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Whether you’re just starting up your own agency or you’re working with a well-established team, there are a number of pitfalls to avoid that are unique to contract recruitment.

Recruiters who normally work in permanent recruitment can be caught out just as much as beginners.

Here, then, are the five biggest rookie mistakes to watch for.

• Is Your Financing Up to The Job?

You can’t wait for your client to pay you if you’re going to pay contractors when they need to be paid – and you can’t get away with paying late!

Our TBOS Freedom invoice financing service can really help with this. Whatever method you choose has to be put in place ahead of time, and you should check it has the capacity to handle any new placement you make.

• Are Your Contractors Legally Compliant?

Keep a record of what documents your contractors need to have and collate them to ensure they’re compliant. ID, insurance and company documents are standard, but specific industries will often want more.

You should also have a record of whether they’re PAYE or paid through an umbrella company.

• Do You Have Your Contracts Ready?

As well as making sure your back office systems are ready to record all the important information about contract placements, review the contracts you provide client companies. Better yet – consult an employment lawyer. Contract placements often need filling right away, so you need to have everything ready ahead of time.

And remember – contracts must be signed before the contractor begins work! Caveats in your contract specifying that the first day’s work constitutes signing the contract can be useful here.

• Forget Cruise Control, How’s your Credit Control?

Credit control, from initial company credit checking, through raising invoices, collection, and monthly reconciliations – is vital. Your invoice finance line may have requirements on their credit or funding limits which make certain placements impossible for you to finance, and you should keep a careful eye on this, too.

• Do You Know How to Keep Your Contractors Happy?

The advice we gave in a recent blog is very relevant here, but the question stays the same. With contract placements you remain the middleman for a much longer time. It’s important to keep both sides happy with the arrangement, both to keep it secure and to make more business likely.

We’re happy to help you out – for more on how we can help you, get in touch via our online form, on 0845 881 1112, or at enquiries@tbos.co.uk.