1. All and any business undertaken by The Housekeeper Company, a division of The Childcare Recruitment Company Ltd (hereafter known as ‘the Agency’) is transacted subject to these conditions each of which have been incorporated or implied in any agreement between the Agency and the employer (hereafter known as ’the Client’). No variations of these terms and conditions shall be binding unless expressly confirmed by the Agency in writing.
2. Fees to the Agency are payable by the Client upon engagement (not the date of commencement) and are solely in consideration of the introductory service between Clients and Applicants and are in no way dependent on the applicant obtaining their visa renewal, new passport, CRB check, UK driving license, National Insurance number or any other documentation.
3. Fees paid to the Agency are as per our Schedule of Fees and are non negotiable.
4.The Agency cannot be held responsible for any losses, costs, claims, damages or liabilities to the Client and/or the children of any Client or to the Client’s property or to the Applicant arising from the introduction or engagement of Applicants through the Agency.
5. The Agency’s fee is applicable to one engagement and the fee for any applicant returning at a future date will be charged to the client at the usual rates. Should any engagement or re-engagement occur without notification to the Agency by the client, the full permanent will be charged to the client irrespective of the length of employment.
6. If a temporary placement becomes a permanent placement, the full permanent introduction fee becomes due and the appropriate additional fee will be charged, taking into consideration the temporary fee already paid, this will be payable as per the Agency’s normal terms of business. If a client employs an applicant for a temporary period and then engages a further applicant on either a permanent or temporary basis, this will be treated as a completely new, separate arrangement.
7. In cases where the applicant has been engaged on a temporary basis and the employment continues for a period longer than that for which the fee has been calculated, or on a permanent basis, the Agency must be notified immediately and the appropriate additional fee will be charged and will be payable as per normal terms of business.
8. Clients retaining the services of one of our applicants in any capacity will be charged for the period the applicant is retained, even if said applicant turns out to be unsuitable.
9. If a client notifies the Agency that they are paying the applicant a certain amount per week, and the Agency bases their Agency Fee on that amount, and then it transpires that the client is paying the applicant a higher amount, the Agency is then entitled to charge the client an additional fee, for the discrepancy in the salary declared to the actual salary.
10. All reasonable and due care is taken by the Agency to screen Applicants but no guarantees whatsoever are given by the Agency with respect to the Applicant’s suitability or otherwise, save that the Agency will always check the visa status, qualifications of the applicant and their references to satisfy itself that the applicant is suitable, although the Agency cannot be responsible for the bona fides or accuracy of the said references.
11. All information supplied by the Agency is confidential and must not be passed either directly or indirectly to any actual or potential Clients or applicants. If any information is transferred or passed on in breach of this condition, the Client in breach will be held responsible for the Agency fee on the same terms as if the Client had herself/himself engaged the applicant on a permanent basis.
12. The engagement or use of the services directly or indirectly or referral by the Client of any Applicant whether permanent or temporary introduced to the Client by the Agency within one year of that introduction shall be deemed acceptance of and agreement to these terms and conditions by the Client.
13. An introduction fee in accordance with the Schedule of Fees (printed in this leaflet) shall be payable to the Agency by the Client if:
a) The Client engages or uses the services of directly or indirectly any Applicant whether permanent or temporary, introduced to the Client by the Agency within one year of that introduction.
b) The Client refers for employment any Applicant whether permanent or temporary introduced to the Client by the Agency to any person firm or corporation (‘third party’) resulting in an engagement for use of the services of directly or indirectly of that Applicant by the third party within one year of the introduction of the Applicant to the Client by the Agency.
14. The appropriate introduction fees as per the schedule of fees (as appears in this leaflet) shall be paid by the Client to the Agency within 7 days of the date of issue of the invoice. Interest will be chargeable on all outstanding invoices at the rate of 5% above the prevailing base rate of Barclays Bank PLC from the due date to the date of actual settlement.
15. If the client wishes to pay by credit card and to use the Pay Pal facility, via the website, to settle their invoice, the Agency will add the Pay Pal Administration charge of 5% to the total amount of the invoice.
16. In the event of the Client not paying the Agency fee, the Agency reserves the right to remove their applicant from that employment, without notice to the Client, but an appropriate temporary fee, commensurate with the length of time they were employed, will be due.
17. If a permanent applicant does not remain in the Client’s employment for 12 weeks, from the date of commencement(as long as the Client has paid the Agency fee within 7 days from receipt of invoice), the Agency undertakes to use its best endeavours to find a replacement for the Applicant, as per the requirements specified in their client registration form, at no additional charge to the Client, within a 4 week period, from date of notification.
