HR & Recruiting: find professionals

HR and recruiting covers recruiters and recruitment agencies, staffing agencies for temporary and contract workers, executive search firms, HR consultants, reward consultants, payroll services and employee benefits consultants.

An employment agency introduces permanent staff who are then employed and paid by the hirer; an employment business supplies temporary workers whom it engages and pays itself. Executive search firms handle senior leadership roles, and HR consultants help with policies, handbooks, employment law compliance, pay structures and outsourced HR support.

Agencies and employment businesses may not charge a work-seeker a fee for work-finding services, withhold payments or wages due, or stop someone working elsewhere or terminating their contract, and work-seekers must be given written terms before they start. Ask how a recruiter charges the hirer, what happens if a new hire leaves early, and how candidates are screened. Employee benefits are insurance products, so check the Financial Services Register for anyone arranging cover.