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Contract terminated before start date - anything I can do legally?

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    Contract terminated before start date - anything I can do legally?

    AS the title says - I have signed a contract with a company to start on 1st July 2021, but today they told me they do not want to proceed and are terminating the contract.
    The break clause is 30days (either side) in the contract, but what I don't know is if the contract is only valid from the start date, or is there any legal action I can take against the company now? This is extremely unprofessional from the company, and I don't want them to casually walk off from this scot free. I have put plans in place and made major changes in order to start working on this contract

    Thanks
    Baz

    #2
    You're a company, not an employee. Unless it's a badly worded contract (doubtful), it will be perfectly legal that they decided not to proceed with a B2B contract.

    It sucks, but that's what contractors are paid more for.
    Last edited by Paralytic; 21 June 2021, 16:29.

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      #3
      OP, suck it up and move on. They have no work, so they do not want you. End of it.

      Find another gig.
      Public Service Posting by the BBC - Bloggs Bulls**t Corp.
      Officially CUK certified - Thick as f**k.

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        #4
        Originally posted by bazuzu View Post
        AS the title says - I have signed a contract with a company to start on 1st July 2021, but today they told me they do not want to proceed and are terminating the contract.
        The break clause is 30days (either side) in the contract, but what I don't know is if the contract is only valid from the start date, or is there any legal action I can take against the company now? This is extremely unprofessional from the company, and I don't want them to casually walk off from this scot free. I have put plans in place and made major changes in order to start working on this contract

        Thanks
        Baz
        The above answers are quite correct but let me elaborate so you can understand your contract and what has happened and why you shouldn't rely on notice periods.

        So... further down in your contract it will state you will get paid for days worked with a signed timesheet. Very very important. This is the answer to most questions regarding notice/payment/holidays/instant termination/suing for loss you name it. We work a day, client agrees we worked a day and we get paid. That's it. Very simple. We do not get paid for days we don't work. We do not get paid notice period if we didn't work it. We cannot sue for losses if we did not work them and so on.

        So if a client decides they don't want to pay us they withdraw the work and we are done. You could have 30 days, 100 days whatever notice in your contract but if the client asks you to leave site you don't get paid another penny. Effective instant termination. The contract will still run but we just don't do work and we don't get paid. The client/agent can cancel a contract before it's started even right up to the start day but we cannot claim for anything as we did not work it therefore not lost anything. In some cases this is very unfair and a right piss take but it is what it is I am afraid.

        So.. no, there is absolutely nothing you can do. You didn't work so you don't get paid. Doesn't matter when it was valid from, if it started on teh day they say or what. This is, unfortuantely, far too common when signing contracts that start way in the future. The client's needs change, someone comes in quicker or cheaper and you are done. Massive risk signing for something and then waiting.

        It's not unprofessional really. It's not great I totally accept and is a right pisser for the contractor but if the work has changed the client doesn't need you what are they supposed to do. Not sure what is unprofessional about that (on the face of it anyway). We are a flexible resource who supply to a clients needs and this is the risk we take.

        It's really unfortunate if you've made changes to accomodate this. I've had a few cancelled at short notice and it stings to holy hell and I didn't have to make any changes for them so you must be furious but it is what it is. Part of why we get paid so much. Business can be harsh at times I am afraid.
        Last edited by northernladuk; 21 June 2021, 20:42.
        'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

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          #5
          Thanks everyone, in all my years of contracting I have never had it terminated 5 days before the start date. It is extremely unprofessional, I declined a renewal to accommodate this and now I have to go back to market, but I understand this is the risk associated with contracting. Guess I was just venting...

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by bazuzu View Post
            Thanks everyone, in all my years of contracting I have never had it terminated 5 days before the start date. It is extremely unprofessional, I declined a renewal to accommodate this and now I have to go back to market, but I understand this is the risk associated with contracting. Guess I was just venting...
            Thankfully me neither, well not that close, and we can totally understand it's a complete pisser. I seem to remember the first time I came across this on this forum was a guy standing in reception on the first day at his new client and being told he's not needed and go home. He was posting on his phone from reception asking what to do. Horrible situation he was in.

            It's an interesting (and pedantic) point about professionalism though. We've another guy going on about professionalism in another current thread and he's the wanting to breach contract and doesn't have a clue about what he is and how it works. Is it really unproffesional to let you go? You are a supplier fulfilling a need for a client. That need has gone and they've terminated as per the contract. If this is unprofessional then what is the professional way to do it? Allow the contract to start and pay you for doing nothing (which they won't as that is also covered in the contract)? 100% right it's a complete bummer and you've every right to be hacked off but isn't this the risk of our type of business? Jumping ship comes with risks and when they materialise is it really unprofessional?

            Any chance you can go back and save the gig you had the extension for?
            'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

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              #7
              You are lucky they even told you. The new standard is simply to ghost and never talk to you again or explain what is going on.

              I once went through a two week, very detailed pre-employment screening process only to be ghosted at the very end. Not because there was anything to find, I've done plenty of those before and after that, I guess things just changed for them and it's easier to ghost than admit their mistake.

              Comment


                #8
                Cuts both ways this. I got a SMS message one Friday before a start the next Monday. Bl**dy annoying, though a couple of years later, the client did engage me for two further 6 month gigs that did actually happen. On that occasion the market was excellent and I got a start elsewhere the following week.

                Then the other side of the coin, once after two days and once after four days, I had to tell the client that they had the wrong person for the job and on both occasions parted amicably. On one of those occasions the failed gig was followed by nearly 18 months with not a single paid day of work. Tough but for me it was the right thing to do.
                Public Service Posting by the BBC - Bloggs Bulls**t Corp.
                Officially CUK certified - Thick as f**k.

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                  #9
                  The matter is not straightforward. Legally there is something you can do: start a claim. How much did you lose (the value of 30 days' work)? That would be the value of your claim. But you can break it down into 'heads'. These clauses about not being entitled to pay should not be read in isolation. You are not automatically defeated by them. If the value is more than £10,000 you have to pay a fair amount for your claim but if you litigate in person they may settle up if you put together a valid claim that will survive strike out applications. The reason they might settle early is the size of the legal costs they will face.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by andrew142 View Post
                    The matter is not straightforward. Legally there is something you can do: start a claim. How much did you lose (the value of 30 days' work)? That would be the value of your claim. But you can break it down into 'heads'. These clauses about not being entitled to pay should not be read in isolation. You are not automatically defeated by them. If the value is more than £10,000 you have to pay a fair amount for your claim but if you litigate in person they may settle up if you put together a valid claim that will survive strike out applications. The reason they might settle early is the size of the legal costs they will face.
                    Rubbish. There is no loss, there is no mutuality of obligation here. The client does not have to offer work. They could have started the contract and then each day said they had no work, so please go home. The only obligation on the client is to pay for work done to an acceptable standard, delivered on time. Repeated - There was no work, there is no loss.
                    Public Service Posting by the BBC - Bloggs Bulls**t Corp.
                    Officially CUK certified - Thick as f**k.

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