Reviewing the pack's terms of business wording
Why the Recruiting pack's terms of business are starter wording, which clauses an agency adds or tightens, who should review them, and how signing works.
By Achekam · · 5 min read · For Recruitment businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
Launching soon. The Industry CRM add-on described in this article is launching soon. This article describes it as it will work at launch.
Every placement fee an agency earns rests on one document: the terms of business the client accepted before you sent a single CV. When a client disputes a fee, hires a candidate you introduced six months after the event, or asks for money back because the new hire left, the argument is settled by what those terms say, and by whether the client actually agreed to them.
The Recruiting & staffing pack in Achekam's Industry CRM comes with terms of business ready to send as part of its vacancy intake. It is tempting to send them as they are. You should not, and the pack itself says so. This article explains why, what an agency normally adds, who should review the wording, and how signing and filing work once you are happy with it.
Starter wording marked for review
Every contract or agreement in Achekam's industry packs is marked as starter wording that the business must review before use. The Recruiting pack's terms of business are no exception.
Starter wording gives you a structure: the headings a set of agency terms usually needs and a first draft under each. What it cannot know is your fee basis, your market, the law of your country, or the hard lessons from your own past disputes. Terms that do not reflect how you actually work are worse than useless, because the client will hold you to them.
Treat the starter text as a checklist of topics, not a finished contract.
Clauses an agency usually adds or tightens
These are the areas where agencies most often change or add wording. Your lawyer will have others.
Fee basis. State exactly how the fee is worked out: a share of what package components, a fixed fee, a minimum fee, and when the fee falls due (offer accepted, start date, or a set number of days after starting). Ambiguity here is the root of most disputes.
What counts as an introduction. Define when a candidate counts as introduced by you: when you send the CV, when the client first sees their name, or when they are interviewed. Say how long an introduction stays yours, so a client who hires your candidate later still owes the fee.
Guarantee period and rebates. Set the length of the guarantee period, what happens if the candidate leaves within it (a sliding rebate, a free replacement, or neither), and the conditions: the client must have paid on time, must tell you promptly, and gets nothing back if they dismissed the candidate for reasons unrelated to performance.
Temp-to-perm conversion. If a client takes on one of your temps permanently, what fee applies, and does it reduce with time already worked?
Onward introductions. What happens if the client passes your candidate to a sister company or a contact who then hires them.
Recharges and expenses. Advertising, assessments or travel you may recharge, and on what basis.
Data protection. How each side uses the candidate's personal information, and what happens to CVs of candidates who were not hired.
Disputes and governing law. Which country's law applies and how disputes are resolved. In South Africa, APSO runs a free fee-dispute resolution service between recruitment agencies and their clients, and its page explains when it will adjudicate; member agencies may want their terms to refer to it.
Who should review the wording
The review is legal work, and the right reviewer depends on your country and your size:
| Who | What they check |
|---|---|
| A commercial or employment lawyer in your country | That the terms are enforceable, consumer and contract law points, governing law |
| Your accountant | Fee timing and VAT wording, so invoices match the terms |
| Your senior consultants | That the terms describe how the agency actually works |
| Your industry body, where you belong to one | Any code of practice your terms must respect |
Review again whenever the law changes, after any dispute you lost, and at least when you change your fee basis.
Electronic signing, and documents a pack marks for ink
The pack's vacancy intake takes the client's brief, requests the job description, has the client sign the terms of business electronically, and then sends a shortlist of screened candidates who agreed to be put forward. Signing the terms is built into the process, before candidates are sent, which is exactly when it should happen.
Achekam's signing sends a document with signature and initials fields placed on it, to signers in order or all at once, with an expiry and reminders. When everyone has signed, Achekam produces the signed PDF and a completion certificate listing each signer's e-mail address, times, IP address and browser and the document's fingerprint.
Some documents need a signature in ink, because the law requires it or because a counterparty insists. A document a pack marks to be signed in ink is never offered for electronic signing; its step only tracks the paper copy. If your lawyer tells you a particular agreement must be signed on paper, the workflow keeps track of whether that paper copy has come back, rather than pretending an electronic signature will do.
Keeping the signed version on the client's record
The signed PDF and its completion certificate are filed back into Documents. Keep them where the vacancy and client records point to them, and never rely on an unsigned draft in someone's e-mail as proof of terms.
Every time you revise the terms, mark the version and date on the document itself. A client who signed an earlier version will expect that version to apply until they sign a new one, so you need to know which one each client accepted. The intake that collects the signature is described in taking a vacancy brief and terms, and turning a hiring enquiry into a client is covered in converting a hiring enquiry.
Before you switch the pack on, send the starter terms to your lawyer with your fee basis and guarantee period written out, and ask for a version you are prepared to be held to.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
