Missing notice from agent

[Bee]

I agree with you, it's not correct, it's not professional and annoying but you need to see from the Client relationships perspective.

Move on...

Hi ,
I was working as contractor, My agent ABC had me appointed at via a consultancy THE CONSULTANCY at a Bank TOP TIER. My contract with the agency says both sides have to give a notice of one month. My contract was supposed to finish on 15th June , on 26th of may and 4-5 days before that as well I asked my agency about my contract if it at all being renewed as the TOP TIER told me that my contract may be finishing early with no date penned in. Agent ABC informed me that they were working towards renewal and it might be on the plate.

on 31 May my contract finished. Now they have missed serving the notice, even on last day when I was just told that it is my last day.

Now the agent is telling me that they cannot pay for the notice as the TOP TIER has not paid THE CONSULTANCY and hence they have not received the money from them and they cannot take a loss. I told them that this is not correct and non professional as my contract is with ABC..

Legally is there anything that I can do and get my money back, I am so disturbed that I had to take a day off from the new Job.

[northernladuk]

I agree with you, it's not correct, it's not professional and annoying but you need to see from the Client relationships perspective.

Move on...

Try putting the quote before your response. The whole idea is the quote is the context and then we read your reply. To reply to something first means the reader then has to scroll down to read the context. This makes no sense. You couldn't use it as it was designed please?

[BrilloPad]

If you say so.

Try putting the quote before your response. The whole idea is the quote is the context and then we read your reply. To reply to something first means the reader then has to scroll down to read the context. This makes no sense. You couldn't use it as it was designed please?

[Bee]

It is just business.

Your "job" was supplying services to the consultancy to help their end client on the end client's site.

Their end client told you directly they didn't need you anymore after a certain date but instead of listening to them and trying to mitigate your loss you ignored them.

I disagree, you are in the same boat if you notice a ring alarm bell you should communicate to the Consultancy (your client) and find a way to mitigate together. How could you ignore a sign that can put your business in danger?

Consultancies and agencies rarely know what is going on on the ground.

Agencies maybe yes but regarding a Consultancy, you are generalizing based only on your experience.

[Ascot]

Hi ,
I was working as contractor, My agent ABC had me appointed at via a consultancy THE CONSULTANCY at a Bank TOP TIER. My contract with the agency says both sides have to give a notice of one month. My contract was supposed to finish on 15th June , on 26th of may and 4-5 days before that as well I asked my agency about my contract if it at all being renewed as the TOP TIER told me that my contract may be finishing early with no date penned in. Agent ABC informed me that they were working towards renewal and it might be on the plate.

on 31 May my contract finished. Now they have missed serving the notice, even on last day when I was just told that it is my last day.

Now the agent is telling me that they cannot pay for the notice as the TOP TIER has not paid THE CONSULTANCY and hence they have not received the money from them and they cannot take a loss. I told them that this is not correct and non professional as my contract is with ABC..

Legally is there anything that I can do and get my money back, I am so disturbed that I had to take a day off from the new Job.

I'm somewhat bamboozled by some of the "advice" you have had from contracting experts on here.

"Suck it up"? Really? Is that the best you can do?

You had a contract with the agency that ran till 15th June.

It had a one month notice period for both sides.

Less than a month before the natural end date the end client told you they don't need you for as long, yet the agency claimed to be negotiating an extension. Presumably you told them about the end client's statement? Did they not change their position? Did the end client issue a formal termination to the consultancy, and/or the consultancy to the agent?

You received no formal notice of termination? You were just told not to come back after 31st May?

UNLESS your contract had a clause allowing early termination without notice - or with reduced notice - in specific circumstances (e.g. project cancellation) you should be entitled to payment until 15th June. They have not terminated your contract in accordance with its terms (at least as far as you have described those terms). Whether you were allowed to provide your services for those days is irrelevant, as is the question of signed time-sheets. It entirely depends on the wording of your contract and whether it gives the agency the right to terminate with less than a month's notice in any circumstances which are defined in your agreement and which apply to your situation.

Could be expensive getting your money though, but small claims court is an option if under £10,000.

