Singapore's Worst Job Agencies

curo

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I am with an agency on a three months contract job and all is going well until recently. The agent in-charge told us that their client is seeking to change some work arrangement and told us not to report to work until the schedules had been decided.

Because this is an hourly paid job, all of us are now sitting at home and are losing potential income because of their undecided business.

Looked through the employment contract signed with the agency and no clause on putting us on hold if there's any changes between the agency and their client. No definite timeline has been given and we are now told to wait.

Any grounds for us to seek MOM's assistance?

Just go find another job. Hourly paid job mean you are a part-timer. You contract mean nothing since you got no benefit and you only get paid if you work. Why need to find MOM? Lol..
 

Ragnarok00

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Just go find another job. Hourly paid job mean you are a part-timer. You contract mean nothing since you got no benefit and you only get paid if you work. Why need to find MOM? Lol..

I see. Apologies, first time having a contract job to supplement loss of income due to the pandemic.

We have to give notice period if we were to seek for another job. Just feel it is irresponsible for the agency and its client to make these sudden changes with no definitive timeline given.
 

curo

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I see. Apologies, first time having a contract job to supplement loss of income due to the pandemic.

We have to give notice period if we were to seek for another job. Just feel it is irresponsible for the agency and its client to make these sudden changes with no definitive timeline given.

Don't bother about the notice period. They cannot hold you for anything because under Employment Act, there is not need for part-timers to give any notice period.

If they were to ask you to pay back for not serving notice, then you can bring them to MOM for asking you guys to stop work and not paying you all (This wouldn't happened). So if they dare to ask you to pay back, tell them straight up you will report this to MOM.

Just go ahead and find another job. You can also go MOM website and read up about part-time employment. MOM advise is to give Annual Leave, medical leave to part-timer based on their hours of work but normally for part-time job this is pretty useless. You just want a job that pay you well, on time and good working colleagues. I guess go find hourly work on your own. Company pay more for direct hire as going through an agency
 

Xwzlol

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just a rant for recruit express


senior consultant called me on my job application. quoted me 3 to 3.2k for a short term role 6 mths.


Said ok. Went for interview. Got shortlisted.


Came back to me after a few days and lowball me.say client can only offer below 3k. LLST i say try to get the max for me since previous job already more than 3k.


Came back and gave me even lower offer at 2.5k. Reason quoted due to post covid reason. and then say what company resources and equity need to account for more than xxx number of current headcount. tried to psycho me to take.


Gave her a piece of my mind for quoting me so high in the 1st place and then lowballing me.



i really see them no up after this experience. wonder how she got senior consultant position.

Your request too low. Senior consultant 5-7k
 

Xwzlol

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Most agencies take a monthly cut of 20% of your salary. So whatever gross salary you've been offered by the recruitment agency, the employer actually had a budget of your gross salary * 1.25 * 1.17 (assume 17% employer CPF contribution)

Example you were offered $1000, employer had already set aside budget of $1462.50 to hire you.

My advice is that if you don't want to be low balled or work every month for the recruiter for free, avoid recruitment agency. The commission is really steep.

If you can get into the company through other means, likely your pay will be higher even though you do the same exact job.

Know your value and know your bottom line. You need to mention your comfort level at how much. This to prevent agency suka suka low ball you. In negotion you should firm with what you aim. If doent work, dont shy to say the job not suitable for you.

Customize your resume to match job requirement, certifications are value added
 

hirako-shin

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Hi, i wonder it anyone can help me. Every heard of biz recruit consultants? Its an job agency but lack of information online.
 

Anony214

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Hi, here I am seeking some advice. So many cases of people terminating the agreement with the agency but there's no conclusion from them. Please share..

Sigh, so what happened is I've interviewed last Thursday, been offered on Friday, and signed on Monday. On Friday however, I did ask for some time to think about it but the agent just kept asking me what are my concerns and I felt slightly pressured, so I just accepted and did not look back. On Monday I signed.

On Tuesday, I changed my mind but there's the clause to pay one month salary if I don't start work on the first day or complete the first 90 days. I have told my agent ASAP when I've made the decision.

I still have more than one month till the start of my job, do I have a case?

Any update on this pls? I am facing a similar situation too..
 

kazuki666

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Hi, may I have your advice for my situation pls.

In summary, I have signed a letter of intent from RE (the agent informed me that I have to sign the letter and submit it to her on the same day) and the hiring company. After much consideration and persuasion from my current workplace, I have decided to withdraw the signed offer.

