Candidate Terms For Recruitment Agencies NZ

Collecting CVs and putting candidates forward is the heart of a recruitment agency, but it can get messy if everyone isn't clear on what you've been authorised to do.

Maybe a candidate says they never agreed to be submitted for a role. Maybe two recruiters put the same person forward. Or maybe a candidate joins your client directly and your fee becomes harder to protect.

Candidate terms and conditions in NZ can help you set clear expectations from the start. They don't need to be complicated, but they do need to cover consent, privacy, references, candidate obligations and the practical realities of dealing with employer clients.

Do You Need Candidate Terms Before You Collect A CV?

Yes, you should have written candidate terms before you collect a CV or represent a candidate to a client.

A recruitment agency candidate agreement gives you evidence that the candidate has agreed to your process. It also helps candidates understand what you'll do with their information, when you'll contact referees, and what they need to tell you before you put them forward.

This is separate from your recruitment agency terms of business. Those client terms protect your fee relationship with the employer client. Your candidate terms protect the candidate-facing side of the process.

For example, your candidate terms can confirm that:

• the candidate gives you permission to collect and use their CV and related information
• you can discuss the candidate with selected employer clients, but only for relevant roles
• the candidate must tell you if they've already applied for the same role directly or through another recruiter
• you won't contact referees unless the candidate has agreed
• the candidate must give accurate information about their work history, qualifications and availability

Without written terms, you may still be able to run a recruitment process, but you'll have less protection if there's a disagreement later. A short email trail can help, but a clear set of candidate terms is usually cleaner and easier to rely on.

If you use a recruiter contract template in NZ, check it carefully. Many templates are written for employer clients, not candidates, and they may miss the privacy and consent wording you actually need.

What Should A Recruitment Agency Candidate Agreement Include?

A candidate agreement should include the practical rules for how you'll represent the candidate, use their information and manage conflicts with other applications.

Think of it as a plain-English process document, not a heavy contract full of legal jargon. It should make the recruitment journey feel more professional for the candidate, while also protecting your business.

Candidate Terms Outline

Here is a useful fill-in outline for candidate terms. A lawyer should tailor it before you use it, because your process may be different depending on whether you do permanent recruitment, temp staffing, executive search or contractor placements.

1. Parties: name your recruitment agency, include your NZBN if you have one, and identify the candidate.
2. Purpose: explain that the terms apply when you collect information, assess suitability and represent the candidate for roles.
3. Consent To Represent: state when the candidate authorises you to put them forward and whether consent is role-specific or broader.
4. Privacy And Personal Information: explain what you collect, why you collect it, who you disclose it to, and how candidates can request access or correction.
5. References And Background Checks: confirm that you won't contact referees or run checks unless the candidate has agreed to the relevant step.
6. Candidate Obligations: require accurate information, prompt updates and disclosure of duplicate applications or conflicts.
7. No Guarantee Of Work: make it clear that registering with you doesn't guarantee interviews, offers or employment.
8. Client Contact Rules: ask candidates not to bypass your process for roles you introduce, while recognising that your main fee rights sit in your client terms.
9. Contractor Or Temp Placements: explain that additional employment or contractor documents may apply if the candidate is engaged.
10. Acceptance: set out how the candidate accepts the terms, such as ticking a box, signing electronically or confirming by email.

Keep the wording practical. Candidates are more likely to read and accept terms that feel fair and easy to understand.

How Do You Get Consent To Represent A Candidate?

You get proper consent by making sure the candidate clearly agrees before you send their CV or profile to a client.

Consent to represent is one of the most useful parts of candidate terms for recruitment agencies in NZ. It helps avoid the awkward situation where a candidate says they didn't know their details had been sent to a particular employer.

There are two common ways to handle this.

Role-Specific Consent

Role-specific consent means the candidate approves each role before you put them forward. This is usually the safest approach, especially for senior roles, confidential searches or candidates who are currently employed.

Your process might look like this:

1. you brief the candidate on the role, employer and key conditions
2. the candidate confirms they're interested
3. you record that confirmation in your CRM or by email
4. you submit the CV to the client

General Consent

General consent means the candidate agrees that you can represent them for suitable roles during a set period. This can work for high-volume recruitment, but you should still be careful with sensitive roles or identifiable submissions.

A good middle ground is to get general registration consent, then role-specific confirmation before you disclose the candidate's name or CV to a client.

Say Mia runs a recruitment agency in Auckland. A software developer registers with her and agrees to general candidate terms. Before Mia sends the developer's CV to a fintech client, she sends a short email naming the client, salary range of $120,000 to $135,000 and role title. The developer replies yes. If there's a dispute later about whether Mia was authorised to submit the candidate, that email gives Mia a clear record.

How Should You Handle Privacy, CVs And References?

You should handle candidate information under the Privacy Act 2020, because CVs, notes, references and interview feedback are personal information.

Recruitment agencies collect a lot of sensitive information. A CV may include employment history, qualifications, contact details, immigration status, referee details and sometimes health or criminal history information. Your candidate terms should work alongside your privacy policy, not replace it.

Under the Privacy Act 2020, you need to be open about why you're collecting information and how you'll use and disclose it. In practice, your candidate terms should tell candidates:

• what information you collect, including CVs, interview notes, references, right to work details and background check results
• why you collect it, such as assessing suitability and introducing candidates to employer clients
• who you may share it with, including employer clients, referees and screening providers
• where information may be stored, especially if you use overseas recruitment software or cloud platforms
• how candidates can ask to access or correct their information
• how long you may keep candidate records in your talent database

Be especially careful with references. Referees may give personal information about the candidate, and the referee's own contact details are also personal information. Your terms should say that you'll only contact referees with the candidate's permission, and you should keep a record of when that permission was given.

