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Contract changes by the agency without notice and agreement

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    Contract changes by the agency without notice and agreement

    Hello,

    I wonder what happens if one Agency after months refused to pay the contractor the agreed new aligned terms and economic conditions due to the not approved contract by the client saying that is the client that wants to return back at the old rate .

    The contract is already approved and signed by the contractor and the Agency.
    Why it is not valid anymore?
    The agency doesn't want to agree now so the bank payments are still stopped (forcing to accept a new coontract revisited at the previous worse terms and condition)?

    Is it legal?

    regards,
    Just78

    #2
    If the contractor has an agreed, signed, binding contract and the other party isn't willing to accept that then the contractor should terminate for breach and sue the agency for the money that is owed.
    First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. But Gandhi never had to deal with HMRC

    Comment


      #3
      ^ This.

      I'll take a stab at you not having IPSE+ membership. If you did you could claim on the business interruption and get advice on your situation.
      'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

      Comment


        #4
        thanks for the quick reply at the questions.

        I know there are two contracts: one is from the Client who needs the service provided by the Contractor and the Agency which sends the Contractor to do the required service.
        the second one is from the Agency and the Contractor.

        If the Contractor has an approved and bind contract with the job position to the Client. Could the Agency claims to review the new contract AFTER this contract is accepted both parties?

        the first answers by yours seem that the contract could not be changed for the UK laws if one of the parties doesn't follow the agreed procedure.
        notice period, as example and terms and conditions.

        The Client could claim that the Agency didn't the proper steps correctly to get an offical approved contract with the new conditions.

        The Agency without any notice before tells the Contractor that now all the payments should be done with the previous terms and conditions even if the Contractor has a valid signed and approved contract because is the Client that doesn't want to agree to the new terms and conditions.

        Could the Agency itself stop payments of months because is the Client that doesn't authorize the payments?

        regards,
        Just78

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by justanother78 View Post
          Could the Agency itself stop payments of months because is the Client that doesn't authorize the payments?
          You would need to look at the detailed terms of the contract - there may be a clause which effectively says "if we don't get paid, you don't get paid". If that is in there, then you would need expert legal advice and / or the opinion of a court as to whether it is legal or not.

          You have a contract with the agency to get paid £X a day. If you work that day, then the agency must pay you £x for that day, unless there is anything in the contract which allows them to deviate from the contract. If they are now saying "we'll only pay you £Y a day" then they are probably in breach of contract and you should invoice for the full amount and chase them for payment. When they don't pay, add interest and admin fees while you chase it (there are specific rates you are allowed to charge depending on the value you are chasing). If there is a clause in the contract which means that they can withold payment, then they may not be in breach.

          Coming back to my first point - if you did not opt out of the agency regulations before you are introduced to the client, then the agency must pay you for the work that you did, regardless of what they get paid by the client. So check that as well because you may not have opted out of the regulations before you started which would strengthen your position a lot. Bear in mind if you mention this to the agency, whatever you did or did not do, they will tell you that you opted out and nobody has ever refused to opt out. THIS IS A LIE.
          First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. But Gandhi never had to deal with HMRC

          Comment


            #6
            There are two contracts yes. One between the client and agent. You don't normally get to see this and is nothing to do with you. Then there is the contract between your Ltd and the agency. That is the one you sign and the agent has to honour.

            The one between client and agency should be in place before they start looking really so shouldn't be an issue.

            So which contract did you see and sign? The one between you and the agent?

            It's very difficult to understand what you are saying.
            'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
              There are two contracts yes. One between the client and agent. You don't normally get to see this and is nothing to do with you. Then there is the contract between your Ltd and the agency. That is the one you sign and the agent has to honour.

              The one between client and agency should be in place before they start looking really so shouldn't be an issue.

              So which contract did you see and sign? The one between you and the agent?

              It's very difficult to understand what you are saying.
              Sorry I don't want to be so cryptic.

              - The contract I mentioned and I seen is from the Contractor Ltd and the Agency. I don't want to know the other contract side Client/Agency because is not my business.

              - The Agency told the Contractor that the new contract is accepted by the Client and they send the contract to the Contractor. Accepted and Signed. The Contractor started working and Timesheets submitted in the proper web-platform. The Client's Manager approved the timesheets (but not the final payments).
              - After few months now the Agency wake up and changed the rules saying that the Client didn't accept the new contract with the new terms and conditions I accepted.
              - then the Agency offered a new contract to the Contractor with the previous conditions, less hourly rate mainly for the rest till the end of the agreed contract.
              - the Agency says that even if accept or not, the new payments are executed with the old conditions, not in line with the agreed Contract, sure.

              - a first chat with the Business Staff of the Client confirms that there is a problem with the new contract and the Agency didn't the right procedure. So it is not a fault of the Contractor to have a signed contract with the Agency with the agreed terms and conditions.



