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  1. #1

    Staffing agency question

    A few months ago I was in the market for a new job. I was contacted by a recruiter regarding a job they were filling, and made it all the way up to accepting the job offer and signing an agreement with the agency prior to starting. While waiting for them to give me a start date, another offer came in and I decided to take the new offer (mostly due to the recruiter being a little shady). A couple months go by and I was contacted by the hiring manager from the company, not the agency. They've filled the original position, but since then have grown and want to add a couple more people, and they want to bring me in directly. So the question is, at what point does a person become a "Contract Employee" and have to jump through the agency's hoops to bypass them. Is it the moment I sign their agreement, or when employment begins?

    The pertinent clause in the agreement is:
    14. Employment with Customer

    Contract Employee agrees that he/she will not, directly or indirectly, alone, or as an employee, contractor, independent contractor, partner, company, or joint-venture, solicit or accept employment on a full or part-time basis, or enter into any contractual or consulting arrangement with Customer, client of Customer to which services were provided, or other staffing firm performing work for Customer or client of Customer during the period of the Agreement or within the six month period following the Termination Date. Contract Employee agrees to notify Insight Global if Customer, any client, agent, partner, company, or joint-venture of Customer, or other staffing firm performing work for Customer or any client of Customer during the term of the Agreement or within six months of the Termination Date, requests Contract Employee to continue providing services to Customer or client of Customer subsequent to the Termination Date. If any work is performed for Customer during the term of the Agreement or within six months of the Termination Date, it is understood that this work will be performed through Insight Global. This clause may be waived with the written consent of Insight Global and with the payment of a placement fee to Insight Global equal to 20% of Contract Employee’s first year’s salary (or first year total value of contract) by Customer or Contract Employee. After six months of continuous work with Customer this clause may be waived with the written consent of Insight Global, if Insight Global has an agreement with Customer in which Customer is contractually given the right to convert the Contract Employee after six months. Contract Employee understands that he/she is not allowed to leave the employment of Insight Global to work for another staffing agency for Customer for a period of 180 days subsequent to Contract Employee’s termination of employment with Insight Global.
    They keep referring to the "Contract Employee". Does this apply to me since I signed it, or is it null since I never became an employee? And yes, I realize the consequences fall on the employer rather than myself. They're looking into it as well, I just thought I'd ask here.

    As a side note, has anyone here ever been under an "unlimited vacation" policy? I've never heard of it, but it's something this company does. A Google search shows that it's kind of a new thing, mostly with tech companies. The idea of managing your own vacation time without a set limit is nice, assuming the company doesn't abuse it and refuse reasonable time off. Anyone have any good or bad experiences with that policy?

    tldr; Am I a "Contract Employee" when I sign an agreement with a staffing agency, or when employment actually begins?

  2. #2
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    Fuck the staffing agency. If they have never gotten you a job you are not a contract employee as they did not fulfill their end of the contract. And to be perfectly honest the only way that the agency finds out is if you or your future employer make contact with them.

  3. #3

    I also had the thought that they would never find out, and I'm certainly not going to be the one to tell them.

  4. #4
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    Yeah, we have hired people away from our staffing agency before. In some cases, we paid the fee for them to release the person from their contract (6mos in this case). More often, we ended the employee's assignment (e.g. laid them off) then hired them directly a week later. We just had them tell the staffing agency that they got a job with another company. Nobody needs to know who the other company is. Additionally, it is in the staffing agency's best interest to not pursue compensation or legal action with their customer unless their customer habitually abuses the staffing agency and steals employees from them.

  5. #5

    Thanks for the responses. Hopefully this company agrees, and we can discuss an offer soon.

  6. #6
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    In my experience with temp agencies we would have a similar structure as Ace. They had a 6 month obligation with the agency. The temp agency paid them, not us. We could term them at any time with no reason given. All it took was a phone call from a manager. We could also hire them away from the temp agency whenever we wanted to. The whole "contract employee" is really nothing but a piece of paper you signed. When they failed to get you a job it became null and void, hence not a concern. I'm surprised your future employer didn't laugh it off and say it didn't matter.

  7. #7

    Quote Originally Posted by Brill Weave View Post
    The temp agency paid them, not us.
    This was one of the shady things about the agency. They offered the job without saying anything about salary, I had to ask them. Then they offered $64k which I knew was low because of what was discussed in the interview. I had to haggle with them to get them up to $72k. I later found out that the actual offer was $74k, so I can only assume they were trying to skim that money off the top. I'm not even sure that's legal.

    The manager doesn't seem too concerned, he just wanted to look into the rules first. I don't think he's dealt with agencies much. They decided to try this one out for this position, and after my experience they said they'll never use them again.

  8. #8
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    That sounds more like a headhunter than an employment agency. They typically take anywhere from 7-15% with the curve being from high salary to low salary; meaning if they offer you something around 50k, they are taking around 12%. Something at 150k would be closer to 7%. It's legal in most states. Think of it as a sales position where the headhunters are selling employment instead of insurance or some tangible product.

  9. #9
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    yeah i've actually worked for a legit employment agency. they were contracted by the company i worked at to provide employees. had nothing to do with me, i was just a warm body as requested.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Acevalefor View Post
    That sounds more like a headhunter than an employment agency. They typically take anywhere from 7-15% with the curve being from high salary to low salary; meaning if they offer you something around 50k, they are taking around 12%. Something at 150k would be closer to 7%. It's legal in most states. Think of it as a sales position where the headhunters are selling employment instead of insurance or some tangible product.
    .

  11. #11
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