New job alarm bells

[Winterwonderlandisicy]

I’ve recently been offered a new job after my ftc ended. I have some concerns about the new job.

I was told the job was working from home but on the contract it states the place of work is location X . This is 2 hours drive each way from where I live.

Also included in the contract was a clause for clawing back the recruitment fee plus VAT in the event I leave. This is about £15,000.

In addition I was sent a medical questionnaire with about 50 highly invasive questions on it. There was also an added threat that if you don’t disclose everything and they find out you will be disciplined or dismissed.

I’m worried about this because I have a disability and I get the feeling the questioning at a later date will be highly intrusive.

The employer then decided to google me and found I’d done some work during the Covid period when my employer couldn’t afford to pay me, work was on hold and I was furloughed. The director said this was a conflict of interest and raised it with the recruiter.

The work which I did for a temp basis was over 2 years ago and the paperwork which was visible in public domain clearly indicated that this work was no longer being undertaken. The company were also told I was made redundant during Covid and this was agreed with former employer during Covid.

The director did not check the paperwork before making a serious accusation. It felt like I was being stabbed in the back before I’ve even started.

Would all these things raise alarm bells with you?

I’m at final interview stage for another job. The interview is next week. This is using another agent. The company has been told I have a job offer and if they want to offer I will need to know within 72 hours max. I’ve worked with this company historically for 6 years so stand in a good position.

YANBU - alarm bells are ringing don’t take the job

YABU - take the job

Reading your post, I think you already know the answer

Trust your instincts and walk away from it OP.

The only thing you said which is potentially not a problem is the work location bit. My contract states my work location is officially the office but I can work from home this means if I travel to the office I can't claim expenses for doing that (which is a bit tight but it's a charity so funding is always a factor) . It doesn't affect where I actually work though.
The rest of what you describe sounds miles off being reasonable. I used to work in recruitment (middle to senior level candidates) and I've never seen a claw back put in the employees contract... Claw back on the recruitment company yes, but not the candidate!

ask them to remove the clause about clawing back money and to put in that you work from home. This will likely delay the process for a while as they will quibble over it, which would buy you some time for the other role.

The recruiter told me these clauses are becoming more common however I was told by another recruiter that he has never seen it.

They’re even trying to charge me the VAT for the recruitment fee if I leave. There VAT registered so would cover this through quarter return with Hmrc. This is profit making for them I think !

Recruiter would say that-they want their fee and if the fish wriggles off the hook at the final moment that vanishes.
My recruitment experience is 14 years ago so I'm not current but, it seems off to me. The job should be a balance of they need you and you need them. If they slap a clause like that on you the power balance is all wrong and they have you over a barrel.

Contractual clauses such as office location and claw back can be negotiated which as pointed out above will buy you time.

I’m not qualified to comment on what/when you should disclose disability considerations but I’m sure you can access great advice here or elsewhere. The questionnaire itself would not be a red flag to me.

With those issues addressed however you still seem to have doubts re the hiring manager/company. Only you know if this is a risk you want to take if the rest is resolved.

Sounds dodgier by the minute!

The company must be willing to bear some risk of the recruitment cost involved in a new employee or they have a reduced incentive to make sure it works, which is never a good thing.

Contracts can be changed.

If you want to job, say that you'd need the place of work changing to working from home as you're not able to commute for 2 hours. Also the recruitment fee needs a term attached to it - what do you consider fair? 6 months/1 year?

Don't accept the offer. Accusations like this so early on are a definite indication that more stuff like this is to come because the bosses aren't doing their essential jobs.

You'll waste months, just keep applying for other jobs if you can

Also included in the contract was a clause for clawing back the recruitment fee plus VAT in the event I leave. This is about £15,000.

This alone would be a big red flag. What timescale is this for? Clearly it can't be open ended because you'll leave eventually. I'd only consider accepting this if the contract also guaranteed that they couldn't get rid of me during this period. Written as they describe it, they could decide they didn't need you, tell you to leave then hit you with a demand for £15,000.

In addition I was sent a medical questionnaire with about 50 highly invasive questions on it. There was also an added threat that if you don’t disclose everything and they find out you will be disciplined or dismissed.

This also would be a big red flag. You don't have to answer any questions on your health. There's no obligation to disclose any disabilities you may have, for example, although of course they can't make any reasonable adjustments for things they don't know.

I've had sign-on bonus and relocation expense clawbacks, but never recruitment cost clawbacks - that one is new on me. Last time I used an agency as a business, they only got all the money after the candidate had been in the position for X months anyway.

The accusations, plus this clawback would put me off entirely.

On the recruitment fee, I haven't recruited anyone for a long time but from memory, the contracts I signed with recruiters said that if I hired someone they placed with me, and the person left with a certain time period, I would be able to claim back the fee I paid them or they would not charge me for help to find a replacement. Something like that. The person themselves did not feature in this at all.

The medical stuff is more complex. Some firms require this for health and safety and other reasons but there should be corresponding confidentiality etc and, from memory, you could limit what you inserted there. I'd be wanting to understand exactly what this data is being used for before filling it in.

The work from home thing is inviolate. If the contract includes info re the office, you need to respond asking for this to be changed. It is entirely possible that's the standard contract and someone just hasn't put the time into properly editing it for you. I see this quite a lot now running my own small consultancy business - - new clients will often send me a contract that is clearly the standard one they send full-time short term contractors. But those contractors are usually exclusively working for the firm, usually on a full time basis and it's just one person. While my company is providing ad hoc consultancy services, often with a range of people. I've never had any push back when I ask for the appropriate changes. I assume it's just lazy or overworked HR/procurement people who don't have the time to do the necessary thinking each time so they leave it to me.

Lot of "not feeling it" features here, OP. Personally I'd not join these people. I had a job about 10 years ago where I ignored a number of red flags at the outset - it did not end well, put it that way 😬

If you're having doubts at this point already, walk away.

I would say the location thing should be fairly easily resolved through conversation - may be an error. The medical questionnaire could be pretty standard depending on the role.

The £15k recruitment costs seem massively inflated and would definitely be a concern for me - it at least indicates a high turnover.

The only thing you said which is potentially not a problem is the work location bit. My contract states my work location is officially the office but I can work from home

Its a problem. If your place of work is the office you can be required to go there 5 days a week at their whim.

My contract literally lists my home address as my work location which is how it should be.

@MilkyYay I know you're quite right. It was offered as an example of a reasonable reason why the contract might be written that way.
Not a recommendation you should accept it if that possibility would be a problem, because, as you say, it bears a risk.
In my case I'm not bothered, they won't ask me to do that in all likelihood and if they did it wouldn't be the end of the world I'm not that far away.
For op that is not the case, so would be a bad thing. But I was just saying that was one possible legitimate reason why they may have included it.

I have been a recruiter for a very long time and I have never seen a claw back like that. The recruiter will have a scale of refund with the client, never the candidate. For that alone I would run for the hills.

Thank you for all your feedback .

to be honest I asked because I have had discrimination historically and I am loosing confidence and faith and trust in people generally. Perhaps becoming a bit paranoid in some respects.

🏃‍♀️🚩

Nope. Alarm bells would be ringing for me too. Particularly "clawing back your recruitment cost". Trust your instincts

Yes the discrimination was in the workplace. I’m not really able to discuss it as legal proceedings are still ongoing.