Staffing Glossary
Master Services Agreement (MSA)
The umbrella contract between a staffing agency and a client that sets bill rates, payment terms, and liability before any workers are placed.
Also called: general staffing agreement, staffing services agreement, MSA
An MSA (sometimes just called a general staffing agreement) is signed once per client relationship and covers the terms that apply to every job order placed under it, so each individual assignment doesn't need its own full contract negotiation.
Without a signed MSA in place, an agency has very little recourse if a client is slow to pay or disputes a bill rate after the fact — it's the document that makes those terms enforceable.
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