How much do I charge candidates for work experience?


Posted By: Thomas Shaw, 12:11pm Wednesday 08 June 2011

Oh boy, what another shit storm this will turn out to be. Recruiters charging candidates "work experience placement" fees. What I love most are the terms and conditions. Great reading.



_____________ TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1). The Industry Experience Program is defined as a period of volunteer work with a host employer for a period of but not limited to 6 weeks. Any intention to extend this period of time will be mutually agreed upon through discussion between yourself and ___________. The number of
hours to be worked each week during the program is to be agreed upon at the beginning of the program and not altered unless it is discussed with the employer and ___________.

2). Each candidate will be entitled to an initial 3 interviews with host employers. _____________ is obligated to give 24hrs prior notice before an interview. In the event that is not possible the candidate does not have to accept that interview if he/she cannot attend. Once 3 interviews have taken place and failed due to host employers not being satisfied the candidate, _____________ will charge an extra $500.00 incl. GST to the candidate in order to continue working on their case and secure a further 3 interviews with host employers. This scenario will be the case for every third interview that is failed by the candidate subsequent to the initial 3 permitted.  

3). Once a work experience placement is deemed to have commenced, the candidate is no longer eligible for any form of refund from _____________. “Commenced” can be defined as having had a shift/start time and date arranged with the host employer for the start of the work experience placement.     

4). If a candidate wishes to change his/her employment field before being placed a fee of $300 will apply. If a placement has commenced then a further $1000 will need to be paid to find another appropriate placement in the new field.  

5). Failure of a candidate to attend an arranged interview without 24 hours prior notice will result in voiding his/her eligibility for any refund. An appearance fee of $150 will be directly debited from the client’s nominated account. This clause may become irrelevant if a valid medical certificate is provided to _____________ by the candidate.  

6). _____________ commits to providing the first industry experience interview within 24 weeks. Failure to achieve this will result in a FULL refund of the amount paid (Less Application fee and work completed as per clause 8). No full refund will be issued before this period of time if no interview is arranged. Failure to accept interviews continually will result in the candidate being removed from the program and will void any request for a refund.   

7). Once the candidate attends at least one interview with a _____________ host employer they are no longer eligible for a full refund.

8). If a change in the candidates circumstances results in the candidate wanting a refund they will receive the full amount paid to _____________ less a $300 administration fee plus whichever is a greater amount, a $350 fee per job interview arranged or $40 per hour for work undertaken at our office, $80 per hour for work undertaken in the field and $60 per consultation at or away from our office with any of our staff members. Note that the first consultation attracts no fee. Plus $0.88 cents per kilometre travelled via car for meetings/interview.

8a). _____________ reserves the right to invoice and expect payment from a candidate at any stage throughout the relationship. We will provide you with a review of your case once we have completed 15 hours of work if no interview has been arranged at that stage. You may terminate the program at any stage provided you make full payment of all invoices issued by _____________.                                                
8b). No request for a refund will be reviewed or acted upon until all outstanding invoices owed to _____________ by the candidate have been paid in full.

9). If a candidate has lied or been deceptive about himself/herself to _____________ or the Host employer they automatically disqualify themselves from ANY refund and are liable for any perceived damage to any business relationship as a result of their dishonesty.

10). Candidates must be upfront about any work/study commitments outside of the industry experience program and commit to a roster that is mutually beneficial to both employer and candidate. Failure to inform _____________ of these commitments will be considered a breach of this agreement and will disqualify the candidate from any form of refund.

11). It is expected that candidates will arrive at each scheduled shift 15 minutes early and notify employers 24hrs prior to any leave of absence unless a medical certificate is provided to the employer and _____________. Failure to comply will void and refund request. Notice of sickness must be given no later than 2 hours before the scheduled start time. Failure to do so will void any refund request.

12). Cancellation of the Direct Debit arrangement by the candidate will be deemed to terminate the relationship with _____________ immediately and by doing so the Candidate will forfeit any right to any refund amount. By signing this agreement you acknowledge that _____________ Pty Ltd will use all resources at its disposal to collect the money owed to it as per the direct debit agreement.

