What makes staffing debt different
You have already paid the money out. The temp's wages, the payroll taxes, the workers' comp premium are gone before the client's invoice is even due. A client that pays slow is using your payroll as its credit line. A client that does not pay at all has taken it.
How staffing agencies get stiffed
- The backdoor hire. You submit the candidate, the client passes, and three months later the candidate is on their payroll. "We found them on our own."
- The conversion gap. A temp-to-hire placement ends, the client waits a few weeks, and hires the person directly to avoid the conversion fee.
- The retroactive timesheet dispute. Hours were approved weekly by the client's own supervisor. At invoice time the hours are "wrong" or the worker "did not perform."
- The guarantee game. The hire supposedly left during the guarantee period and the client wants a refund or a free replacement, with no proof of the departure date.
- The rate dispute. A bill rate agreed by email is disputed by someone in accounts payable who never saw the email.
- The client that folds. Net 45 terms, then net 60, then a bankruptcy notice, and you are an unsecured creditor for payroll you already funded.
What to do before you place the account
Gather the signed client agreement or fee schedule, including the backdoor and referral clauses, the candidate submission records with dates and the client's acknowledgments, approved timesheets, invoices, rate confirmations, and the correspondence. For a backdoor hire, document when and how you learned of the hire. Send a final written demand with a date, then place it.
How we collect for staffing agencies
A client company that owes for placed workers or a placement fee is a commercial debt, and business-to-business debt is our core work. We investigate the client company, make daily contact, issue written demands, and negotiate disputed hours and fees with the paperwork in hand. If the client has moved or gone quiet, skip tracing locates them and the assets.
When direct collection stalls, the file goes to an attorney in or near the client's area from a network of more than 500 collection and litigation attorneys. A backdoor hire claim turns on the agreement and the submission record; the attorney evaluates it and you decide whether to sue. Early placement puts you first in line if the client ever becomes insolvent.
Common follow-up questions
Can you collect a backdoor hire fee?
Yes, where your signed agreement provides for it. Send the agreement, the submission record, and what you know about the hire. We pursue it as a commercial claim and our attorney network evaluates it if the client refuses.
The client disputes hours their own supervisor approved. What happens?
Approved timesheets are the backup. Disputed balances are part of our core work, and our negotiators work the contested hours alongside the rest of the account.
Will you contact the candidate?
The debt is the client's, not the candidate's. Our contact is with the client company.
Talk to us
Tell us about the accounts and we put together a free assessment, usually within one business day. Request a free consultation, contact us, or call 321-710-3530. Ready now? Place a claim and we go to work today. No recovery, no fee.