Yesterday, one of RR’s long-standing clients – a small IT business with a great rep in the North West sent me an SOS.
They’ve hired c3 people per year for the past 17 years & have RELIGIOUSLY used our retained service… for obvious reasons… but this isn’t a sales post.
Aug 23 we did our thing & their new hire joined Oct 23.
Happy days, right?
Well NO… They’ve been accused of BACKDOOR RECRUITING & are in receipt of a damages bill for a mindblowing £44,000 & the threat of a winding up order through the High Court.
Yes wow!! 
So how did this happen?
That’s what they asked themselves.
The company was also hiring late Spring – cue the unsolicited agency calls.
Despite being told they were at final stage x3 candidates, the recruiter continued to push. Under duress & to end the call, the employee (who didn’t want to be rude) agreed to the agent sending a follow-up email… which was just junked.
No instruction, No interview, No secret comms & No devious plan to hire.
But lurking on their mail server was a candidate CV, the agency T&Cs (effectively monopolising this candidate), & the kicker clause – 3x the fee + costs if the agency hasn’t been informed.
Quite frankly, this practice is poor & needs rethinking.
Agencies… if you’ve been formally instructed then fair game (albeit if your fee is 30% 
). I’m a big advocate on biz ethics / karma & advise clients they need to uphold any agency contractual obligations, however painful, but THIS 
isn’t cool – ethically or morally. It’s a dirty trick & a trap that’s active for 12 months.
Recruiters using UNSCRUPULOUS & AGGRESSIVE tactics should be ASHAMED. 
To be honest this isn’t a revelation for many BUT the onus falls on small biz owners to be ultra diligent.
Most importantly, raise awareness amongst your team. Funnel unsolicited calls & emails into formal Director approval process
State in all comms / job pages that: “Any CVs sent to any member of our team on a speculative basis will not be recognised and we will not accept liability for any fee or commission should we subsequently employ a candidate who applied to us directly or was introduced by an instructed agency that may also have been submitted speculatively by an uninstructed agency.”
Be smart – If you plan to fight any challenge don’t succumb to the barrage of Debt calls and bait to pay £200 to stop the Winding Up Petition.
Like small businesses need any of this crap!
Stay sharp. 
(I’ll report back pending the legal outcome)
P.S: This is NOT an attack on all recruiters. We know there are some great ones out there operating with impeccable manners & standards. 
Castle Hill House