Recruitment Agency Advice...

macoco

Hello all,

I recently secured a job through an employment agency (one of the the most well known online and on the high street). Yesterday, purely by accident (and now wish I hadn't), I saw the invoice the agency sent for payment of my services. Where I earn £8.50 an hour, they charge £12.21.

I understand that agencies must make their profits and I'm grateful for them having found me the role, but is this extra £3.71 per hour usual? It works out at £25.97 per day I work!

I would be grateful if anyone could give me information on the usual rates charged by recruitment agencies.

Thanks.

SarEl

What they charge the client is between their client and them - not your business. And, it's completly normal and it isn't all "profit" - how do you think your employers NI gets paid?

julesds

I really don't think you should be worrying about the amount of money the agency is making. They need to make their money somehow

tbh I'd just be glad that I was getting paid (and that I have a job!)

bevanuk

It's nothing to do with you. Margins are agreed by the recruiter and the client.
I guess you earn holiday pay, and they need to pay NI - both of which are around 12.7% of your hourly rate.

InsideInsurance

The agency that I work through charge £150 per day on top of what I charge but as has been said, that is a commercial decision between them and my client. Certainly if I had gone direct I would have gotten a better rate (but not £150 a day) but I didn't know of anyone in the organisation to inform me of the role and they do no direct advertisement of roles.

Of cause in my situation the agency doesnt have to pay holiday, NI, sick or anything else and so its even more profitable for them.

Hammyman

macoco wrote: »

Hello all,

I recently secured a job through an employment agency (one of the the most well known online and on the high street). Yesterday, purely by accident (and now wish I hadn't), I saw the invoice the agency sent for payment of my services. Where I earn £8.50 an hour, they charge £12.21.

I understand that agencies must make their profits and I'm grateful for them having found me the role, but is this extra £3.71 per hour usual? It works out at £25.97 per day I work!

I would be grateful if anyone could give me information on the usual rates charged by recruitment agencies.

Thanks.

OK, lets start off with this.
Like most employees you are completely ignorant of the cost of employing someone and think it is only the hourly rate you get paid. It is not. It is your hourly rate plus holiday pay at roughly 11% plus employers NI at another 12.8% so it costs roughly 23% more than you get paid to actually employ you.

You get paid £8.50 an hour. On top of that there is holiday pay and employers NI that needs to be deducted from what they charge. So that £8.50 an hour you get paid costs them just short of £11/hr.

So they're making roughly £1.50/hr profit. Out of that profit they have to pay for the agency premises, the staff, the public liability insurance, advertising etc etc etc. It costs an individual agency office with three or four staff with a city center location typically £200k a year to run.

All of sudden, that £1.50 an hour they're making doesn't seem to go that far does it?