Choosing the wrong recruitment partner doesn’t just risk a bad hire — it risks your company’s reputation and your legal exposure in the destination country. Ethical recruitment has clear, internationally recognised markers. Here’s what to look for before you sign an agreement with any agency.
1. They don’t charge candidates any fees
This is the single clearest signal. Under the internationally recognised Employer Pays Principle — championed by the International Labour Organization and the International Organization for Migration’s IRIS initiative — the cost of recruitment should sit with the employer, not be deducted from a worker’s wages or charged upfront. An agency that quietly earns from candidates as well as from you isn’t a neutral partner; it has an incentive structure that works against the people you’re about to hire.
2. Their licence is current and checkable
A legitimate Overseas Employment Promoter operates under a government-issued licence, and a legitimate agency will give you that licence number without hesitation and won’t mind you verifying it with the relevant regulator. Reluctance to share this detail is itself an answer.
3. Contracts are written in plain language before anyone signs
Salary, working hours, accommodation, leave entitlements and end-of-service terms should be spelled out clearly — not buried in fine print or left for the candidate to discover on arrival. If an agency can’t show you a sample contract format before you engage them, that’s worth a pause.
4. Passports and original documents stay with the worker
Confiscating a worker’s passport or original documents is one of the most widely recognised red flags of exploitative recruitment worldwide. A candidate should hold their own travel documents at every stage, before departure and after arrival.
5. Support doesn’t stop at the airport
The recruitment relationship shouldn’t end the moment a candidate lands. Reputable agencies stay contactable after placement — for both the employer and the worker — so problems get resolved quickly rather than becoming disputes.
At Reliance HR, these principles aren’t an afterthought — they’re built into our 12-step recruitment process from the first advertisement through to post-placement follow-up. If you’re evaluating recruitment partners for your business, get in touch and we’ll walk you through how we work.
