Last May 2011 I was contacted by China Travels Holiday Group in New York to fill 3 openings for them, General Manager, Travel Consultant and Ticket Agent. They found me on Google. I was delighted! Their new office was located in Rockefeller Plaza, New York, and needed to be staffed quickly. After we met and talked about the overall process of recruitment and what it entails, I sent over my contract to be signed and began to search for candidates. The problem here is, I let my guard down when it comes to the signing of the contract. While we agreed through email on the terms of the contract, the contract was never physically signed by the client. I filled two of the opening positions for them, sent my invoice which is due thirty days after the start date of each candidate, they failed to pay me, stating “we never signed a contract”. Contracts can be oral if both parties agree to the terms. It’s always better to get it in writing, but contracts CAN be oral. China Travels and I DID have an agreement for services provided to be paid at 15% of the candidates hired salaries. Not only was that agreement oral, but I have it stated in an email as well, with the terms mentioned at least 3 times to clear up any misunderstanding. Secondly, nothing is for free. It was also clear we were doing business with each other from the 65 emails I collected over the course of 3 months.

You should have never done any work until you received a copy of the signed contract. That being said, consult an attorney.