What is a rebate period in recruitment?
A rebate period is the window after a placement starts during which the agency refunds part of its fee if the candidate leaves. In UK permanent recruitment it is typically 8 to 12 weeks, on a sliding scale: a full refund in the first weeks, falling to a partial refund, then nothing once the period ends.
The rebate exists because a permanent fee is invoiced on a start date, not on the placement working out. It gives the client protection against paying a full fee for someone who lasts a fortnight, and it is one of the terms most negotiated in a set of terms of business.
A sliding scale is the common shape. Something like a hundred per cent refund if the candidate leaves inside two weeks, fifty per cent to week four, twenty-five per cent to week eight, nothing after that. The exact ladder varies by agency and by client, and it is worth knowing that some clients will push for a replacement guarantee instead, where you fill the role again rather than return cash.
The operational problem is that rebate liability is invisible until it bites. A fee invoiced in March can be clawed back in May, against a month you have already reported and possibly already paid commission on. Agencies that track rebates in a spreadsheet find out about exposure when the client rings.
The thing worth building into a system is the date, not the paperwork. If every placement carries its rebate window, the finance view can show what is still at risk rather than treating an invoiced fee as money in the bank.