As the infection situation of the new coronavirus has improved and economic activities have resumed, small and medium-sized enterprises suffering from labor shortages have been solicited to "post job information on the Internet site for free", and after making a contract, a high fee is charged. There are a lot of troubles being billed.
The lawyer who takes measures warns that "if you have a large claim, please consult us before paying."
According to Mr. Yuyuki Takara of the Okinawa Bar Association, lawyers from all over the world said that small and medium-sized enterprises were solicited to post job information on the Internet site for free, and when they signed a contract, they received a high-priced invoice. Including the information from, we received about 30 cases last month alone.
As a feature of such solicitation, there is a phone call saying "I saw the job information of Hello Work", and I emphasized "free" and offered a contract, and after a certain period of time, the contract is automatically renewed and a fee is charged. It means that you do not explain in detail how it works and how to cancel the contract.
If you sign the contract as it is, you will be charged hundreds of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yen as a posting fee in a few weeks, and you will be forced to pay.
Such solicitations have increased sharply for about three years and have been on a downward trend for a while, but as the infection situation of the new corona has improved and economic activities have resumed, they have become conspicuous again for small and medium-sized enterprises suffering from labor shortages. It means that it is.
Even industry groups of companies that handle job advertisements are calling attention again on their homepage, saying that such solicitations by some companies are increasing.
Attorney Takara takes advantage of the feelings of "I want to secure human resources quickly" and "If it's free, let's try it for the time being", so it is important to carefully check the "free" mechanism before making a contract. If you get into trouble, please consult a lawyer before paying. "
Representative of the company in trouble "I have contracted easily"
The representative of the company who was actually in trouble recalls that he was easily contracted because he was struck by the complaint that it was "free" due to labor shortage.
A woman who runs a welfare facility in the Kinki region sent a job offer to Hello Work in mid-September to open a new facility next year.
Then, about a week later, there was a solicitation call from a company that operates a job information site saying, "I saw a job offer at Hello Work. Would you like to open a job for free?", And then a few days later. In the meantime, we received a series of similar solicitation calls from multiple vendors.
The woman decided to sign a contract with the first caller, and the other party told her, "It's free for three weeks, so if you don't need it after that, please contact me."
At this time, it is said that there was no detailed explanation about how to cancel the contract and the contract will be automatically renewed after 3 weeks.
The woman noticed that the application form stated that "cancellation should be offered by email, fax, or mail during the free campaign period," and sent a letter informing her of her intention to cancel during the period.
However, a few days later, at the end of October, I suddenly received an invoice requesting payment of 170,000 yen as a posting fee.
The woman hurriedly called the contractor, but she couldn't connect at all, and even if she contacted me by e-mail, she just got a reply such as "I haven't received the cancellation fax", and I was forced to pay by phone over and over again. Is said to have continued.
The woman said, "At that time, I was only hiring for Hello Work, and I wanted to expand it to different media, so I signed a contract because it was" free ". Looking back, I think it's a clever technique." I was talking.
It is effective to tell the cancellation by "content proof"
Attorney Yuyuki Takara of the Okinawa Bar Association, who is familiar with the troubles of job advertisement sites that sing for free, has set up a liaison meeting to exchange information on the characteristics of solicitation in cooperation with more than 500 lawyers all over the country and is working on measures. is.
One of the common features of such solicitations is that after the free period, the contract is automatically renewed and there is no detailed explanation on how to charge a fee and how to cancel, and it is difficult to understand even if you read the contract documents. about it.
Even if the company sent a document stating the intention to cancel by mail or fax, it was insisted that it had not arrived at the contractor, and it was explained that "the documents necessary for cancellation will be mailed within the free period". In addition, there are many cases where the documents are not sent and cause trouble.
As a countermeasure, it is effective to convey the intention to cancel by using the "content certification" service that records the contents of the document to be mailed.
On top of that, he said that the contract concluded by such a solicitation is not appropriate, and if there is a high-priced claim, he is calling for consultation with a lawyer who is familiar with consumer troubles etc. through bar associations in each region before paying. ..
Attorney Takara said, "It is natural to explain what the user is most concerned about so that there is no misunderstanding. It is natural that complaints will be flooded if you do not give enough explanation and make a large request. This is not a legitimate contract, and it is quite possible to refuse payment. "