Employers shopping for an agency increasingly ask for proof rather than promise. The proof is a service level agreement with names, numbers and dates in it. Most agency guarantees look generous until you read what voids them, and the voiding conditions are usually the part that determines whether the protection ever pays out. This guide sets out the clauses worth negotiating, and the ones that quietly turn a guarantee into a gesture.

Title: How to Read a Recruitment SLA: Time-to-Fill, Replacement Windows and Guarantee Clauses
Alt: A stopwatch beside a signed contract with a shield and checklist, a recruiter presenting to a client
Description: A stopwatch beside a signed contract with a shield and checklist, a recruiter presenting to a client
File: art4-hero.png

For the commercial context, pair this with our guide to recruitment agency fees in Singapore, and with Corestaff’s own published terms on the hiring guarantee page. Corestaff’s Singapore recruitment services put the same commitments in writing, and its outsourced recruitment engagements are governed by the SLA clauses described here.

Start with the clause that matters most: time-to-fill

Title: How to Read a Recruitment SLA: Time-to-Fill, Replacement Windows and Guarantee Clauses
Alt: A stopwatch and signed service agreement on a clipboard with a shield emblem
Description: Time-to-fill, shortlist, replacement window and terms.
File: art4-b.png

Time-to-fill is the most quoted and least standardised metric in recruitment. It can mean anything from the day the role is briefed to the day the candidate accepts, from first shortlist to signed contract, or from kickoff to start date. A supplier that reports a strong time-to-fill without defining it is reporting a number you cannot compare, and a number you cannot hold anyone to.

• Define the clock start. Brief received, or role signed off internally? The gap between the two is often two weeks you never counted.
• Define the clock stop. Offer accepted, or start date? A fast offer to a candidate with a long notice period is not a fast fill.
• Split the metric. Time-to-shortlist and time-to-fill measure different things, and both belong in the agreement.
• Name the exceptions. Client-side interview delays should pause the clock, and the agreement should say so, or the SLA is a one-way promise.

What a useful shortlist SLA looks like

Title: How to Read a Recruitment SLA: Time-to-Fill, Replacement Windows and Guarantee Clauses
Alt: The SLA Clauses That Matter
Description: Present in a strong agreement
File: art4-c1.png

A shortlist SLA commits to a number of qualified candidates within a defined window, where qualified is itself defined. A promise of five CVs is worthless if three are unsuitable. The stronger version commits to a number of candidates who meet the brief and have been screened against it, with the screening criteria attached. Insist on a definition of what disqualifies a candidate, because that is where a weak supplier leaves room to pad a shortlist with volume.

The replacement guarantee, and its fine print

Title: How to Read a Recruitment SLA: Time-to-Fill, Replacement Windows and Guarantee Clauses
Alt: Defining Time-to-Fill
Description: The clock must have a stated start and stop
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The single most common voiding condition is a material change to the role after placement. If you widen the scope, cut the salary or change the reporting line, the guarantee can fall away. That is not unreasonable, but it should be stated plainly, not buried in a schedule. A supplier confident in its screening will happily narrow the voiding conditions; one that will not is telling you where the risk actually sits.

Four clauses that quietly void a guarantee

Title: How to Read a Recruitment SLA: Time-to-Fill, Replacement Windows and Guarantee Clauses
Alt: Replacement Window by Seniority
Description: Indicative protection window after placement (months)
File: art4-c3.png

• The role-changed clause. Any material change to scope, title or reporting line resets the guarantee.
• The same-role clause. Replacement is only offered for the identical role, which is rarely how hiring actually works.
• The one-attempt cap. A single replacement, regardless of whether that replacement also fails.
• The payment-in-full clause. The guarantee is void unless the invoice was settled within a short window.

Verify the licence before anything else

Title: How to Read a Recruitment SLA: Time-to-Fill, Replacement Windows and Guarantee Clauses
Alt: Clauses That Quietly Void a Guarantee
Description: Check each before you sign
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Any employment agency operating in Singapore must hold a valid licence from the Ministry of Manpower. Corestaff Pte Ltd holds Employment Agency Licence 18C9027, under UEN 201633744E. A licence number on a page is a claim you can check, and you should, before you sign an SLA with a new supplier. Licence status, not pitch quality, is the first filter.

How to compare two suppliers side by side

Line the two agreements up against the same six fields: clock start, clock stop, shortlist number and definition, guarantee window, replacement term, and voiding conditions. The supplier with the shorter list of voiding conditions and the clearer definitions is usually the better partner, even when its headline fee is higher. If you want a structured way to run that comparison, our fee comparison sets out the models alongside the terms that should accompany each.

Frequently asked questions