RE demands me to pay 1 month of my salary because I fail to report to work, even though I have informed them at least 2 weeks prior to the commencement date.

May I know if I should pay that amount? Will I be sued?

I understand it is unfair for RE, but it is also unfair for me because the agent was literally calling/texting me everyday to sign the offer and letter of intent.

Fyi, the hiring company did not ask me for any payment.

Thank you! Hope someone can help me on this...

I suppose you are withdrawing the contract because you found a better job offer?

I think none of us can advise on this. The only thing for you is refer to the employment contract you have signed. If there is such a clause that either party has to compensate if withdraw, then you have held by law. In such situation I will advise you double check your contract again what is the notice period after you join. I know of some contracts will say employee only need 1-2weeks notice for first 3 months.

In short, go back read your contract. Any forms of contract unless you can prove that you are forced to sign, else you are legally bonded.
 

Anony214

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I suppose you are withdrawing the contract because you found a better job offer?

I think none of us can advise on this. The only thing for you is refer to the employment contract you have signed. If there is such a clause that either party has to compensate if withdraw, then you have held by law. In such situation I will advise you double check your contract again what is the notice period after you join. I know of some contracts will say employee only need 1-2weeks notice for first 3 months.

In short, go back read your contract. Any forms of contract unless you can prove that you are forced to sign, else you are legally bonded.

Thank you so much for your reply!!

I have signed one with Recruit Express (letter of intent) and another one with the hiring company.

The letter of intent from Recruit Express states the following:

“Should I fail to sign the Letter of Appointment, or should I accept the offer (by signing the Letter of Appointment) but fail to report to work, or resign within 90days from the commencement date), I shall pay Recruit Express xxxx ....”

I am a little puzzled :/
She called to inform that I got the offer and asked me to sign the letter of intent by that same day... after that the clause in the contract indicates that if I don’t accept the offer, I will need to pay..

Even if I withdraw before the commencement date, I also need to pay

Omg.. Am I really screwed..?
Will I be issued a lawyer letter or be asked to court if I don’t pay?
 

kazuki666

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Thank you so much for your reply!!

I have signed one with Recruit Express (letter of intent) and another one with the hiring company.

The letter of intent from Recruit Express states the following:

“Should I fail to sign the Letter of Appointment, or should I accept the offer (by signing the Letter of Appointment) but fail to report to work, or resign within 90days from the commencement date), I shall pay Recruit Express xxxx ....”

I am a little puzzled :/
She called to inform that I got the offer and asked me to sign the letter of intent by that same day... after that the clause in the contract indicates that if I don’t accept the offer, I will need to pay..

Even if I withdraw before the commencement date, I also need to pay

Omg.. Am I really screwed..?
Will I be issued a lawyer letter or be asked to court if I don’t pay?

First of all, so long you signed the employment contract, then you are legally bonded by whatever terms on the contract. Even if its email reply saying you agree, this is good enough as agreement. Verbal agreement is more grey, most likely you will win the case. This is like marriage, buying a house, or even signing telco contract. Once inked, the pax is legally bonded.

Lawyer letter or not hard to say, but unless the employment agency has inhouse legal counsel (which I doubt). Eventually whether or not this 1 month salary you pay to agency or hiring company, it should be transparent to you, because this is the service agreement between the agency and the company...

So you signed employment contract with two different employment agencies? And you are still currently employed right? I think you better sort out soon, else the agency will be more than happy, free 1 month salary adding to his her sale quota for nothing...
 

Anony214

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First of all, so long you signed the employment contract, then you are legally bonded by whatever terms on the contract. Even if its email reply saying you agree, this is good enough as agreement. Verbal agreement is more grey, most likely you will win the case. This is like marriage, buying a house, or even signing telco contract. Once inked, the pax is legally bonded.

Lawyer letter or not hard to say, but unless the employment agency has inhouse legal counsel (which I doubt). Eventually whether or not this 1 month salary you pay to agency or hiring company, it should be transparent to you, because this is the service agreement between the agency and the company...

So you signed employment contract with two different employment agencies? And you are still currently employed right? I think you better sort out soon, else the agency will be more than happy, free 1 month salary adding to his her sale quota for nothing...

I see thank you for your explanation!

