Advice Needed: Contract to help out without concrete milestone

[siphr]

Hello,

Just needing some advice here regarding a potential contract via an agency. The nature of work is described as "helping out the team." I am expected to be rotated around within the company as per functional requirement. So there are no concrete milestones. The client is dictating when I need to be on-site as well instead of me telling them. Are these sort of contracts high risk from the point of view of IR35? What things do I need to be concerned about, while I read the contract? Thanks.

[northernladuk]

Yes. A very simple understanding of IR35 would tell you this. Clear D&C. I'd expect MoO and zero RoS.

If you can't see that or don't know what any of those acronyms mean the you really need to brush on your basic IR35 knowledge.

Some good guides on the right and plenty of stuff on Google. Most of them set out clearly what you need to be aware of. Translate those in to your situation and you'll get a pretty good idea.

What things do I need to be concerned about, while I read the contract?

You need to be concerned you are reading your own contract yet having to ask us fairly basic stuff.
Get a full review done including working practices with a reputable company.

[siphr]

Yes. A very simple understanding of IR35 would tell you this. Clear D&C. I'd expect MoO and zero RoS.

If you can't see that or don't know what any of those acronyms mean the you really need to brush on your basic IR35 knowledge.

Some good guides on the right and plenty of stuff on Google. Most of them set out clearly what you need to be aware of. Translate those in to your situation and you'll get a pretty good idea.

Hi NothernLadUK, yep that is exactly what I am trying to do and this post is part of the learning process. So does this mean that the agency is talking nonsense when they say it is outside IR35? And does this happen often where the nature of contract might be misrepresented by an agency? As I understand the final liability would fall on the worker should anything go wrong, so agency would be scot-free in case sh*t hit the fan, is my understanding correct thus far?

[northernladuk]

IR35 issues aside there is a good chance the gig itself is gonna be crap as well. Dropped in where ever to do whatever they fancy you doing? You might get a bit of interesting work but I put money on you getting the arse end of everything and blamed for everything that goes wrong as well.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

[northernladuk]

Hi NothernLadUK, yep that is exactly what I am trying to do and this post is part of the learning process. So does this mean that the agency is talking nonsense when they say it is outside IR35? And does this happen often where the nature of contract might be misrepresented by an agency? As I understand the final liability would fall on the worker should anything go wrong, so agency would be scot-free in case sh*t hit the fan, is my understanding correct thus far?

I'm sure they'll roll out their standard contract which might actually pass a cursory review but I'd imagine the working practices are nothing like and they trump the contract. The agency won't care about the working practices. They just want you to sign the contract and start earning them commision.

The devil is in the details so up to you to get them all and get the whole thing checked.

[siphr]

Interesting! So in retrospect, majority of the contracts I have been approached for were like this as well, and these are all standard contracts advertised on JobServe. So why or how can businesses operate as usual if most contracts in the market are like this?

[northernladuk]

Interesting! So in retrospect, majority of the contracts I have been approached for were like this as well, and these are all standard contracts advertised on JobServe. So why or how can businesses operate as usual if most contracts in the market are like this?

Not so sure that's true. You'll need to wait for others to come on and post their opinions but none of my contracts have ever said I'm there to 'help the team out' and have all had a clear set of deliverables.

As I say, the devil is in the details here and I think you are making a sweeping statement without understanding the differences of each contract.

Someone else will be along with their view so you've got a balanced answer, not just mine.

[siphr]

Not so sure that's true. You'll need to wait for others to come on and post their opinions but none of my contracts have ever said I'm there to 'help the team out' and have all had a clear set of deliverables.

As I say, the devil is in the details here and I think you are making a sweeping statement without understanding the differences of each contract.

Someone else will be along with their view so you've got a balanced answer, not just mine.

Regardless, thanks for your take on this!