Outsourced compliance company delays gig

[simondachstr]

Hi,

I was supposed to start a gig on Monday (1/12) at an IB which required a meticulous a priori screening process. An outsourced (still UK) compliance company was assigned for the collection of all necessary signatures & references. Now I found out that the compliance assistant whom I have been working with for the whole month of November to get all necessary papers done, left the company a week before my gig was about to start. Some two other assistants & supervisor took on my file and started requesting more and more references and verifications which partly were already provided.
All good but I have the feeling they are working very clumsy making many mistakes because eventhough I have always provided them with what they have asked me, the IB rejected my file becausue of missing references last Friday delaying my start day by one day.
Monday now, being at home, I spent a whole day working around providing the compliance team with all the missing references only for them to submit my file in the evening and to be rejected once again. Reason being, one additional personal reference was required to verify my voluntary university group activities. This means I'm losing a second day of my gig.

All the references and paperwork that I handed in were available at all times. Had the compliance team only asked for them 3 weeks ago, when they should have, all would be fine.

There's clearly inefficiency and incompetency on their side, but I'm the one losing money, the agency is losing commission, and the IB is getting pressure to meet the project deadline.
Can the compliance company be held liable for this misconduct? Can I bill them a reduced standby rate for the days that I'm missing work because of them?

Many thanks

[northernladuk]

Just suck it up. A couple of days isn't going to kill anyone and it certainly isn't worth perusing legally. Remember they work on behalf of the client. Piss them off you will most definitely get rejected and have no gig at all. Also taking action against the compliance company will get back to the client who I don't think will be too happy about it.

No point billing anyone, you didn't do any work and can't get a timesheet signed so won't get paid. All you will do is kick up a fuss which isn't going to help you.

A few days here or there isn't an issue and it's pretty common in contracting unfortunately.

[TheFaQQer]

Can the compliance company be held liable for this misconduct?

Possibly, under the law of tort. But it's unlikely that you would win. The client could chase them if they have breached the agreed service level, but probably not.

Can I bill them a reduced standby rate for the days that I'm missing work because of them?

You can always invoice them for the work that you aren't doing. Don't expect it to be paid, though, but it's always nice to brighten someone's day with a bit of comedy.

[BlasterBates]

Your contract is with the agency not with the client, and they usually have clauses which state you don't get paid if there is no work. In other words there very little you can do.

Theoretically you sue the agency, they sue the client and then the client would sue the outsourced compliance company.

You can't sue the outsourced compliance company. You have to take your complaint to the agency.