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I recently got a job through a recruiter. Everything has been going well and I've been completing my tasks on time or before.

The recruiter who got me the role is working with my employer on a part time basis. He's responsible for hiring over half of the team, and occasionally pops in to the office.

Yesterday he sent me over a contract which has some weird clauses. For example, it states I have to keep him informed of any technical solutions I make during my time at the company, technical details and such. Also, that he partially owns the product or software that I will make for the company. I find this absolutely absurd and in my employers contract it has the typical terms such as "any software you make during your time here is company property, etc".

Since I do not want to sign it, I'm thinking of approaching my line manager about this additional contract and discuss what next steps should be taken.

What would be the best approach in this situation?

UPDATE

I told my Line Manager of the situation and he said not to sign anything as this behaviour was very unusual. Since then the matter has been escalated, my company will be severing ties with this particular recruiter. Thank you everyone who responded.

JavaGuru
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    Don't sign it and wait and see what random threats he makes. –  Mar 23 '17 at 16:18
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    Pass it to your manager. Let them sort this out. Sign nothing. – Snowlockk Mar 23 '17 at 16:20
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    You should inform your manager immediately. The recruiter might try the same trick on your colleagues. – rath Mar 23 '17 at 16:32
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    Are you absolutely sure you know who your employer is? Is it possible that you actually do work for the recruiter's company and are farmed out as a staff augmentee? In any case, yes, ask your line manager. – brian_o Mar 23 '17 at 18:55
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    Yeah, if your farmed out by the recruiter then this is a different question. The OP could have mistaken a contracting job working for the recruiter's company for a position with the actual company. Still its a ridiculous contract. – Mark Rogers Mar 23 '17 at 19:11
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    Best approach is to sign over your intellectual property rights to me instead that way you can turn him down because you don't have what he is requesting. Problem solved? – Myles Mar 23 '17 at 20:44
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    Let us know how it goes! – Pysis Mar 23 '17 at 21:22
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    As for the recruiter, don't sign, as for the second paper regarding the software, I signed once and basically makes sense, but I'm not telling you to sign it. Come and think about it, is a sign that the company is taking seriously its products and employees, whatever that means but for sure shows that are professionals and it's good to work with them. – mchar Mar 24 '17 at 07:27
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    First, what country's laws have jurisdiction? Second, what are the benefits for you listed in that contract? (Maybe it's actually a good deal for you, though I strongly doubt it. Just covering a base.) – user2338816 Mar 24 '17 at 07:30
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    Where I live "any software you make during your time here is company property, etc" is a very common part of the contract. When I had this in contract, I spoke to the recruiter before signing, asking to know what software they want to have as company property. I got the answer "anything you make in the office" which is, for me, just fine. Try and ask, the answers might satisfy you. – RanST Mar 24 '17 at 07:39
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    "He's responsible for hiring over half of the team" - why are you speaking to us without, apparently, having spoken to them? Has he asked them (who have been there longer than you) to sign the same thing? – Mawg says reinstate Monica Mar 24 '17 at 09:51
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    It would help to know what country you are in. – JimmyJames Mar 24 '17 at 13:31
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    So to clarify; you have a contract in writing from your actual employer AND the recruiter wants you to sign this other contract? Is that correct? – Jonathon Cowley-Thom Mar 24 '17 at 13:55
  • I was hoping a lawyer might weigh in. It's not a contract if you agree to do something and the other party doesn't do anything as his/her part of the bargain. So the first question is what your signature might mean. What's the exact wording - are you being asked to acknowledge something that was in your contract with the recruiter before you started work with your employer? In any case, the other answers to your question are right in advising not to sign and, in most of them, to inform your line supervisor. Also, you should think of giving him a heads up about what you're going to do, and why. –  Mar 24 '17 at 01:31
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    Kudos to you for reading what you sign. – jpmc26 Mar 24 '17 at 15:39
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    Maybe I missed where this is stated, but it depends on your status: FTE, contractor, or consultant. When you say, "hiring over half the team", does that mean full time? If so, the recruiter's completely out of the picture as somebody else said and the answer is no, no management opinion required, though I'd let them know anyways as I wouldn't want somebody else to turn over IP that I might be working on. The other two are a little bit more situational... – RandomUs1r Mar 24 '17 at 21:33
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    Having been a contractor for donkeys years, and obviously having signed umpteen contracts this is the most bizarre request I've ever heard from a recruiter! – Fetchez la vache Mar 30 '17 at 11:27
  • I am a full-time employee, this is in the UK. Yes the recruiter wanted to me sign a completely seperate document or contract which gave details of how, when, where I had to give him technical details of features I implement and access to the code. I found it very unusual, sounded very shady so I knew I wasn't going to sign. @JonathonCowley-Thom – JavaGuru Mar 30 '17 at 13:21

8 Answers8

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First, do not sign anything. You should have signed any relevant paperwork before the recruiter got you the job...why would they have more for you now that the job is secured?

