Recruitment & staffing
Recruitment debt collection in the UAE
Placement fees, rebate disputes, contract staffing invoices and manpower supply balances. Recruitment debt is almost always a documentation argument — and the argument is usually decided by a single agreement signed months earlier.
What we recover
- Permanent placement fees — the candidate started and the invoice was never paid.
- Rebate and guarantee disputes — the candidate left within the guarantee period and the client is withholding the whole fee.
- Contract and temporary staffing invoices billed monthly against timesheets.
- Manpower supply balances on ongoing outsourcing arrangements.
- Executive search retainers and completion fees.
The four disputes, and what decides each
| Client's position | What actually decides it |
|---|---|
| "We never signed your terms" | Whether the terms were sent and whether the client acted on them by interviewing and hiring the candidate. Conduct after receiving terms matters, but a signed acceptance matters a great deal more. |
| "We already knew that candidate" | Whether you can evidence the introduction — the CV submission with a date, and the client's acknowledgement or interview scheduling. |
| "The candidate left, so we owe nothing" | The rebate clause. Most provide a sliding refund or a replacement, not a full waiver — and many are conditional on the client having paid the original invoice on time, which they usually did not. |
| "The candidate was not suitable" | Whether the objection was raised before the placement was made. Raised afterwards, in response to an invoice, it is almost always a negotiating position. |
Many rebate clauses are conditional on the client having settled the original invoice within terms. A client who paid nothing at all frequently has no rebate entitlement to invoke — and a surprising number of agencies concede the point without checking their own agreement. Read it before you accept the argument.
Contract staffing
Different problem, cleaner evidence. Monthly invoices supported by approved timesheets are among the more recoverable claims we see — the client's own representative signed off the hours, which is difficult to walk back later.
The risk in contract staffing is the same as in facility management: the supply continues while the arrears build, because pulling staff off site feels worse than carrying the debt. Act at two months, not at eight. See facility management.
What to send
- Your terms of business, and any signed acceptance.
- The CV submission with its date, and the client's response.
- Interview and offer correspondence.
- The invoice and statement of account.
- For contract staffing: approved timesheets.
- Anything in writing where the client acknowledges the fee or the balance.
Recruitment FAQs
Common questions
The client never signed our terms but hired our candidate. Can we recover?
Often, though it is harder than with a signed acceptance. What helps is evidence the terms were sent, that the client received them, and that they then interviewed and hired the candidate you introduced. Send the full trail.
The candidate resigned in month two and the client refuses to pay anything.
Check your rebate clause first. Most provide a partial refund or a replacement rather than a full waiver, and many are conditional on the original invoice having been paid on time — which, if nothing was paid, means there may be no rebate entitlement at all.
The client says they already had the candidate on file.
A dated CV submission and the client's acknowledgement usually settle it. Where the claim is genuine it will normally have been raised at submission rather than at invoice.
We have several months of unpaid contract staffing invoices.
Approved timesheets make these among the stronger claims. The bigger issue is usually that the supply continued too long — place the account sooner rather than later.