              Just78

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by justanother78 View Post
                Sorry I don't want to be so cryptic.
                You aren't being crypt. I guess English your second language and its not easy to make sense of what you put. We'll get there.
                - The contract I mentioned and I seen is from the Contractor Ltd and the Agency. I don't want to know the other contract side Client/Agency because is not my business.
                Correct.
                - The Agency told the Contractor that the new contract is accepted by the Client and they send the contract to the Contractor. Accepted and Signed. The Contractor started working and Timesheets submitted in the proper web-platform. The Client's Manager approved the timesheets (but not the final payments).
                - After few months now the Agency wake up and changed the rules saying that the Client didn't accept the new contract with the new terms and conditions I accepted.
                It's not for the client to accept. They signed the contract with you. Not the client.

                Now what they might mean is they've messed up and offered you the rate the client is paying them. We've seen that before.

                You need to be very clear here. This is the key to the problem.

                - then the Agency offered a new contract to the Contractor with the previous conditions, less hourly rate mainly for the rest till the end of the agreed contract.
                - the Agency says that even if accept or not, the new payments are executed with the old conditions, not in line with the agreed Contract, sure.
                Don't quite get this but don't think it matters..
                - a first chat with the Business Staff of the Client confirms that there is a problem with the new contract and the Agency didn't the right procedure. So it is not a fault of the Contractor to have a signed contract with the Agency with the agreed terms and conditions.
                So it does look like the agents have messed up. Not sure how the client would know as the contract between you and the agent is none of their business but I guess if agent used the same rate for you as the client pays it would be pretty obvious.

                Now you've got problems (apart from your English making it even more complicated). If the agent had messed up and is paying you everything they get from the client then of course they are going to want to swap and it's probably worth them breaching to do so. They might have just invoked the notice period instead but they are making a loss on you so maybe not.

                The thing is you were never due the extra amount, the agent has given you their cut. If they'd done it right you'd have happily signed the lower figure and away you go. You now expect more so feel aggrieved they've taken it off you.

                Anyway, your options are to appreciate the above, the agent will never keep you on at a loss so accept. Or you can sue them for breach of contract and see how you get on with that. It's likely they will terminate you and you can only chase them for a moderate amount. A lot less than if you stayed in contract. The question comes down to how much is it worth to you and how far do you fight the principle.

                The agent isn't likely to fold and keep you on at the incorrect rate as they aren't making any money. Better to risk you suing them than making a loss.

                Do you have IPSE?+
                Last edited by northernladuk; 28 February 2017, 00:31.
                'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

                Comment


                  #9
                  I would also add -

                  Was the mistake an obvious one? e.g. a daily rate being listed as an hourly rate? i.e. did you know it was wrong and think "woohoo", or did you genuinely think the new one was what was intended?

                  If the mistake was obvious, then the courts would not find the contract binding.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by justanother78 View Post
                    - The contract I mentioned and I seen is from the Contractor Ltd and the Agency. I don't want to know the other contract side Client/Agency because is not my business.

                    - The Agency told the Contractor that the new contract is accepted by the Client and they send the contract to the Contractor. Accepted and Signed. The Contractor started working and Timesheets submitted in the proper web-platform. The Client's Manager approved the timesheets (but not the final payments).
                    - After few months now the Agency wake up and changed the rules saying that the Client didn't accept the new contract with the new terms and conditions I accepted.
                    - then the Agency offered a new contract to the Contractor with the previous conditions, less hourly rate mainly for the rest till the end of the agreed contract.
                    - the Agency says that even if accept or not, the new payments are executed with the old conditions, not in line with the agreed Contract, sure.

                    - a first chat with the Business Staff of the Client confirms that there is a problem with the new contract and the Agency didn't the right procedure. So it is not a fault of the Contractor to have a signed contract with the Agency with the agreed terms and conditions.
                    The agency can ask you to accept a new contract for future work, at the lower rate. You are then free to accept or decline that - if you decline then they will probably terminate the contract. I don't think you are likely to get a contract for future work at the current rate because they aren't getting that from the client.

                    If (as teapot says) the contract was an obvious mistake then you would have little to no chance of winning any legal fight about whether they owe you the money or not (the case that set the precedent was in 1939 so there is a long history of this). However, if it is just a case of them agreeing a contract with you and then changing their mind for whatever reason, then I think you'd have a good case against them.

                    If they want to change the contract retrospectively, then they would need your agreement for that - you've been working under the new contract for several months, which sets a precedent that they have accepted the terms of the contract as well as you accepting them.

                    The only legal get out that I can immediately think of (and I am not a lawyer by any means, just a keen amateur) would be that the person who agreed the contract with you didn't have the appropriate legal authority to act on their behalf - maybe they can claim this if they were agreeing something under the false expectation that they had already agreed terms with the client.
                    First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. But Gandhi never had to deal with HMRC

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