'Cowboy' recruitment agencies face regulation
Pressure mounts to regulate rogue recruitment companies, following the emergence of 'spam' operators
Pressure is mounting for authorities to step in and regulate recruitment
agencies, following the emergence of what have been described as ‘cowboy’
operators.
The Daily Telegraph
reports that one such firm, which recruits auditors and risk managers, has
been using different names and spam emails promoting jobs that don’t even exist
in an effort to flush out unsettled employees.
The group was known as Seymour Chase and supplies established agencies with
names of potential recruits. The agency has no registered address and changes
its name regularly to avoid detection.
The Recruitment
and Employment Confederation describes such firms as ‘cowboys’.
The 8,000-strong confederation has its own code of conduct and penalties for
breaches, but it has become increasingly difficult to supervise the sector’s
growing fringe element.
The industry has been involved in talks with the
Department of Trade &
Industry about regulation, but progress has been stalled because of
fears over administrative costs.
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