risk tolerance regarding unsuccessful placements. You should also take into account industry standards and competitors' rebate policies to remain competitive.

After all, your clients will need to accept the terms of your recruitment contract, so they should be reasonable given the circumstances. Whether through rebate policies or no-refund clauses, recruiters must strike a balance between mitigating financial risks and taking client satisfaction into account.

Do you have an idea of your unsuccessful recruitment terms but can't find the words? Docue's recruitment contract template includes model clauses that can be easily adapted to suit either of the above policies.

4. Liability

Limitation of liability clauses set out financial caps and exclusions on the recruiter’s liability, in the event that there is a valid claim under the contract by a client. Including such a clause will ensure that the recruiter knows what its potential financial exposure is in the event that a successful claim is made against it under the recruitment contract. Without this clause, the recruiter’s potential financial exposure will be uncapped and unlimited, which increases the recruiter’s risk profile in providing the recruitment services.

Generally, a recruiter will want its risk profile in providing recruitment services to be balanced with the reward (i.e. the level of remuneration it gets). For this reason, the recruiter's liability will usually be capped at a fixed amount, or a percentage of the fees paid by the client, ensuring that the recruiter's liability is proportionate with the value of the recruitment contract.

5. Confidentiality obligations

 Throughout the hiring process, the parties will likely share confidential information. It's therefore important that this information is adequately protected by imposing confidentiality obligations on the parties to the recruitment contract.

This clause outlines the parameters for handling and protecting confidential data, including candidate data, CVs, client lists, and proprietary business information. By establishing clear guidelines for confidentiality, such as limiting access to authorised personnel and implementing security measures, both the recruiter and the client can trust that their sensitive data is handled with care and kept secure. Additionally, confidentiality obligations often extend beyond the duration of the contract, ensuring ongoing protection for the parties involved. By including robust confidentiality provisions, recruitment contracts can mitigate the risk of data breaches and maintain trust and professionalism in the business relationship.

Candidate data should also be protected to ensure compliance with the UK GDPR with a recruitment privacy policy. For more information about recruitment privacy policies, check out this guide.

6. Termination

 A clause should be included in the recruitment contract that sets out each party’s termination rights. Termination rights give a party the ability to bring the contract to an end earlier. There are two main types: (i) termination for convenience, where a party gets a right to terminate the contract at any time and for any reason as long as they provide the required period of notice to do so; and (ii) termination for fault, where a party can terminate the contract immediately where certain circumstances occur (such as the other party being in material breach of the contract terms or suffering an insolvency type event).

You may also wish to include terms that trigger termination of the recruitment contract upon specific events, such as filling a vacancy instructed by the client or if the recruiter is unable to source a candidate within a set timeframe. These provisions ensure that both parties understand how and when the recruitment contract can be terminated, acknowledging the potential challenges of the recruitment process and providing an exit strategy if needed. 

How can Docue help?

Docue’s recruitment contract contains all of the above clauses and can easily be adapted to suit your agreement with each client.

Lawyer-drafted guidance notes will guide you through the process, so you know which clauses to pick for different scenarios. It also gives you the option to create a standalone recruitment contract, or create it in a terms and conditions format.

Simply click through the intelligent tick box options and text box answers and you’ll have a comprehensive, tailored, and ready-to-use recruitment contract in no time.

Sign up now to use Docue's recruitment contract.