If you're a business that provides recruitment services, these terms and conditions are designed to provide a legal framework to govern how your company will engage with clients to source potential candidates. This recruitment agency terms and conditions template explains what types of roles you can help your clients hire for, including permanent roles, fixed-term roles, or temporary roles. This recruitment terms and conditions template also covers how you source potential candidates and when your fees become payable.
For more in-depth insights into creating your own recruitment agency terms and conditions, check out our comprehensive guide.
What are the key benefits of Docue's recruitment agency terms and conditions template?
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Structured to meet your requirements: This recruitment services terms and conditions template can be used to create a written contract between a recruiter and a client (that both parties will sign), or alternatively to produce a set of terms and conditions that the recruiter can incorporate into its contract with clients in another way (e.g. by referring to those terms and conditions in its order forms or letters of engagement).
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Saves time and effort: A recruitment services terms and conditions template can save you time and effort by providing a starting point for drafting your own agreement. Rather than starting from scratch, you can use a template as a guide and adapt it to your specific needs.
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Reduces the risk of disputes: A comprehensive recruitment agency terms and conditions template can help reduce the risk of disputes between a recruiter and its clients by clearly outlining the roles, responsibilities, and expectations of both parties. This can help to prevent misunderstandings and conflicts later on down the line. This template also sets out the consequences of any unsuccessful recruitment services, and the fees payable in this event.
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Provides consistency: Using our customisable recruitment agency terms and conditions template can help ensure consistency across your organisation. By having a standard agreement in place, you can ensure that all recruitment projects follow the same procedures and are subject to the same terms and conditions.
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Demonstrates professionalism with clients: Using a well-written recruitment agency terms and conditions template can help demonstrate professionalism to your clients. It shows that you are committed to delivering high-quality services and showing transparency in your business practices.
This recruitment agency terms and conditions template has been created on the basis that a recruitment business (recruiter), and its client will agree to the specific requirements separately (e.g. the type of role, title, and fee agreed) – with the option to use the example instruction form included as a schedule or another written confirmation – and the terms and conditions provide the general framework for how the relationship between the recruiter and its clients works. This also gives both parties the freedom to depart from the general framework by using the "special terms" section of the schedule if appropriate in the circumstances (e.g. where the client is a multinational organisation which has rigid procurement rules preventing departure from business-wide approaches, those rules may conflict with the timelines or positions specified in the terms and conditions but a recruiter may be happy to depart from its standard position to win the work).
Employment agency vs employment business?
Recruiters should also be aware that whether their business constitutes an employment agency, or an employment business, will impact what information their terms and conditions must include and what information they must obtain and provide to clients (i.e. the businesses that are recruiting) and the candidates (i.e. the individuals seeking employment or work). We've set out below a brief summary of the two types of recruitment companies:
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Employment agency: An employment agency is an organisation that acts as an intermediary between candidates and the agency’s clients, introducing them for the purpose of employment. The agency typically charges the employer a fee for the introduction or a commission based on the candidate’s salary. An employment agency may also provide other services, such as advice on career opportunities, training, and assistance with job applications.
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Employment business: An employment business, on the other hand, provides temporary or contract staff to employers whereby the employment business is responsible for paying the candidate’s wages and providing other employment-related benefits. This means that the employment business typically contracts directly with the employer, who pays the business for the candidate’s services.
Still not entirely sure which category your business falls under? Don’t worry, if you get stuck at any point, Docue’s recruitment agency terms and conditions template has helpful information boxes drafted by qualified lawyers to guide you along the way.
When should this recruitment agency terms and conditions template not be used?
This recruitment services terms and conditions template should not be used where the individual being hired provides their services via a limited company. This arrangement falls within specific tax rules (known as Off-Payroll Working Rules) that require businesses of a certain size and turnover to make status determinations. Those notification obligations and corresponding tax penalty risks are not covered by these terms and conditions.
What are the key terms that recruitment services terms and conditions should include?
Key terms: This recruitment agency terms and conditions template includes the following key provisions:
- Details of the recruiter (e.g. if it is an employment agency or business, whether it provides permanent, fixed-term or temporary roles);
- How instructions will be taken;
- Services;
- Obligations of each party;
- What happens if recruitment is unsuccessful;
- Charges;
- Confidentiality;
- Liability;
- Termination; and
- Law and jurisdiction.
You can find out the 6 key clauses to include in your recruitment services terms and conditions by reading this guide.
Ensure a means to accept: As these are terms & conditions and not an agreement that is signed, when using this template you need to ensure that you bring the terms to the client's attention and provide a mechanism for the client to actively "accept" the terms, for example, via a tick box and weblink or by incorporating them into a letter of engagement / order form / proposal). Our order form template can be used to incorporate the terms and conditions into a contract. Alternatively, if you would prefer to set out the terms of the engagement in letter format, our letter of engagement would be a suitable template. For more information about the importance of getting your client to accept the terms, check out this handy guide.
Other protections: Where this recruitment agency terms and conditions template is used, the parties should consider whether they need any extra protections to cover them during the services. For example, if a party will be processing personal data relating to the other party, the parties will need to enter into a data processing agreement).
Data protection compliance: As a recruiter, it is a legal requirement to give certain information to data subjects via a privacy notice when you are processing their personal data. It is essential that candidates are given a privacy notice that explains how and why their personal data is being used. You can find our recruitment privacy notice here, and more guidance in this handy blog.
Other types of services templates: If you will not be providing recruitment services, but you are looking for terms and conditions for a different type of service. We have several templates to suit your circumstances:
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Online: where sales are made online (i.e. via the service supplier’s website), online terms and conditions for the supply of services should be used instead of this recruitment services terms and conditions template. Use our template online terms for the supply of services in this case.
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Services in-store or over the phone, etc: where the service supplier is selling services either in-store, over the phone, or at some other location (for example, the customer's premises), our service agreement can be used.
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Multiple services: where a customer will be engaging a service supplier to enter into multiple transactions or projects, a master services agreement (“MSA”) should be used. The MSA will set out the principal legal terms that define how the parties will transact with each other, their key responsibilities and any expectations. The parties will then enter into a statement of work (“SoW”) in respect of each type of service or project being provided by the service provider.
Why use Docue?
Dynamic: Docue’s platform allows you to access and customise a lawyer-made recruitment services terms and conditions template at the click of a button. With Docue’s ultra-modern contract drafting technology, you can complete the document and send it for signature in minutes.
Easy to use: This recruitment agency terms and conditions template also includes guidance prepared by our lawyers that supports you through the contract creation process.
All-in-one solution: Signatures can be collected electronically, and all documents can be stored securely in Docue Drive.
Tags: recruitment agency terms and conditions template, terms and conditions, recruiting, recruitment services, employment, staffing solutions, recruitment guidelines, staffing contract, sourcing staff, job placement, candidate selection.
