Editor’s note: Jeff Allen has heard every employer excuse you can imagine for not paying up — and dozens more that defy imagination. A few years ago he began documenting them in a weekly collections column. Because of the importance of collections, Fordyce will periodically reprise the most common situations he addressed. The complete collection is here.
What Client Says:
The candidate signed our agreement to pay the fee.
How Client Pays:
The variation of “thinking” the candidate would pay the fee is forcing him to do so through an employee payback agreement (EPA).
Does the candidate really have a choice? Of course. He can decline the job. Hardly a choice, and legally called an unconscionable contract of adhesion. Bad words for any employer who dares to use the court system to enforce the payback.
Usually the terms of the EPA provide for full reimbursement to the employer unless the candidate works as an indentured slave for at least a year.
That’s his problem.
He’ll solve it by making life very difficult for the client. And very easy for you to receive payment in full!