I have signed the Letter of Intent with Recruit Express and Letter of Appointment with the hiring company. I am currently still employed because I withdrew from the offer. After one week of signing the Letter of Intent and Letter of Appointment, I have emailed to both Recruit Express and the hiring company on my withdrawal. They have accepted my withdrawal, but Recruit Express is now asking me to pay 1 month of my salary 😱

Do you have any idea how I should approach this?
I thought by informing them before the commencement date, does not equate to failure to report for work ):
 

dingy007

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Stuck at recruiter

Hi,

Please help me with this situation: :s11: :s11:

I had signed a contract with the recruitment firm which has the following clauses
- the start date is <the date that I was expecting to start> or any date that the end client suggests
- if i dont start by the date, i will have to pay 1 months salary to recruitment firm.

Background:
i had resigned from my previous company after completing the interviews with the client and expected to start by <the date that I was expecting to start>.
On the first day, i was informed that there was some delay in processing and that i will have to start on the following week. On the next week, i was informed that the client is still going through with the processing and that it will need more time. On end of third week, i was informed that i will be put to a different team/project and that i will have to attend interviews (the role is quite different from the original offer).
Hence i am considering to resign from this firm and look for other jobs.
Based on the contract, i will have to pay the firm 1 months salary, but i dont have any money and no income for almost a month now.

is there no way that i can resign from this place and look for a new job? Does the contract mean that i will be held 'hostage' indefinitely?
 

curo

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Hi,

Please help me with this situation: :s11: :s11:

I had signed a contract with the recruitment firm which has the following clauses
- the start date is <the date that I was expecting to start> or any date that the end client suggests
- if i dont start by the date, i will have to pay 1 months salary to recruitment firm.

Background:
i had resigned from my previous company after completing the interviews with the client and expected to start by <the date that I was expecting to start>.
On the first day, i was informed that there was some delay in processing and that i will have to start on the following week. On the next week, i was informed that the client is still going through with the processing and that it will need more time. On end of third week, i was informed that i will be put to a different team/project and that i will have to attend interviews (the role is quite different from the original offer).
Hence i am considering to resign from this firm and look for other jobs.
Based on the contract, i will have to pay the firm 1 months salary, but i dont have any money and no income for almost a month now.

is there no way that i can resign from this place and look for a new job? Does the contract mean that i will be held 'hostage' indefinitely?

Hi, based on what you have just mention,does that mean you did not even start work at all? If yes, why is there a need to resign since you are not even an employee? If the recruitment firm insist that you have to pay them 1 month salary then they have to give you the offer that you sign up for else you can bring the contract to MOM. Unless there is information missing from what you just mention else I do not see why is there a need to resign or pay anyone 1 month salary so neither the client or the firm keep to their promise.

If you have resign after signing the employment letter offered by the client and now they want to "rehire" you for another role and do another round of interview, this mean they are in breach of the contract and you might want to bring this to MOM to assist you with it as they have cause you to be jobless.

Please note that what I mention above is based on what you have given and my own experience. Have a nice day and good luck bro
 

curo

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I see thank you for your explanation!

I have signed the Letter of Intent with Recruit Express and Letter of Appointment with the hiring company. I am currently still employed because I withdrew from the offer. After one week of signing the Letter of Intent and Letter of Appointment, I have emailed to both Recruit Express and the hiring company on my withdrawal. They have accepted my withdrawal, but Recruit Express is now asking me to pay 1 month of my salary 😱

Do you have any idea how I should approach this?
I thought by informing them before the commencement date, does not equate to failure to report for work ):

The moment you sign the contract with RE you are bonded by the contract. Withdrawal of offer after signing equate to failure to report to work. To the client it might not be but to RE, yes. Unless you can discuss it with them to waive it off else you would have to prepare to pay them 1 month of your salary.
 

dingy007

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Hi, based on what you have just mention,does that mean you did not even start work at all? If yes, why is there a need to resign since you are not even an employee? If the recruitment firm insist that you have to pay them 1 month salary then they have to give you the offer that you sign up for else you can bring the contract to MOM. Unless there is information missing from what you just mention else I do not see why is there a need to resign or pay anyone 1 month salary so neither the client or the firm keep to their promise.

If you have resign after signing the employment letter offered by the client and now they want to "rehire" you for another role and do another round of interview, this mean they are in breach of the contract and you might want to bring this to MOM to assist you with it as they have cause you to be jobless.

Please note that what I mention above is based on what you have given and my own experience. Have a nice day and good luck bro

Thank you for your advice!!

- does that mean you did not even start work at all? - yes, i have not started work.