The Fair Trading Act 1986 can also matter. Don't overpromise what you can do for candidates or clients. For example, avoid saying a candidate is fully verified if you've only reviewed their CV and spoken to one referee.

If a candidate asks you to correct information or remove their profile from your database, deal with it promptly and keep a written record of what you did.

Can Candidate Terms Protect Your Recruitment Fee?

Candidate terms can help protect your recruitment fee, but your main fee protection should sit in your client terms of business.

Your fee is usually payable by the employer client, not the candidate. Your recruitment agency terms of business should set out when a fee is triggered, how introductions are defined, the fee amount, replacement guarantees and payment timing.

Candidate terms support that position by creating evidence of your involvement. They can show that the candidate agreed to be introduced by you, knew which client they were being put forward to, and agreed to keep you updated about direct contact from that client.

Example: Fee Protection In Practice

Imagine you introduce Ben to a Wellington engineering client for a project manager role. Your client terms say your placement fee is 15% of the candidate's first-year base salary. Ben is hired on a salary of $95,000.

Your fee would be $14,250 plus GST if your client terms are properly accepted and the placement falls within the fee trigger.

Now imagine Ben tells you that the client has contacted him directly after your introduction. If your candidate terms require Ben to tell you about direct client contact, you can raise the issue with the client early and point to a clear record of your introduction.

Your candidate terms shouldn't try to make the candidate personally responsible for your placement fee unless you've had tailored advice and there's a clear reason. In many recruitment models, the cleaner approach is:

• client terms cover fees, invoices and replacement guarantees
• candidate terms cover consent, privacy, accurate information and process expectations
• internal records show when and how you made the introduction

Be careful about charging candidates for finding work. New Zealand recruitment agencies commonly operate on an employer-paid model, and there are legal restrictions that can apply to employment agents charging job seekers. If your model involves candidate fees, get advice before you launch it.

What If You Place Contractors Or Temporary Staff?

If you place contractors or temporary staff, you need extra documents because candidate terms alone won't cover the full legal relationship.

Candidate terms deal with registration and representation. They aren't a substitute for an employment agreement, independent contractor agreement, temp assignment terms, payroll documents or health and safety processes.

For temporary employees, the Employment Relations Act 2000 and Holidays Act 2003 may be relevant. You'll need to be clear about who employs the worker, what the assignment terms are, how pay and leave are handled, and what happens when an assignment ends.

For contractors, classification matters. The Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026 introduced a contractor gateway test to give businesses a clearer pathway for treating a worker as an independent contractor where the required conditions are met. Even with that gateway, you still need to be careful. A candidate's registration terms won't decide their status by themselves.

If you're placing contractors, your documents should clearly separate:

• candidate registration terms, which cover the recruitment process
• contractor terms, which cover the actual working arrangement
• client terms, which cover fees, introductions and client obligations
• health and safety processes, especially where contractors work on client sites

You should also avoid promising candidates that they'll definitely be contractors or employees before the engagement structure is settled. The safer approach is to say that the final arrangement will depend on the role, client requirements and the documents signed before work starts.

If your agency supplies labour, on-hires staff or runs payroll, your staffing agency legal documents need to be more detailed than a standard permanent recruitment pack.

How Should Candidates Accept Your Terms?

Candidates should accept your terms in a way that gives you a clear, dated record.

A signed document is useful, but it's not the only option. Many recruitment agencies use digital acceptance because the process moves quickly and candidates expect an easy onboarding flow.

Common acceptance methods include:

• an electronic signature on a candidate registration form
• a tick box confirming acceptance before a candidate uploads a CV
• an email reply confirming the candidate agrees to your terms
• a CRM record showing the candidate accepted terms on a specific date and time

Whatever method you use, make sure the candidate can access the terms before accepting them. If you update your terms later, keep copies of old versions so you can prove which version applied at the time.

You should also train your recruiters to follow the same process every time. A well-written document won't help much if one consultant gets consent properly and another sends CVs after a quick phone chat with no record.

Practical Setup Checklist

• Attach candidate terms to your online registration form.
• Add a consent tick box that isn't pre-ticked.
• Record the date, time and version accepted.
• Use role-specific email consent before submitting a named CV.
• Keep notes of reference permissions and background check approvals.
• Review your terms when you change your recruitment process or software.

This doesn't have to slow your team down. A clear workflow usually makes recruitment easier because everyone knows what needs to be captured before a candidate is submitted.

Key Takeaways

• Candidate terms help you get clear consent before collecting CVs, representing candidates and sharing information with employer clients.
• Your terms should cover privacy, references, candidate obligations, duplicate applications and direct client contact.
• The Privacy Act 2020 is central to recruitment because CVs, interview notes, references and screening results are personal information.
• Candidate terms can support fee protection, but your client terms of business should do the heavy lifting on placement fees.
• If you place contractors or temps, you'll need extra documents beyond candidate terms, especially after the 2026 contractor gateway changes.
• Templates can be a starting point, but recruitment documents work best when they're tailored to your agency's process.

If you'd like help with your candidate terms, privacy wording, recruitment client terms or contractor and temp placement documents, you can reach us at 0800 002 184 or team@sprintlaw.co.nz for a free, no-obligations chat.