Second, do not sign anything. Yes, two points to very much reinforce the point. At this point you have signed paperwork with the company in question and the recruiter is out of the picture. As an analogy, you've bought the house and closed, the realtor has nothing else to do with the purchase, it's between you and the bank.

As @Snowlockk stated, give this to your manager or (more ideally, as it is their business) the HR personnel or hiring coordinator at the office and let them deal with the recruiter's demands, as the recruiter demand of being informed of technical solutions made may very well be in direct conflict of any possible non-disclosure you signed with the company. The company needs to know that this person is trying to secure proprietary information from the people he's placing in their company.

das-g
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SliderBlackrose
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    As was mentioned elsewhere, keep a copy for your personal records before taking this to your manager. CYA in case the papers disappear somewhere up the chain and the situation comes back to haunt you. – Rozwel Mar 24 '17 at 21:34
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    Third, do not sign anything. – crthompson Mar 25 '17 at 04:04
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What would be the best approach in this situation?

Approach your line manager about this additional contract since you do not want to sign it and discuss what next steps should be taken.

You have been hired. You don't need to sign anything for the recruiter if you don't want to do so.

it states I have to keep him informed of any technical solutions I make during my time at the company, technical details and all. Also that he partially owns the product or software that I will make for the company

That is all nonsense.

Either just toss it in the trash and tell the recruiter to go away, or pass it by your boss and ask what is up with that.

Joe Strazzere
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    I'll be fascinated to see what your company thinks about this - I bet they think THEY own the stuff they are paying you to create. In which case this recruiter is trying to STEAL from them. – Michael Kohne Mar 23 '17 at 16:35
  • JUST toss it in the trash. – Neo Mar 23 '17 at 17:44
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    Never toss it in the trash if there is the slight chance, and there is, that you might have to discuss this with anyone, like your new manager. If somehow the recruiter were to deny this you would need having those documents. And do not pass it to your boss without making a copy. -1, very bad advice. – Anonymous Coward Mar 23 '17 at 18:37
  • Show it to management, absolutely. The OP may have uncovered a scam going on – Old_Lamplighter Mar 23 '17 at 20:57
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    One of my favorite tricks is to find a lawyer and have him file the demand. Often, When something suspect like this is happening, the attorney will gladly file it for you. No cost. Why do I say this? Because filing a document with an attorney is an important step and informs the recruiter that the attorney not only has a copy of the demand, he has filed it for future reference. Copy any correspondence with the recruiter to the attorney for file including e-mails and make sure the recruiter is aware of this. This usually scares the boogy-snots out of anyone who is trying to scam you. – closetnoc Mar 23 '17 at 23:44
  • If an unsuspecting employee does just sign it without really reading the details, would it be binding? A way for recruiters to legally steal company products? – Brandin Mar 24 '17 at 07:58
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    @Brandin I feel like it wouldn't be binding, but IANAL. I don't see how that contract would have consideration though, OP gets nothing in return from the recruiter as far as I can tell. It also steps into some weird area since I don't see how they could say the recruiter has a portion of what is produced, while the company should own it all anyways. This is assuming OP wasn't actually hired by the recruiter and located with that other company. – JMac Mar 24 '17 at 12:53
  • @Brandin The shortest, and safest, answer is (at least in the US): a contract is a contract. Unless it is blatantly illegal, signing a contract is assumed that you read it. I like Closetnoc's suggestion about filing it. – SliderBlackrose Mar 24 '17 at 15:05
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    @JMac You can't sign over something you don't own: the OP has already signed over the rights to any work; and the company secrets never belonged to the OP it the first place. – employee-X Mar 24 '17 at 18:31
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    @jpaugh I forgot that OP actually said that he did sign a contract with the company itself. So everything besides my last sentence still applies. I don't see how they could possibly try to enforce the contract either. It doesn't seem legal or logical. – JMac Mar 24 '17 at 18:35
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First, make a copy for your records.

Discussing behavior like this without a backup copy of your evidence that it happened is unnecessarily dangerous. Then I would take it up with the appropriate person at the company I was working for (either my team lead or my manager or The Boss or HR, probably).

Please stop being evil
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The answer is no. You do not work for the recruiter.

catfood
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    This right here is the most important thing to remember. The recruiter works for the company just like you do. Any agreement between the recruiter and the company is their business and has nothing to do with you.