According to the company, i do not have to sign anything with the client directly. The recruitment firm gets the contract from the client and then assigns me to the project. And the contract is only between me and the recruitment firm. also the project/client is not mentioned in the contract.
The main problem is that the 'starting date' is defined by the client. does this mean that i am still not actually an employee of this recruitment firm until they give me a start date? i had called up MOM and they mentioned that the Employment act does not start until the employee actually starts work at employer/client, so it will be a civil court case, which would mean that they can use a lawyer to claim

From MOM website (what-is-a-contract-of-service)

Starting a contract of service
The contract is in effect when the new recruit turns up for work on the appointed starting date.

If the recruit fails to turn up:

The Employment Act does not apply, as the employer-employee relationship did not start
The employer cannot claim notice pay or any compensation in accordance to the Act
Any claims for compensation by the employer will have to be a civil claim through a lawyer
 

curo

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So from what you said, this job is a contract role and you are hire by RE to work for their client. In this case, if the role of their client is different from the role that RE mention and hire you for, you have the right to reject it and need not pay them anything. If they force you to take up the new role or sign a new contract for the new role pls don't.

There is not a need for you to resign as mention you did not start work at all. In no way can RE ask you to pay them 1 month salary. Even if you did start work for RE, there should be a clause about your notice period as your employer is RE and not the client.

Go back to RE and ask them why do you have to pay them 1 month salary. Based on what? If based on the contract you sign with them, you did not even start work so there is not a need to pay them 1 month salary. N the contract that you sign for them is for another role therefore by asking you to work in another totally different role, they are in breach of the contract.

As this is a project based job, the start date is always decided by the client. You are like the outsource worker. Boss is RE but working for the client.


Thank you for your advice!!

- does that mean you did not even start work at all? - yes, i have not started work.

According to the company, i do not have to sign anything with the client directly. The recruitment firm gets the contract from the client and then assigns me to the project. And the contract is only between me and the recruitment firm. also the project/client is not mentioned in the contract.
The main problem is that the 'starting date' is defined by the client. does this mean that i am still not actually an employee of this recruitment firm until they give me a start date? i had called up MOM and they mentioned that the Employment act does not start until the employee actually starts work at employer/client, so it will be a civil court case, which would mean that they can use a lawyer to claim

From MOM website (what-is-a-contract-of-service)

Starting a contract of service
The contract is in effect when the new recruit turns up for work on the appointed starting date.

If the recruit fails to turn up:

The Employment Act does not apply, as the employer-employee relationship did not start
The employer cannot claim notice pay or any compensation in accordance to the Act
Any claims for compensation by the employer will have to be a civil claim through a lawyer
 

kazuki666

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Hi,

Please help me with this situation: :s11: :s11:

I had signed a contract with the recruitment firm which has the following clauses
- the start date is <the date that I was expecting to start> or any date that the end client suggests
- if i dont start by the date, i will have to pay 1 months salary to recruitment firm.

Background:
i had resigned from my previous company after completing the interviews with the client and expected to start by <the date that I was expecting to start>.
On the first day, i was informed that there was some delay in processing and that i will have to start on the following week. On the next week, i was informed that the client is still going through with the processing and that it will need more time. On end of third week, i was informed that i will be put to a different team/project and that i will have to attend interviews (the role is quite different from the original offer).
Hence i am considering to resign from this firm and look for other jobs.
Based on the contract, i will have to pay the firm 1 months salary, but i dont have any money and no income for almost a month now.

is there no way that i can resign from this place and look for a new job? Does the contract mean that i will be held 'hostage' indefinitely?

Your case quite unique, especially you only got to know on day1? You mean on the "first day" you reported to work at the client and were told to leave?

In a way, you have signed employment contract with recruitment firm for XYZ position to work at ABC (client) already right? And you have already resigned back then when you signed this employment contract?

Technically you have been held back for 3 weeks. Lets assume you are supposed to start work with ABC on 01 Nov, but after 3 weeks of delay the recruitment firm is saying you have to attend interview for EFG position.



1) How desperate are you for this job?
2) Do you have other employment opportunity on hand?
3) Did the recruitment firm express any form of compensation for the delay?

This is what I can advise in my personal opinion, but it really depend how much you have shared and how much I understand your situation.
If I am you, I will get the recruitment firm to pay me based on the start date on the employment contract. Imagine now if you are the one who wish to delay start work date or refuse to work, you think they will let it go freely? Imagine the recruitment firm keeps delaying week after week, and you are not able to look around for other jobs and not drawing an income.


Anyway, its best for you to relook at the employment contract again, word by word.
 

dingy007

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Your case quite unique, especially you only got to know on day1? You mean on the "first day" you reported to work at the client and were told to leave?

