Anyone working in Recruit express?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

However, I'm not so sure whether a previous employer of A company closes it down, then opens B company, will absolve him of all liabilities of A company. Unless the fella has declared bankrupt.

Since the original poster has an employment contract and pay slip on hand, I think he does have a case against this employer. I am a HR practitioner and I can say according to the Employment Law, all these deductions from his company are illegal. He should have a talk with MOM and see if MOM will be able to assist him to recover some of these money back.

It doesn't matter at all. Remember these squad sized recruitment companies aren't real companies with physical goods, real estate, equipment or IP. They are merely a legal construct set up by a few people.

For e.g. 4 guys working in Michael Page decide to set up a new company. They nominate 1 guy to be the MD and effective sole shareholder (i.e. get another random person to front $1 share). Then you run your business and have an internal company contract that dictates the sharing of expenses and commissions.

So let's say after a while because of bad luck some candidate not happy CSI make noise demand payments, send lawyer's letters, MOM officers etc. Usually they don't even care, but for arguments sake lets say the heat gets too hot. What do they do? Simple, close down the company.

Out of the 4 guys, maybe 2 decide to move somewhere / setup own company then another 3 new guys join in. The new cluster of 5 guys register a new company and get yet another guy to be the "MD" and sole shareholder. Rinse and repeat.

They can do this infinitely because new people are coming and going all the time and agencies don't really require anything much, just laptop and phones and office lease which can be easily novated. Spending truckload of money and time on pursuing a 2k payment just isn't going to work.

MOM largely plays a mediator role even if it concerns employment act. Real sizable companies give them face because they would like to do business in the future and don't want to piss of the gov, but dealing with a loose network of individual 1 man show companies, there isn't much they can do.

They won't initiate legal action and pay the cost of recovery for you. In the end you end up sending hours after hours and fees after fees just to hopefully reach a settlement where they pay you half of your 2k.

So back to my original advice, let it go and move on with life.

[kittymark1987]

I'm Glad I did not let this matter go. Today I went to labour court at MOM and was given back my pay. This recruitment firm slyly put $1750 as basic and additional $750 as incentive if $10 000 sales were met. They had to compensate me the basic pay.

If you believe you have been shortchanged, do not be afraid to fight for your right. Some people are just greedy and in turn, become unscrupulous when they keep getting away. I have also learnt my lesson: always seek to change the terms of contract if you find it unfair. MOM officer says I should have walked away given this kind of employer. He is right but sometime people can be so naive in thinking employers will not be so bad.

Most importantly: always sign a employment contract before commencing work. Star recruitment likes to use the term "training" to make u work full time but not have any pay. They said I instigated with ex employees in going against the company. I am sure we are not the first batch to lodge complaint against them.

I'm disappointed that the current employees actually are so afraid to stand up and walk away. Star Recruitment says they have gathered essays from these current employees about how "bad" I was. As of now, only left 3. So many have ran away.

I thank u those in forum who supported me. If I had just quietly walk away, I would not have gotten back the basic pay. They have undignified us, paying wages that are lesser than domestic workers.

Originally Posted by kittymark1987

I'm Glad I did not let this matter go. Today I went to labour court at MOM and was given back my pay. This recruitment firm slyly put $1750 as basic and additional $750 as incentive if $10 000 sales were met. They had to compensate me the basic pay.

If you believe you have been shortchanged, do not be afraid to fight for your right. Some people are just greedy and in turn, become unscrupulous when they keep getting away. I have also learnt my lesson: always seek to change the terms of contract if you find it unfair. MOM officer says I should have walked away given this kind of employer. He is right but sometime people can be so naive in thinking employers will not be so bad.

Most importantly: always sign a employment contract before commencing work. Star recruitment likes to use the term "training" to make u work full time but not have any pay. They said I instigated with ex employees in going against the company. I am sure we are not the first batch to lodge complaint against them.

I'm disappointed that the current employees actually are so afraid to stand up and walk away. Star Recruitment says they have gathered essays from these current employees about how "bad" I was. As of now, only left 3. So many have ran away.

