What to put in a recruitment agency contract

The client contract is what decides whether you get paid when someone tries not to pay you. Most agency disputes (a candidate who "applied on their own", a client who hires six months later, a replacement requested past the deadline) are won or lost on what that document says, or fails to say. Here are the clauses that can't be missing.

1. The event that triggers payment

Define precisely what counts as a "placement". The standard: the candidate accepts a written offer. Make clear it still applies if they're hired for a different role than the original search, and if they start as a contractor and later move to payroll.

2. Attribution window

For how long, after you introduce a candidate, the client owes you the fee if they hire them. Six to twelve months is common. Without this clause, the client can wait for the relationship to "expire" and hire without paying.

3. How an introduction is recorded

A candidate is "introduced" when you send their information through a dated channel (email, the portal). Write it down: it heads off the "we already had them in our database" argument. No record, no introduction.

4. Replacement guarantee

If the candidate leaves or is let go within a window (30, 60, 90 days), you find a replacement at no extra charge. Bound it well:

• Applies only if the client has paid the invoice in full.
• Doesn't apply if the role is eliminated, its scope changes, or there's a layoff.
• It's a replacement, not a refund. If you'd rather offer a partial refund, make it your option, not the client's right.
• Once per role.

5. Exclusivity (if it applies)

On retained searches, define whether you're the only agency on that role and for how long. If it's not exclusive, say what happens when two agencies submit the same candidate: usually whoever recorded them first wins.

6. The fee, in numbers

Percentage or flat amount, on what base (gross annual salary, does it include bonus? first-year variable?), and when it's invoiced. "20% of the annual package" is ambiguous; "20% of gross annual base salary, invoiced on offer acceptance, net 15" isn't.

7. Data and confidentiality

Who can see candidate information, what happens to it when the engagement ends, and that the client can't pass your CVs to another agency or another office.

How Klyver helps

Klyver records the date and channel of every candidate introduction per client, so the attribution window and the "we already had them" claim stop being a memory contest. Each account's terms (fee, base, payment window, guarantee) live on the client, and the pre-invoice is built from those terms when the candidate reaches offer.