In 29 years I have had one project cancellation where 40 of us had to walk without notice on the same day, and the contract had that situation well and truly covered, it was the first thing we double-checked. It is usually standard boilerplate wording but you never expect it to happen.

Just finishing you early is another ball game and possibly indicates that the termination clauses in the contracts between the client-consultancy and consultancy-agent were different from those in the contract between the agent and you, but that (probably) has no bearing on the agency's obligations to you, depending on whether they have any other innocuously-worded get-out clauses built in to their standard contract.

I had another occasion when the head honcho at a client just wanted to replace me with one of his mates. I was two months into a 12 month extension following an initial 6 month contract, and the client gave me four weeks notice (as is their right), but then thought they could get away with ending me 8 days early without pay because I had done my handover. The agency made damn sure I got paid for the full four weeks of the notice period, despite me walking off site on the day the client tried to pull that stunt .

[SueEllen]

I disagree, you are in the same boat if you notice a ring alarm bell you should communicate to the Consultancy (your client) and find a way to mitigate together. How could you ignore a sign that can put your business in danger?

This doesn't make sense at all.

Agencies maybe yes but regarding a Consultancy, you are generalizing based only on your experience.

Of course it is from my own experience.

[MrMarkyMark]

This doesn't make sense at all.




Of course it is from my own experience.

As though any of us would know how consultancies work.

I must have contracted for at least 5 during my time

[TheFaQQer]

The agency made damn sure I got paid for the full four weeks of the notice period, despite me walking off site on the day the client tried to pull that stunt .

Name and praise the agency that pays out in these circumstances

If the agent legally has to pay, then of course they have to pay. However, there may well be clauses which allow for an instant termination, or clauses which stipulate only payment when the client has indicated satisfaction for the work being invoiced. If that was the case and the agent still paid out, then you should praise and name even louder - because anyone using an agency would love to work for one like this.

[TheFaQQer]

I'm somewhat bamboozled by some of the "advice" you have had from contracting experts on here.

[MrMarkyMark]

I'm somewhat bamboozled by some of the "advice" you have had from contracting experts on here.

"Suck it up"? Really? Is that the best you can do?

You had a contract with the agency that ran till 15th June.

It had a one month notice period for both sides.

Less than a month before the natural end date the end client told you they don't need you for as long, yet the agency claimed to be negotiating an extension. Presumably you told them about the end client's statement? Did they not change their position? Did the end client issue a formal termination to the consultancy, and/or the consultancy to the agent?

You received no formal notice of termination? You were just told not to come back after 31st May?

UNLESS your contract had a clause allowing early termination without notice - or with reduced notice - in specific circumstances (e.g. project cancellation) you should be entitled to payment until 15th June. They have not terminated your contract in accordance with its terms (at least as far as you have described those terms). Whether you were allowed to provide your services for those days is irrelevant, as is the question of signed time-sheets. It entirely depends on the wording of your contract and whether it gives the agency the right to terminate with less than a month's notice in any circumstances which are defined in your agreement and which apply to your situation.

Could be expensive getting your money though, but small claims court is an option if under £10,000.

In 29 years I have had one project cancellation where 40 of us had to walk without notice on the same day, and the contract had that situation well and truly covered, it was the first thing we double-checked. It is usually standard boilerplate wording but you never expect it to happen.

Just finishing you early is another ball game and possibly indicates that the termination clauses in the contracts between the client-consultancy and consultancy-agent were different from those in the contract between the agent and you, but that (probably) has no bearing on the agency's obligations to you, depending on whether they have any other innocuously-worded get-out clauses built in to their standard contract.

I had another occasion when the head honcho at a client just wanted to replace me with one of his mates. I was two months into a 12 month extension following an initial 6 month contract, and the client gave me four weeks notice (as is their right), but then thought they could get away with ending me 8 days early without pay because I had done my handover. The agency made damn sure I got paid for the full four weeks of the notice period, despite me walking off site on the day the client tried to pull that stunt .

The main issue, IMO, is the OP does not seem to know the ins and outs of his own contract.

As is always the case the advice may change if we had more info.

There might be exceptions and you have provided one example, but in most cases the contract is constructed to allow the type of termination the OP has just experienced.