Employment agency

[2] The idea to create public employment agencies as a way to fight unemployment was eventually adopted in developed countries by the beginning of the twentieth century.

In the United Kingdom, the first labour exchange was established by social reformer and employment campaigner Alsager Hay Hill in London in 1871.

Another of the oldest agencies was developed by Katharine Felton as a response to the problems brought on by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.

1 called for each member to, "take measures to prohibit the establishment of employment agencies which charge fees or which carry on their business for profit.

2 instead required the alternative of "a system of free public employment agencies under the control of a central authority.

This term may apply to job-search-consulting firms who charge job candidates a fee and who specialize in mid-to-upper-level executives.

They can specialize in client relationships only (sales or business development), in finding candidates (recruiting or sourcing), or in both areas.

In an executive-search assignment, the employee-gaining client company – not the person being hired – pays the search firm its fee.

However, only 5% of positions which pay more than £150,000 (with the exception of the public sector) are advertised and are often in the domain of around 4,000 executive recruiters in the United Kingdom.

In contract staffing, individuals, often referred to as "contractors" or "consultants," bring specialized skills and expertise to tackle short-term projects or address specific organizational needs.

Contract-to-hire arrangements, sometimes termed "try before you buy", allow companies to evaluate a candidate's cultural fit and performance before committing to a permanent hire.

Temporary workers are typically employed by staffing agencies and may work on assignments ranging from a few days to several months.

Many agencies offer partial refunds on their fees if appointed staff do not remain for long in employment, if invoices have been paid within seven days of issue.

In 2006, the Court of Appeal for England and Wales ruled that the loss of such a refund in circumstances where invoices had not promptly been paid did not amount to a "penalty charge" under the English law which then applied, because the legal issues regarding penalty clauses only arose in circumstances where a breach of contract was potentially being penalised.