Reply to: Paying "finders' fees" to agents ?

[cojak]

Bolton Born and Bred, cock!

[stek]

Hi Cojak,

I had not forgotten but was interested to know which legislation Stek was referring to and which country as I believe he is not a UK national and may have been referring to another legislature.

Bolton Born and Bred, cock!

[SueEllen]

Hi Cojak,

I had not forgotten but was interested to know which legislation Stek was referring to and which country as I believe he is not a UK national and may have been referring to another legislature.

I understand that an agency may not charge for job seeking activities but there is no reason a Ltd Co. contractor should not provide incentives to its marketing people and don't necessarily see that the law sees that as illegal. After all, agencies are permitted to charge for eg CV polishing services etc. so why not ?

Also, re the bribery thing, agencies routinely email me offering "finders' fees" and there is no impediment to client's HR bods etc being given them too so I think that is a busted flush as well...

Boo

How many people do you know who have been paid those fees?

[WordIsBond]

I once got accused of bribery by an agency because I asked them for an increase in rate.
I tried to explain that me asking them for more money was not bribery. Took a while for them to understand.

I get bribed by my clients to do work for them.

I bribed the shop to let me take my groceries out to the car.

I bribed the electric company not to cut off my supply.

LOL.

[WTFH]

Cant wack a bit of bribery, and corruption to get the day underway. Anyone who thinks it isnt is walking about with arms outstretched on puffy white clouds eyes closed in FANTASY LAND.

Heres a quick deffinition to bore us with.

What Constitutes a Bribe?
Broadly, the Act defines bribery as giving or receiving a financial or other advantage in connection with the "improper performance" of a position of trust, or a function that is expected to be performed impartially or in good faith.

Bribery does not have to involve cash or an actual payment exchanging hands and can take many forms such as a gift, lavish treatment during a business trip or tickets to an event.

The types of bribery that take place in the commercial sector are numerous.

Some simple examples follow:

bribery in order to secure or keep a contract.
bribery to secure an order.
bribery to gain any advantage over a competitor.
bribery of a local, national or foreign official to secure a contract.
bribery to turn a blind eye to a health safety issue or poor performance or substitution of materials or false labour charges.
bribery to falsify an inspection report or obtain a certificate.

I think even suggesting it to an agent may well be good enough to put you in the box "Do not touch under any circumstances"

I once got accused of bribery by an agency because I asked them for an increase in rate.
I tried to explain that me asking them for more money was not bribery. Took a while for them to understand.

[northernladuk]

Off topic, contentious and abusive.

Boo Hoo

FTFY

[Boo]

He also keeps forgetting he's got the 183-day rule wrong too!

Off topic, contentious and abusive.

Boo

[Boo]

You have a short memory Boo, I've already answered your question once..

http://forums.contractoruk.com/accou...king-jobs.html

Hi Cojak,

I had not forgotten but was interested to know which legislation Stek was referring to and which country as I believe he is not a UK national and may have been referring to another legislature.

I understand that an agency may not charge for job seeking activities but there is no reason a Ltd Co. contractor should not provide incentives to its marketing people and don't necessarily see that the law sees that as illegal. After all, agencies are permitted to charge for eg CV polishing services etc. so why not ?

Also, re the bribery thing, agencies routinely email me offering "finders' fees" and there is no impediment to client's HR bods etc being given them too so I think that is a busted flush as well...

Boo

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

It's the Conduct Regs that are relevant here isn't it? Whether it was offered or not it would still be constitute a fee for a work finding service to all intents and purposes wouldn't it?

[Yonmons]

Cant wack a bit of bribery, and corruption to get the day underway. Anyone who thinks it isnt is walking about with arms outstretched on puffy white clouds eyes closed in FANTASY LAND.

Heres a quick deffinition to bore us with.

What Constitutes a Bribe?
Broadly, the Act defines bribery as giving or receiving a financial or other advantage in connection with the "improper performance" of a position of trust, or a function that is expected to be performed impartially or in good faith.

Bribery does not have to involve cash or an actual payment exchanging hands and can take many forms such as a gift, lavish treatment during a business trip or tickets to an event.

The types of bribery that take place in the commercial sector are numerous.

Some simple examples follow:

bribery in order to secure or keep a contract.
bribery to secure an order.
bribery to gain any advantage over a competitor.
bribery of a local, national or foreign official to secure a contract.
bribery to turn a blind eye to a health safety issue or poor performance or substitution of materials or false labour charges.
bribery to falsify an inspection report or obtain a certificate.

I think even suggesting it to an agent may well be good enough to put you in the box "Do not touch under any circumstances"

[stek]

You have a short memory Boo, I've already answered your question once..

http://forums.contractoruk.com/accou...king-jobs.html

He also keeps forgetting he's got the 183-day rule wrong too!

[northernladuk]

LOL! Bribery!? What's bribery in paying a finders fee? The agent is only putting you forward for the role. You have to interview and satisfy the client you meet their needs. Any fee is only paid to the agent on the client offering the role and the candidate accepting.

This is no different to the client paying the agent to find suitable candidates for the role they have. Some people really do have vivid imaginations.

Because it could be seen as payment to be put forward as a preferred candidate when you wouldn't be normally. There are quite a few clauses that should make people nervous such as

erson (“P”) is guilty of an offence if either of the following cases applies.

(2)Case 1 is where—

(a)P offers, promises or gives a financial or other advantage to another person, and

(b)P intends the advantage—

(i)to induce a person to perform improperly a relevant function or activity, or

(ii)to reward a person for the improper performance of such a function or activity.

It's all arguable but the point is people won't touch it with a 10 foot barge pole because they don't know how it works. More a deterrent than actually the law in action.

Many company's have policies in place where even a the gift of a bottle of wine has to be logged to cover the company. If an agent is even remotely unsure they won't go for it.

[BolshieBastard]

LOL! Bribery!? What's bribery in paying a finders fee? The agent is only putting you forward for the role. You have to interview and satisfy the client you meet their needs. Any fee is only paid to the agent on the client offering the role and the candidate accepting.

This is no different to the client paying the agent to find suitable candidates for the role they have. Some people really do have vivid imaginations.

[SueEllen]

Although Mal's corollary gives food for thought.

But he's right - it will never happen.

The CPS probably want a nice example to use for the Bribery Act that they can actually get it to court without being asked to drop it for "National Security reasons".

[cojak]

Although Mal's corollary gives food for thought.

But he's right - it will never happen.