Legal advice ref. finders fees please!
Discussion
Evening all - really hope someone might have some advice or information regarding any possible precedent here. A little background info:
A little over a month ago I was job hunting and had my CV registered with some agencies, up on jobsites, etc. Recieved a call from an agency regarding a possible position that sounded suitable so I asked them to put me forward for it. I then chased them about it for a week or so, but was told that I had been unsuccessful. Thought no more of it.
A couple of weeks later, I'm still doing the job hunting and see a job description of interest on a job site and open up the details - it's with the company that I had previously been turned down by. I email them my CV directly along with a covering email (didn't mention that I had previously applied as I believed it to be a similar but separate position), get asked in for an interview immediately, get offered the job almost there and then, and start three days later.
This was last week. Today my manager calls me into his office at the end of the day and say that the agency have found out that I've accepted a job (the same job as it happens) with this company and are therefore demanding their finders fee as per their terms and conditions. Company's position is that I wasn't hired through the agency's introduction so they can go whistle.
Turns out that my CV was only skim-read by the MD and Ops Director who managed to miss big chunks of it, but when I applied directly they were on holiday so it fell in the lap of the Quality Manager (my boss) and Production Manager who correctly recognised that I would be a perfect fit for the job and duly interviewed/hired me.
Problem is, the agency are saying that if they don't get their finders fee then they'll take the company to court for breach of contract as their logic is that had the company read my CV properly the first time it was submitted (by them), then I would have been hired as I was evidently right for the job, and thus the agency would have got their finders fee. The company have responded by saying that if the agency insist on this, then they will refuse to pay the finders fee on principle, but instead will terminate my employment instead. So I'm basically looking at losing my job through no fault of my own.
I've been at the company a week as of today, and have been told that I can't now go in until the situation is resolved. Because of the time of year it is (people on holiday) and the fact that I was hired at very short notice due to the urgency with which they wanted to get me started, I haven't yet signed an official contract (I know, I know), but have been promised that I will get paid for the work done so far.
My question is what, if anything, can I do or do I just have to leave it to them to sort out? The company have said that if the agency agrees to waive the finders fee and basically back down then I keep my job, but I've spoken to the agency and they're refusing to do this. DO I have any rights here or am I pretty much screwed?
A little over a month ago I was job hunting and had my CV registered with some agencies, up on jobsites, etc. Recieved a call from an agency regarding a possible position that sounded suitable so I asked them to put me forward for it. I then chased them about it for a week or so, but was told that I had been unsuccessful. Thought no more of it.
A couple of weeks later, I'm still doing the job hunting and see a job description of interest on a job site and open up the details - it's with the company that I had previously been turned down by. I email them my CV directly along with a covering email (didn't mention that I had previously applied as I believed it to be a similar but separate position), get asked in for an interview immediately, get offered the job almost there and then, and start three days later.
This was last week. Today my manager calls me into his office at the end of the day and say that the agency have found out that I've accepted a job (the same job as it happens) with this company and are therefore demanding their finders fee as per their terms and conditions. Company's position is that I wasn't hired through the agency's introduction so they can go whistle.
Turns out that my CV was only skim-read by the MD and Ops Director who managed to miss big chunks of it, but when I applied directly they were on holiday so it fell in the lap of the Quality Manager (my boss) and Production Manager who correctly recognised that I would be a perfect fit for the job and duly interviewed/hired me.
Problem is, the agency are saying that if they don't get their finders fee then they'll take the company to court for breach of contract as their logic is that had the company read my CV properly the first time it was submitted (by them), then I would have been hired as I was evidently right for the job, and thus the agency would have got their finders fee. The company have responded by saying that if the agency insist on this, then they will refuse to pay the finders fee on principle, but instead will terminate my employment instead. So I'm basically looking at losing my job through no fault of my own.
I've been at the company a week as of today, and have been told that I can't now go in until the situation is resolved. Because of the time of year it is (people on holiday) and the fact that I was hired at very short notice due to the urgency with which they wanted to get me started, I haven't yet signed an official contract (I know, I know), but have been promised that I will get paid for the work done so far.
My question is what, if anything, can I do or do I just have to leave it to them to sort out? The company have said that if the agency agrees to waive the finders fee and basically back down then I keep my job, but I've spoken to the agency and they're refusing to do this. DO I have any rights here or am I pretty much screwed?
Well, spoke to the company last Friday and I am officially unemployed. They're getting company solicitors involved and everything as they've been invoiced by the recruiters, but I can't be doing with all the macho posturing and inability to back down so have started the hunt for something else. Seems a shame that they were willing to lose an employee over a fee they were obviously happy to pay in the first instance, but if this is an indication of how they're willing to treat employees then I reckon I'm better off out of it.
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