“I never agreed to the terms” is the first of many excuses recruiters face.
Backdoor hires, financial hardship or miscommunication all look for this excuse.
It’s when your shady client has been caught with their pants down.
Signed contract or not, any and every excuse they find, will do.
So it’s our job to beat them to the punch.
Let’s ensure it’s black and white that they agreed to the terms.
Signed contracts
The quick note here is a signed contract/terms defeats most arguments.
It changes the situation from discussing contract law to whether your client is sane.
When the response to the signed contract is “I never agreed to the terms” , you know your client lacks reason.
It’s when you can put the foot down immediately and take action.
Without the signature, the lines can feel greyed.
Introduction terms are key
Introduction definitions make or break “I never agreed to the terms” .
Weak introduction terms and process kill our chances at getting payment.
In terms of process, the best I see with my clients is:
- Initial contact with terms
- Request for CV by client
- Send CV with terms enclosed
- Read receipt or response.
To help with terms, I have a free contract here for you.
Included are descriptions and reasons of added terms.
More on that via the link.
Agreed to the terms by conduct
The first major way to combat this dispute is to show agreement by conduct.
The actions of your client showing they proceeded forward aware.
I look for events such as:
- Request for CV
- Request for terms
- Request for interview
- Comments on the candidate
Anything that shows your client is engaging your services.
This will best work when you have a solid introduction process.
Yes, they may not have signed, but they have viewed your terms and chosen to continue.
To pretend they did not agree is malicious and deceitful conduct.
They saw your terms, they agreed by conduct.
Agreed to the terms via receiving value
A trickier one to argue outside of legal proceedings.
The premise is the client would not have received the value without you.
Your introduction caused the hire.
Now this one has it’s place with other disputes as well as “I never agreed to the terms” .
“You didn’t do the full recruitment process”.
“They applied direct”.
You get the gist.
In this case, your client profited off of your introduction.
Signed contract or not.
They were aware of your fee and received value.
Acceptance by conduct is agreement through process.
This is agreement through result.
Each has it’s place dependent on the client and situation.
Avoid the “Agreed to the Terms” issue altogether
Get your terms polished, get them signed.
Stay away from shotgun CVs.
It may work in the short term, but will breed issues in this climate.