Posted by Nicky P. Anderson on Jan 12, 2023

Dear Nicky,

I am fairly new to NPAworldwide and made my first placement already. Yay! I added the placement to the system and received the check in the mail 20 days later. To my dismay, I received a call from the candidate recruiter asking me when he would receive his money. I told him the guarantee period was 90 days but I did have the check from the client. He was not happy. Am I doing something wrong?

Checking in Champion

Dear Checking,

NPAworldwide policy requires you to pay your partner immediately upon receiving payment from the client. The Operations Manual defines "immediately" as "by the close of the next business day." You cannot withhold payment because of your payment terms, guarantee or any other reason. Those funds do not belong to you and it is improper to keep them.

Recently, members have experienced significant increases in fall-offs due to counteroffers and other market conditions. For members who offer money back guarantees, this can become problematic for large placements (high salary / high fee) where you may have to return a large sum of money to your client—including your partner refunding their share of the fee as well. NPAworldwide recognizes that member firms are independent businesses and we make no recommendations as to how members determine their fee and guarantee policies. However, for roles where you are participating in a split with your partner, replacing a candidate is preferable to a fully refundable fee. If you offer a money back guarantee, please discuss that in detail with your partner before any placement activity commences. A further discussion is advised regarding potential escrow of funds for those instances where you may both be at risk of having to return a large sum of money if the candidate leaves before the guarantee period is satisfied. Please click here for more detail on this important topic.

Nicky

send letters to: nanderson@npaworldwide.com