Why staffing and recruitment agencies use e-signatures
An agency sits between two parties who both need to sign, and neither of them works for you. The client has to accept your terms of business before you introduce a candidate, or a fee dispute is waiting to happen. The candidate has to sign their assignment or contractor agreement before day one. Every week of a temporary assignment, someone at the client has to approve a timesheet before the worker can be paid and the client invoiced. Each of those signatures is a dependency you do not control.
Recruitment also runs to tight timelines. A candidate who accepts on Thursday may start on Monday; a temp booked at eight in the morning may be on site by ten. Paper, scanners and “can you print this and send it back?” do not fit those timelines.
SignPe lets your consultants send any of those documents from the web app or the SignPe app for iOS and Android. Clients and candidates get an email with a Review & Sign Document button and sign in their browser — no account, no download. This page is about agency placements; if you are hiring for your own organisation, see electronic signatures for HR teams.
Client terms of business and temp-to-perm conversions
Your terms of business — or client service agreement — set the fee percentage, the rebate period if a placement leaves early, the charge rates for temporary workers and what happens when a client takes a temp on permanently. A client who has not signed them is a client who can argue about any of those later.
- Send on first contact. Upload your standard terms, add the hiring manager or the client’s authorised signatory, and send before you share a single CV.
- Several signers at the client. Add the hiring manager, HR and procurement if all three need to sign — there is no limit on signers per document — and use Set signer order so each is emailed in turn.
- Rates and fees on the page. Use Text fields for the agreed fee percentage or charge rate, Initials on the pages with rebate and introduction clauses, and Company and Designation fields for the signatory.
- Your director signs last. Put your agency’s signatory at the end of the order, and apply your company stamp from your saved library where your agreements carry one.
Temp-to-perm, agreed in writing
When a client wants to take a temporary worker on permanently, send the conversion or transfer-fee agreement for signature straight away, with the fee and the effective date in Text and Date fields. The client signs from their phone, and the agreement is on record before the worker moves to the client’s payroll.
Candidate and contractor agreements: signed before day one
Temporary workers need an assignment schedule and terms of engagement. Contractors need a contract for services, often through their own limited company, plus a confidentiality agreement if the client asks for one. Permanent candidates may need to sign your agency’s registration terms. All of it has to be done before the start date — and the people signing are usually on their phones.
- No account, nothing to install. Candidates sign as guests after accepting a short electronic-records consent screen.
- Sign however they like. They can draw a signature with a finger, type one in a script font or upload an image of their own.
- Assignment details on the page. Add Full Name, Email, Date and Text fields for the start date, pay rate and assignment location, and Checkmark fields for opt-ins and declarations.
- Sign in the branch. If a candidate registers in person, use In person Signing so they sign on a tablet at your desk.
The contractor’s copy is emailed to them automatically when the agreement completes, so they have their own record of the agreed terms. Our guide to signing an employment contract online covers the process from the signer’s side.
Timesheets: client approvals that do not hold up payroll
Every week, timesheets have to be approved by a client manager before the worker can be paid and the client invoiced. The worker has done their part; the delay is almost always a manager who has not got round to signing. Paper timesheets also get lost, signed by the wrong person or filled in after the fact.
- Worker first, manager second. Use Set signer order so the temp signs to confirm their hours and the client manager is emailed automatically to approve them.
- One-click Remind before the payroll cut-off. Choose Remind, confirm Send reminder, and every signer who has not signed yet receives an email titled “Gentle Reminder: Required Signature on <document>”, plus a push and in-app notification if they use the SignPe app.
- See what is outstanding. The Waiting for Others filter in your Documents list shows every timesheet still waiting on a manager.
- Paper timesheets too. If a site still uses paper, the SignPe app’s Scan option captures up to 20 pages with automatic edge detection, so the signed sheet joins the rest of the records.
Automated reminders also nudge signers so approvals do not stall. See signing reminders for how reminders work.
Right-to-work and compliance declarations
Before a worker starts an assignment, most agencies collect a stack of declarations: right-to-work confirmation, working-time opt-outs where they apply, health and safety acknowledgements, criminal record or conduct declarations, and consent to share details with the client. They are short documents, but every one needs a signature and a date you can produce later.
| What you need to show | Where SignPe records it |
|---|---|
| The worker made the declaration | Signature and Checkmark fields completed by the worker |
| When they made it | Date field, plus the signed time in the audit trail |
| It was sent and opened | Sent and Opened statuses with date and time in the Activity timeline |
| Who has not completed theirs yet | The Waiting for Others filter |
| Proof for an audit or a client | The downloadable audit trail PDF with the document ID |
If a candidate brings paper documents to the branch, the app’s Scan option turns them into a PDF, and several photos can be combined into one PDF automatically. SignPe records the worker’s signature on the declaration; checking the underlying documents is still part of your own compliance process.
A typical staffing signing workflow
Prepare the document
Upload the terms of business, assignment schedule, timesheet or declaration as a PDF or Word file, or import it from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or Box. Save it as a draft if details are still being confirmed — drafts do not use a document credit.
Place and assign fields
Drag Signature, Initials, Full Name, Date, Text and Checkmark fields onto the page and assign each to the client, the candidate or your own signatory.
Set the order and copy the consultant
Choose Set signer order — candidate then client manager for a timesheet, client then director for terms — and add the recruitment consultant as an observer.
Send and follow up
Track Sent, Received, Opened and Signed in the Activity timeline or the Document History page on mobile, and use Remind before your deadlines.
File the record
When everyone has signed, all parties receive the signed copy. Download the audit trail PDF for the placement file.
Compliance considerations for staffing documents
Electronic signatures are recognised for most commercial and employment-related agreements under laws such as the US ESIGN Act and UETA, the EU’s eIDAS regulation and India’s Information Technology Act 2000. Agency work is regulated differently in different countries — rules on agency worker terms, right-to-work checks, working-time opt-outs and the information you must give candidates all vary — so confirm with your legal adviser or trade body what applies to the placements you make. Our legality guide covers the Indian position in detail.
- Consent to electronic records. Guest signers accept an electronic-records consent screen before they sign.
- Only participants can open a document. Candidate details and pay rates are visible only to the sender, signers and observers.
- Encryption in transit and at rest. Documents travel over HTTPS/TLS and are stored in encrypted cloud storage — see eSignature security.
- Aadhaar eSign in India. For Indian placements, Aadhaar eSign adds OTP verification through eMudhra and a PKI-signed PDF.
Candidate files contain personal data, so apply your agency’s own retention and data-protection policies to the signed copies and audit trails you download.
How to get a timesheet approved by e-signature
Upload the timesheet
Upload the week’s timesheet as a PDF or Word file, or scan a paper timesheet with the SignPe app.
Add the signers
Choose Set signer order, add the temporary worker first and the client manager second, and add the consultant as an observer.
Place the fields
Add a Signature and Date field for each signer, and Text fields if hours need to be confirmed on the page.
Send and track
The worker is emailed first; the manager is emailed automatically once the worker signs. Use Remind if approval stalls.
Receive the signed copy
Once the manager signs, everyone receives the signed PDF and the audit trail is ready to download.