18. The Agency will not provide a replacement where the Applicant had been treated unreasonably by the Client, given the circumstances of the job they are being retained to do or where the Client or the Client’s family have not been honest about the type of help required, and the Applicant is required to do duties that were not agreed at interview or are contained in any contract between the Client and Applicant.
19. The Agency fees are non refundable.
20. In the event that the agreement is cancelled, after a trial has been arranged, for whatever reason, the Client will be charged the sum of £200.00 plus VAT in consideration of administration costs incurred by the Agency.
21. If you find a suitable applicant through alternative means after you have had a one week trial with our applicant, the Agency will charge you a one week temporary fee of £100.
22. If after agreeing to hire our candidate, following a one week trial period, where the Agency has already submitted their Invoice and relevant paperwork, the Client changes their mind about employing the applicant, the Agency will cancel the original invoice and replace it with an Administration Invoice equivalent to 1 week’s gross salary.
23. The Agency reserves the right to charge a discretionary £100 administration fee to cover advertising costs.
24. The Agency does not employ the Applicants. The Client is the employer of the Applicant and all PAYE and National Insurance contributions together with any other statutory rights that the Applicant is entitled to are the responsibility of the Client.
25. The Agency accepts no liability whatsoever for the contents of any draft Contract it may provide the Client with to enable the Client to enter into a written contract with the Applicant. Any draft Contract is supplied as a guide and has not been drawn up by a lawyer with any specific circumstances in mind. The Agency recommends that the Client obtains its own legal advice in relation to any Contract it wishes to enter into with the Applicant.
26. Where a fee is based on an ’agreed’ salary and that salary is increased within the first nine month’s of the staff’s period of employ then an additional fee based on the increased salary (with credit being given for any fee already paid) is due and payable to ’The Childcare Recruitment Company Ltd’.
27. The client is requested to reimburse either the Agency or the applicant, depending on who paid for the ticket, with all reasonable travelling expenses to the interview and/or for the trial week, upon presentation of receipt.
28. The Agency reserves the right to review and revise these terms and conditions by giving one week’s notice to the Client.
29. These terms and conditions are governed by the law of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Addendum to Terms & Conditions for The Housekeeper Company
The HKC WILL ensure that it completes the following: –
1. Interview all prospective applicants and take down as much information about the applicant as we are able to.
2. Verify that the applicant holds either a Domestic Worker Visa, appropriate visa or an EU Passport and is legally entitled to work in the UK (NB: – sometimes the HKC will not have seen the original passport and or Visa, as it may have been kept by a previous employer but the HKC will have verified that the applicant has the correct visa status, for example by liaising with a solicitor who will have contacted the appropriate British Embassy).
3. Check as many references on the applicant as we are able to. (NB: In some instances it is not always possible to obtain work related references).
4. Arrange all interview and travel arrangements.
5. Provide reasonable confidential back up and support for both the applicant and the client after placement. The Agency will send the client, via email, an array of helpful information, concerning the employment of the applicant, for example who to contact to arrange for the applicant to have a National Insurance number, if they do not already have one.
6. Provide the client with all the forms the applicant needs for their visa renewal and suggest to the applicant & client that they visit the Home Office Website (www.workingintheuk.gov.uk)or providing the applicant with contact details of a suitable Immigration solicitor to assist them with renewal of their Domestic Worker or alternative Visa when needed.
The HKC takes NO RESPONSIBILITY for the following: –
1. Organising and paying for the renewal of the applicant’s Domestic Worker Visa as the HKC has been advised by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) that it is NOT allowed to offer Immigration and Visa advice (see Point 6 above).
2. Obtaining a National Insurance (NI) Number &/or Tax Code for those applicants who do not already have one (If the applicant does not already have an NI number he/she need to apply to the client’s local Department of Work & Pensions).
3. Opening a Bank Account for the applicant (the HKC recommends that the client take the applicant to open a Bank Account at their own Bank). It is not usually possible to open a bank account until your employee has a national insurance number.
4. Organizing travel visas for the applicant, to enable them to travel with the client.
5. Registering the applicant with a local doctor.
6. Arranging tax returns for self employed applicants.
All clients must have read the ‘Schedule of Fees’ and ‘Terms and Conditions’ and ‘Addendum to Terms and Conditions’ for The Housekeeper Company and agree to be bound by them.
