Expanding Internationally: How Do We Set Terms and Service Charges for Overseas Placements?

paramagurunaath
Dear Seniors,

We are running a placement consultancy and planning to extend our services internationally. Therefore, we need help regarding the terms and conditions for placing candidates overseas, and we also appreciate any suggestions on service charges.

Thanks & Regards,

Paramagurunaath.SPS
sourabh77
Dear Paramagurunaath,

The first thing you need to identify is the geographical area where you are going to place the candidates or offer your services. The laws are different in different countries. Therefore, you are going to need professional legal advice in preparing the legal documents.

Are you offering the candidates to local clients to be placed abroad, or are you planning to extend your operations internationally by establishing your office/s at international location/s?

These are two different scenarios. However, if you are placing your candidates with domestic clients who might relocate them internationally, the service charges may already be included in your existing contract with the client. Either your client will provide the candidates with necessary allowances, or they will ask you to provide them, and you will bill the client.

If you are hiring candidates based in international locations on your payroll, the service charges may vary depending on the location, duration of the contract, and the type of technology for which you are providing services. For example, in the US, if you are paying a consultant $30/hr to $60/hr for a particular technology, you may want to add a margin of $5/hr to $10/hr based on the client's budget and your company policy.

Whenever you place a candidate overseas, the terms and conditions should legally bind both your candidate and your client. I can provide you with a few pointers, but you should seek professional legal help in creating a legal T&C agreement.

You should include a clause disallowing the client from offering your candidate direct employment unless there is a prior understanding that after a certain period, the client can offer direct employment. Define the duration for which you will charge, the frequency of billing (weekly, fortnightly, or monthly), the payment release timeline, work hours, and the duration and location of the contract.

Similarly, the candidate should be restricted from entering into any form of employment with the current client or changing their work visa while abroad during a mutually agreed time frame.

The candidate should not enter into any professional agreement with the current client or any other client outside the existing contract. They should not change their work visa with any other organization for an agreed-upon time frame and should receive a specific salary for designated work hours. The benefits will vary depending on the country.

The list of terms and conditions for both clients and candidates can be extensive. I strongly recommend seeking legal aid before documenting anything.

Warm regards,
Sourabh
If you are knowledgeable about any fact, resource or experience related to this topic - please add your views. For articles and copyrighted material please only cite the original source link. Each contribution will make this page a resource useful for everyone. Join To Contribute