I thank u those in forum who supported me. If I had just quietly walk away, I would not have gotten back the basic pay. They have undignified us, paying wages that are lesser than domestic workers.

CSB. It was only over 2 weeks ago since you started asking here what to do and suddenly today you already gotten a judgement from labour court. Obviously you've never even gone through a proper MOM process before...

[kittymark1987]

Ehhh guest .. Can I know why u are so against me? I went to report to MOM on 3rd June 2016 and 22 June 2016 was the set date for labour court hearing, which was today at 11am. I can show u the document if u do not believe it.

MOM will usually have the inquiry done in labour court 2 weeks after a justified case is brought up. And the company will need to pay me back the remaining sum no later than 14 days thereafter.

I dun understand why u are so negative to all my comments. U can check the MOM website for a more updated version.

So I get the shady, set up, close, rinse and repeat process. But what I see missing is brand loyalty of the recruitment agency.

The deciding factor when a sales person decides to work for XXX recruitment is how will candidates perceive them when they meet. Without a brand, how is the sales person gonna find the candidate for the job, eventually netting him the commissions.

I know that I for one will not entertain recruiters whose company has a Linkedin profile which says 1 to 10 employees, start up. I'm smart enough to not waist my time with them. At the top of my head, the big ones are Ambition, Michael page, Hays, Huxley.

Therefore, while it's easy to set up a legal construct and get sales people, I doubt your business will make one successful placement if you don't build the brand. To me, this rinse and repeat process is loss making.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

So I get the shady, set up, close, rinse and repeat process. But what I see missing is brand loyalty of the recruitment agency.

The deciding factor when a sales person decides to work for XXX recruitment is how will candidates perceive them when they meet. Without a brand, how is the sales person gonna find the candidate for the job, eventually netting him the commissions.

I know that I for one will not entertain recruiters whose company has a Linkedin profile which says 1 to 10 employees, start up. I'm smart enough to not waist my time with them. At the top of my head, the big ones are Ambition, Michael page, Hays, Huxley.

Therefore, while it's easy to set up a legal construct and get sales people, I doubt your business will make one successful placement if you don't build the brand. To me, this rinse and repeat process is loss making.

There are many niche small consultancies dealing with senior execs and high paying technical specialist. Just because you are not at that level and end up dealing with mass markets like Michael Page and Hays does not mean that all small boutiques should be dismissed as shady.

In mass markets company brands might count, but at higher paying levels generally it's the industry acknowledgement of the headhunter himself/herself that is paramount.

Just clarifying that the recruitment space is very wide with different operating models and market segments, one should not make blanket statements without knowing the full context.

You may also complaint to WDA PME section I guess .

not sure how this type of agency can get their licence

They must be audited

Can anyone pls help.i am desperate n hving depression. I sign a letter of intent with RE agency.
In the letter, It states If i sign letter of appointment but never turn for work or resign within 90 days i have to pay back ****80% of pay as liquided damage. I wk very hard in a very tough environment where all newbie hv quited but i know i cant but my company may terminate me as they feel job mismatch n i might not stay after 3 month. My agency call me that day n tell me if i get terminated,i will have to pay back one month salary. I really cannot afford it. I tell agent it is not in the letter of intent i sign.He say he will chk with Hr n call me bk saying HR say i will need to pay as it is one of their clause. Hv anyone who wk in agency be4or just any kind soul pls tell me is this true?i hv wk here for near 2 months.plss plsss plss kindly advice.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

RE is easily the worst recruitment agency out there...

It's a fact.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Dude, move on with life.

This industry is like that, you either toughen up and thrive or just exit if you don't think it's your cup of tea. Ranting WOT on forums ain't gonna help.

Actually this STAR is not that bad in the sense at least they gave you a high basic salary of 2.5k. Some recruitment agencies I joined before didn't even have any basic, just commission driven and some of my ex-colleagues end up begging for an advance of few hundred $ from the boss just to tide over for few weeks.

Dude , move on with life. If you could not even read finish his/her post and start to assume things on your own and confidently gave advise to someone else, you should actually keep the comments to yourselves or join STAR recruitment