    The recruiter cannot force you to sign anything. I would bring the paperwork by the company's legal department, your manager, or your company's HR department. This sounds shady as hell though and everyone here is unanimous in that statement.

     – Pork Pants Mar 23 '17 at 17:52
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Definitely do not sign anything and liaise with your manager and the HR about this ASAP. This is basically industrial espionage and a very serious security incident that will probably trigger large investigation.

HOWEVER! It may be just my perverted mind but I can even imagine this to be some kind of a sick test on the part of the company to see whether you are upholding their contract and whether you are able to keep their trade secrets - i.e. if you sign, the recruiter will pass the document to your manager/HR and they will terminate you on the basis of contract breach. Also if this were the case, you might be frowned upon even if you do not sign anything but tell no one about the incident (you know somebody actively trying to steal company intellectual property and do nothing? WTH! terminate immediately!).

Eleshar
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  • That did cross my mind too. – catfood Mar 24 '17 at 16:40
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    I'd leave the company that does those kinds of tests. – svavil Mar 24 '17 at 23:07
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    @svavil - understandable, but I can imagine this to be a completely ok small company that just has one sick person in its small HR. In any case, for the described situation there is only one way to proceed regardless of whether this is a test or real situation. – Eleshar Mar 26 '17 at 11:25
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  1. Don't sign without consulting your manager. (As others has already mentioned, so I won't motivate any more why)
  2. In addition. What do you get out of it? If someone hands you a contract to sign there should be something for you in the other end as well.
Viktor Mellgren
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  • Yes. A contract isn't valid unless there is a "consideration" in both directions. "I won't send Uncle Vinnie with his baseball bat" doesn't really cut it, in legal terms. – Floris Mar 26 '17 at 23:29
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Simply tell him that you cannot sign the contract as it asks you to give him something that is not yours to give. You already signed a contract giving all your work product to your employer, so you cannot agree to him having any ownership. It simply is not yours to give.

If he still thinks you need to assign it, give him three conditions:

  1. He gets you written approval from your current employer.
  2. He compensates you in some way for what he's asking you to give him.
  3. He covers your legal expenses in having the contract reviewed.

Remind him that there is absolutely nothing whatsoever that you want from him, so absolutely no reason for you to give him something that he wants from you. You're already employed and you've already signed a contract with your employer. If he was going to ask for this all along, he has no excuse for not telling you beforehand. If this is something new that he's asking from you that he wasn't going to ask from you before, he should come up with something new that he's offering you that he wasn't going to offer you before. Presumably, you both felt the deal was fair before, so how can it still be fair if he's asking for something else from you?

David Schwartz
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    Going along with it (or even pretending to) is dangerous. If the recruiter IS up to something shady, he's probably not above lying about having the company's permission. He MAY even be prepared to forge documentation to support such lies. Better to give the recruiter a flat NO, as others have suggested, and let the company figure out what's going on. If nothing else, they need to know he's doing this, because he may also be doing it to others he recruited. – Steve-O Mar 23 '17 at 20:44
  • @Steve-O If he's lying and prepared to forge documents to support those lies, best to let him do it, IMO. – David Schwartz Mar 23 '17 at 20:56
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    There is no reason for OP to get involved in legally questionable nonsense just so he can watch the recruiter shoot himself in the foot. If he wants to forge documents he can do it on his own time without OP's involvement or encouragement. – Matthew Read Mar 24 '17 at 03:25
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    Do not negotiate with the recruiter. Period. Bad advice here. As all the other answers state, take this to your manager. –  Mar 24 '17 at 10:00
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    @DavidSchwartz No! If he's lying and prepared to forge documents to support those lies, best to keep well out of the way. If the recruiter gets you to sign a contract based on lies and forgeries, the contract is invalid but you have to convince people that it's invalid. That means you have to convince people that the lies were lies and the forgeries were forgeries. That's a heck of a lot of work for no gain, which could be avoided simply by refusing to sign the contract in the first place. – David Richerby Mar 25 '17 at 11:49
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If this is a recruiter - then once you are hired on they are out of the picture. The recruiter works for the company to place people . Anything beyond that is between him and the company. Once you're hired, stuff with you and the company is just that, between you two. If any paperwork is needed (which should have already been done...but sometimes thing lag), it typically comes from your manager and/or HR. This sounds highly suspect. If he's not signing your paycheck...I would tell him to forget it.

jon
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    The recruiter is working part-time, and could conceivably have a valid reason to continue interacting with people they were responsible for getting onboard. Saying they should ignore the recruiter doesn't solve the problem, which is that original asker has no clue whether this is legitimate, and actively prevents them from finding out. –  Mar 25 '17 at 06:36