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:
You’re not on our preferred list.
How Client Pays:
The “preferred list” is called that because the client prefers that you think there’s a list.
It’s usually comprised of any recruiter willing to sign the client’s PSA (placement service agreement). Otherwise it’s simply any one willing to accept a (low) fee ceiling, extended guarantee, or whatever else the “client” imposes.
If you doubt this, call the client anonymously, and see if you get a JO. Half the time, you will. The other half, one of your friends will. He can even follow up by sending a fee schedule and confirming letter to the client.
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This completely destroys the “preferred list” nonsense. I’m not aware of a single employer who’s ever risked being confronted with this in court.
So they pay long before it ever reaches that stage!
