Volunteering at end of contract.

[BishBishop]

Hi all,

I am an IT contractor with my own company and am contracting for a UK charity via a high street employment agency. Sadly my relationship with the agency has deteriorated to the point they will not extend my contract, despite the charity wishing to extend me.

I understand that part of the contract I have signed excludes me from working for the charity for a period of 12 months following the termination of my contract, as follows:



Can anyone advise me whether, legally, I would be able to work for the charity for free during the 12 month contract, or would this lead to a penalty from the agency. Thanks in advance.

[l35kee]

I'd doubt they could stop you, supply of services suggests payment for said services. Interested to hear from an expert on this though.

[VillageContractor]

Would the refusal to renew not make the handcuff unenforceable?*

* Not a lawyer

[northernladuk]

It all depends on whether the agency will be out of pocket or not really. Handcuffs arent generally applied unless someone is showing a demonstrable loss. Not letting you go back because they don't fancy it or you've fallen out with them will not wash.

If you going back there fills the spot up the agency would make money from then it's pretty solid, despite the 12 months being questionable.

[northernladuk]

Would the refusal to renew not make the handcuff unenforceable?*

* Not a lawyer

Nope. It applies even if the contract has finished and you leave on the very best of terms. It's there to protect the agencies revenue stream. Do anything to affect that then it applies. If the agency were being kicked off the account and there isn't a chance they will make another penny from it then you should be OK but if the OP goes back and the charity drops the role from the agency then he's pretty stuffed.

At the end of the day though it's all down to who has the biggest balls. To enforce it they'd need to go to court. Would they do that for one gig and risk losing the client? Is it even financially worth it? Most handcuffs are circumvented by the client strong arming the agency. Let him come in or you get no more business from us tends to make them re-think.

[TheFaQQer]

Can anyone advise me whether, legally, I would be able to work for the charity for free during the 12 month contract, or would this lead to a penalty from the agency. Thanks in advance.

Will you have an agreement between the charity and your company? I would think that you really should have one, otherwise what happens if you screw up and need to claim on your insurance? What happens if you need other protection that limited liability provides? What if the charity does? I think you'd be crazy to be doing work that is similar to the professional services that you provide without a formal agreement.

If you have an agreement, then the restriction applies; if you don't have an agreement then the restriction doesn't apply because there is no agreement, but you'd be crazy to work that way and the client would be crazier to accept work that way.

Whether the agency would sue you is a different matter, and only one that they can answer, though.

IANAL.

[WordIsBond]

If you enter into an agreement to provide services, then on its face the agency contract restricts that.

If you do it as a volunteer without any agreement or any remuneration, it would be hard to see how it restricts that, and the press would love to get hold of a story of someone trying to keep you from giving your time to a charity. You could make some really good headlines out of that, and I can't see the agency wanting that kind of publicity.

As to whether the work would leave you vulnerable, in terms of liability, I'd talk to these people: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/ncvo-volunteering. If they can't give you good answers on that, they can probably tell you who could give answers.

Perhaps the best way forward is to have an agreement, not to provide services (falls foul of the handcuff), but to indemnify you of any liabilities related to any services you choose to provide on a volunteer basis. The charity has to have insurance to cover volunteers anyway.

[SeanT]

Did you opt out of the employment agency regulations then? Were you introduced to the client before or after you opted out?

[VillageContractor]

Nope. It applies even if the contract has finished and you leave on the very best of terms. It's there to protect the agencies revenue stream. Do anything to affect that then it applies. If the agency were being kicked off the account and there isn't a chance they will make another penny from it then you should be OK but if the OP goes back and the charity drops the role from the agency then he's pretty stuffed.

At the end of the day though it's all down to who has the biggest balls. To enforce it they'd need to go to court. Would they do that for one gig and risk losing the client? Is it even financially worth it? Most handcuffs are circumvented by the client strong arming the agency. Let him come in or you get no more business from us tends to make them re-think.

The agency are only losing money if the agency place someone else in the role. If they don't place anyone in the role then they are not losing money?