In a way, you have signed employment contract with recruitment firm for XYZ position to work at ABC (client) already right? And you have already resigned back then when you signed this employment contract?

Technically you have been held back for 3 weeks. Lets assume you are supposed to start work with ABC on 01 Nov, but after 3 weeks of delay the recruitment firm is saying you have to attend interview for EFG position.



1) How desperate are you for this job?
2) Do you have other employment opportunity on hand?
3) Did the recruitment firm express any form of compensation for the delay?

This is what I can advise in my personal opinion, but it really depend how much you have shared and how much I understand your situation.
If I am you, I will get the recruitment firm to pay me based on the start date on the employment contract. Imagine now if you are the one who wish to delay start work date or refuse to work, you think they will let it go freely? Imagine the recruitment firm keeps delaying week after week, and you are not able to look around for other jobs and not drawing an income.


Anyway, its best for you to relook at the employment contract again, word by word.

In a way, you have signed employment contract with recruitment firm for XYZ position to work at ABC (client) already right? And you have already resigned back then when you signed this employment contract?

Actually, the recruiter messaged the day before saying that there was a delay in processing.

In a way, you have signed employment contract with recruitment firm for XYZ position to work at ABC (client) already right?
- yes, but they didnt put down the client or project name in contract.
And you have already resigned back then when you signed this employment contract?
- yes, initially i had signed the provisonal offer, then after resigning i signed the actual contract. To be honest, i was stupid in that i didnt read the actual contract carefully and took the word from the recruiter that most clauses are the same as the provisional offer letter. Also, i wasnt expecting the 'delay' as the interviews were completed a few weeks before that.

1) How desperate are you for this job?
- The new role is something that i really do not want to work for. Also, if i start, the notice period would be 2 and a half months for first year. It would be difficult to convince recruiters why i want to apply for new job after joining the company (eg. if you didnt like the job, why did you join. will he join our company and do the same)
2) Do you have other employment opportunity on hand?
- No, i just started looking because till recently, they kept saying that the actual role was just getting delayed due to processing at client side
3) Did the recruitment firm express any form of compensation for the delay?
- No, as per the contract they dont have to

Anyway, as 'curo' had mentioned in the previous reply, i will just forgo this new role and see what they come up with.
 

dingy007

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So from what you said, this job is a contract role and you are hire by RE to work for their client. In this case, if the role of their client is different from the role that RE mention and hire you for, you have the right to reject it and need not pay them anything. If they force you to take up the new role or sign a new contract for the new role pls don't.

There is not a need for you to resign as mention you did not start work at all. In no way can RE ask you to pay them 1 month salary. Even if you did start work for RE, there should be a clause about your notice period as your employer is RE and not the client.

Go back to RE and ask them why do you have to pay them 1 month salary. Based on what? If based on the contract you sign with them, you did not even start work so there is not a need to pay them 1 month salary. N the contract that you sign for them is for another role therefore by asking you to work in another totally different role, they are in breach of the contract.

As this is a project based job, the start date is always decided by the client. You are like the outsource worker. Boss is RE but working for the client.

agreed, i will reject the role and see what they will come up with. In the meantime, i will start looking for other roles.

Thank you all for your suggestions! Much appreciated.
 

kazuki666

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The demoralising part should be that you had resigned for a new role which is eventually not fulfilled as agreed. You better check with the recruitment firm on the T&C black and white via email. As much as you can be nice enough to say let them waive off not compensating you for the delay, you won't want them to turn around to bite you asking to pay them for not waiting. Of course if want to be fair, I will ask the recruitment firm to compensate me the notice period which was not done.

Just curious though. Is this a pretty high level position, thus the 2.5 months notice period? 2 weeks notice during 3 month probation is quite normal for executive level, 1 month after probation. Around 2-3 months notice period for supervisory/managerial.

Actually I feel a little pity how come you resigned and signed for a new job which you don't like and under agency headcount even... Unless your last position was even worse. I always find agency headcount has pretty low benefits almost none, around 1 month completion bonus after 1 year contract which I think its an excuse actually AWS.
Unless you are able to negotiate a higher monthly basic salary for the agency headcount position, and don't intend stay too long beyond a year. Don't forget that when a hiring company is preparing your salary proposal, he she usually will compute based on annual package, thus I find agency headcount employee is usually on the losing end who likely only have 1 month completion bonus with no AWS and no VB... :(
 
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