13). If _____________ cannot communicate with the Candidate for a period of time greater than 10 days without prior notification by the candidate they will void their eligibility for ANY refund. Failure to get hold of our Candidates can result in letting down the host employer and is not tolerated.

14). If a Host employer terminates the program for any reason other than poor candidate performance, _____________ agrees to provide one more industry experience opportunity for the candidate at a cost of $300. Poor performance in the first placement will be considered the end of the relationship. _____________ conducts employee reviews and assesses performance with the help of the employer.

15). _____________ agrees to provide the candidate with a letter of reference from _____________ following each work experience period with a host employer.  

16). If a candidate attempts to act deceptively to gain an unfair advantage, a refund or anything else by deceiving or extorting their host employer or _____________; whether successful or not will result in _____________ terminating the relationship with the candidate immediately. _____________ deems such behaviour to be extremely damaging to our vital relationships with participating host employers and discourages such behaviour. _____________ may recuperate lost potential future earnings from the relationship with that employer. A charge will be calculated depending on the capacity of that employer, over the space of a one-year period, to take work experience candidates for the six-twelve week program. It should be noted that the fee calculated is be based on prices at the time of that offending action. These charges will be recovered through use of a solicitor or debt collection agency if necessary and all associated costs will be added to the charge 

17). If a candidate’s payment is declined, each time the payment is declined by the candidate’s bank/credit card provider, _____________ reserves the right to charge $30.00 per declined transaction (including manual and automatic retries by _____________). Retries will automatically take place one day after a failed payment unless the candidate makes alternative arrangements with _____________
management.

18). If a candidate does not follow the instructions given to them by _____________, a representative or their agent, they run the risk of voiding their eligibility for a refund. Similarly, if the candidate makes contact with an employer before his/her interview (as arranged by _____________), they will void any eligibility for a refund and will have to pay out the remainder of his/her contract.

19). All requests for refunds must be submitted in written form and mailed to _____________ at ______________________ and is to explain the circumstances and to be signed and dated by the candidate.  All decisions made by _____________ in relation to refunds are final.

20). If a client is “paying-on-interview”, the payment/instalment should be made at least 24 hours in advance on the invoice distributed by _____________ or it’s nominated agent. Failure to do so will result in the interview with the host employer being voided and an additional fee of $150 incl. GST to be charged to the candidate to reschedule the interview. This will only occur once payment has been made/instalments have been successfully commenced. 

21). _____________ reserves the right to change this policy without prior notice and all alterations will be final. 

22). I permit _____________ to record meetings held between both parties. Yes [] No [] This recording shall only be used in accordance with Privacy Regulations and will not be shared to a third party unless in relation to a dispute in which case the recording shall be treated with utmost respect and shared only with legal representatives. Failure to tick yes implies that you agree this written contract will supersede any verbal discussion had between you and _____________ or its representatives. 

23). Cancellation of the Direct Debit arrangement by the candidate will be deemed to terminate the relationship with _____________ immediately and by doing so the Candidate will forfeit any right to any refund amount. By signing this agreement you acknowledge that _____________ Pty Ltd will use all resources at its disposal to collect the money owed to it as per the direct debit agreement, if the candidate requests a refund, Clause 8b will apply.

24). If a candidate’s payment is declined, each time the payment is declined by the candidate’s bank/credit card provider, _____________ reserves the right to charge $30.00 per declined transaction (including manual and automatic retries by _____________) 

25.) _____________ may employ the services of a Debt Collection firm or solicitor to help recover any monies owed to it. If a debt collection firm is used on you as a candidate then _____________ will add the deemed recovery costs to the outstanding balance owed to by the candidate to _____________.

I signing this agreement you hereby agree that _____________ is not responsible for your workplace safety. That responsibility rests with the host employer and only the host employer. By signing this agreement you waive the right to commence legal action against _____________ or any of its representatives for compensation or damages of any kind. I hereby declare that the information provided by me is 100% correct and accurate as far as I am aware. I have been explained the _____________ ‘Industry Experience’ program as well as these, the _____________ Terms and Conditions.

I hereby declare and acknowledge that I have thoroughly understood and accepted the program offerings, refund policy and general terms and conditions outlined in this document by ____________