Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Jedrin,
Your topic is totally off-post, but I will give you my 2¢ anyway.
I was placed at a company 3 years ago by Robert Half. I found them to be the most reputable agency out there, and I had very good experiences with them. (They placed me for a PHP job.) Almost all recruiters I've met are scum (really, scum of the earth), but the people at Robert Half that I worked with were respectable and professional. Pushy, at times, but professional.
It sounds like the contract they want you to sign is a non-compete contract, meaning that if they introduce you to a client who then hires you they get to collect a recruiter's fee (typically 20-33% of your annual salary). You don't pay this, the employer does. This is actually standard in the industry (for recruiters), although it is kind of appalling.
The contact they want you to sign is basically saying that if they introduce you to one of their clients, you can't go work for that client directly without A) working through them or B) them getting their placement fee from the employer. That's all they want -- money. It is in everyone's interest for you to get a good job.
This is what you wrote is in the contract:
Consultant agrees to provide, on an
as needed basis, such IT services required by Robert Half from time to
time .. work provided hereunder shall be under direction of Robert
Half or client(s) of Robert Half
Based on the provision you posted in contact, I don't actually know what your concern is. You are right to read contracts before signing them and to seek as much information as possible, of course, but it is unclear to me what your actual concern is. Maybe you concerned that this contract is obligating you to do work for them -- it isn't. Indentured servitude has been illegal for a long time and almost all states are "At-will" states, meaning you work "at will" and they can fire you "at will." All this part of the contract says is that IF you do work for one of their clients (that they introduce you to), it has to be through them.
Do keep in mind that any contact that has a provision that is not in accordance with the law is not an enforceable contact -- no matter what anyone tells you, contracts can't circumvent "the people's will" (the law of the land). Non-compete agreements are extremely hard to enforce, and historically are meaningless. That doesn't mean you should try to get away with going behind their back to work for one of their clients, it just means that the scope of the agreement is typically narrow in the eyes of the law.
For example, let's say that you go out and make a contact with an employer they work with. But they didn't introduce you, you just happened to find that employer on your own. That would clearly not be covered under the non-compete agreement because they can't make a contract with you that limits your right to be a free agent and find work on your own. (That contract wouldn't be recognized by the law.) But if they do introduce you to the employer, they probably do have a legal case. Sometimes there is gray area, so see my suggestion #2 below. As I'm trying to explain, this stuff is complicated.
Basically if you go on an interview through Robert Half, they want to either subcontract you (make money off selling your hours), or they want a big fat placement fee (from the employer) that is about 25% of your annual salary (but that is negotiated between the employer & the recruiter, not you). If you play by those rules, you should be fine with Robert Half. If you don't want that, I would suggest you not work with any recruiters at all.
I would recommend you do two things:
1) See a job counselor who might help you (kind of like therapy but for your profession) figure out what it is that you need from your future employment. Boil it down to the things that matter to you (hours, location, salary, work environment, type of work, etc). Then figure out if what Robert Half is asking you to sign is at odds with any of those core things. If it is, bring it up to them as part of your core values you don't want to give up. I wouldn't recommend not signing the contract on principle -- everyone is going to have a contract, it is just a matter of what in the contract is at odds with what you need.
2) If you are really concerned about the language within the contract, you should consult a lawyer. Only a lawyer can offer you legitimate legal advice based on the laws in your state. You can also get free advice from various labor boards and/or labor advocacy groups. If you do that, be sure to have a specific question that you want an answer for.
Good luck!
-Jason
On May 31, 2011, at 11:21 AM, Jedrin wrote:
I am in the USA. I tend to target mostly Rails work.
Robert Half had called me and said that they had been getting in
Rails contracts and wanted to talk to me. Often times they do not get
so much rails work. I took it as a possible sign of a pickup in rails.
I went to their office and met with them and they had given me this
contract to sign.
My impression had been that their rates may seemed to be low and I
had flat out told them that in the past. This in particular when they
told me $40 an hour for PHP work (or even less). I am less interested
in PHP, but I don't want to rule it out altogether. Thus far I have
not told people who want to talk to me that I am not interested. I had
not signed their contract and felt I should email the friendly fellow
at Robert Half back and tell him something as to my impression of this
contract as to why I don't want to sign it or maybe other people can
tell me it doesn't matter really if I sign it or not, but my default
position is I am not going to sign it ..
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