Welcome to our ongoing series of blog posts in the Top Echelon Recruiter Training Center: “Jeff Allen’s Collection Tip of the Week.” Each week, we’ll highlight one collection tip from Allen, JD/CPC, the world’s leading placement lawyer.
Since 1975, Allen has litigated more trade secret cases and assisted more placement practitioners than anyone else. He’s also the author of 24 books and a regular columnist for The Fordyce Letter, one of the leading publications in the recruiting industry.
Below is this week’s collection tip for recruiters, courtesy of Jeff Allen.
What the Client Says:
“We hired the candidate as a consultant.”
How the Client Pays:
Over the past decade, employers have been cashing in on the consulting boom. Unfortunately, contingency-fee recruiters have been the paymasters.
When you send a fee schedule that contains any of the 10 words listed below, you’re aiming your recruiting revolver at your fee-free foot:
- Applicant
- Bonus
- Employee
- Employer
- Hire
- Job
- Payroll
- Position
- Salary
- Wages
These all lock you into payment only if a candidate is directly hired as a salaried employee. But they lock you out of payment if the employee is hired as an “independent contractor” — a “consultant.”
Now you can aim straight for the fee with words in your fee schedule like the ones below:
- Assignment
- Candidate
- Company
- Compensation
- Consultant
- Engage
- Independent
- Perform
- Project
- Services
Modify any PSA (Placement Service Agreement) you get from a client this way, too. If the search is worth doing, this is worth doing!
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Know how to collect your well-earned fees? Test yourself! Visit Jeff Allen’s Placement Law website and click the “Placement Fee Collection Quiz” button. Allen can be reached via telephone at 310.559.6000 or via email at Jeff@PlacementLaw.com.