contract advice please

[bradhilt]

Hi all
i am aware that without seeing my contract that this would not be able to be answered to the fullest but i really do not know where to go on this.

Back in november i secured a contract that seemed as if it would tide me through for a few months. Basically in short what has happened is that the company has been messing me about giving me days here and there as their client is messing them about. Obviously this is not my problem and i just want to work and be paid. Over the past 4 weeks i have only had 3 days work out of them. I am of course now looking for something else but where would i stand in billing them for the time i have not been called in ? my terms are that i am to finish the contract duration but they can terminate at any time. They have not terminated but only sent me a mail saying they can only offer adhoc until their client sorts it out.

any advice would be appreciated. I dont expect anyone on here to sort my problems out but a push in the right direction would be very helpful.

Thank you

[jamesbrown]

Unfortunately, the general rule is: no work, no pay. You should find a clause to that effect in your contract. Beyond what is specifically agreed in the contract in terms of work being provided, they will not be under any obligation to offer work and you will not be under any obligation to accept it. By all means, read through your contract carefully and perhaps call the IPSE legal helpline if you're a member (and if you aren't, you should probably consider it), but this is likely to be the situation.

[SueEllen]

Unfortunately without knowing what your contract says no one can give you advice especially as some contracts are for adhoc work while others are for continuous days.

The majority of contracts state you can't bill for days you don't work so your best bet is to fine another contract, be unavailable and offer them a substitute.

[bradhilt]

as i suspected

thanks guys
its pretty much what i expected although i was looking for a little glimmer of hope.

Thanks again

[pmasoft]

Option

If I had a contract saying I had 40 hours over 5 days and the client did not provide anywhere near that then I would say the contract is null and void. If the contract does not say what hours will be required you effectively have zero hours contract.

So in my humble opinion:

If the former, terminate the contract for breach of terms.
If the latter, go get another contract as there is no exclusivity on this type of contract and run the two in parallel if possible...multiple clients is a bonus.