Notice period issue/argument

[RockyBalboa]

Ello all,

I was recently in a 6 month role in which there wasn't much work to do (well hardly any work was given). Anyway, 2 months have gone by and an 'excuse' was made that work was not done to the required standard.

The contract states the following main termination clauses:

1. Contract can be terminated in the first week without cause.
2. The client can terminate the agreement fortwith if the consultant is 'inefficient'.
3. The agreement between the client and the company may be terminated forthwith by the Client for any reason
4. The agreement can be terminated at any time by either party upon the provision of 28 days notice in writing to the other party unless stated otherwise in the relevant schedule.

However, I was issued notice to work from home and the client maintains that this is only for a period of 1 week.

As I have been issued noticed and not dismissed on the spot, the question is around the notice period - my contract states 28 days. I have informed the agency that as far as I am concerned, it should be 28 days.

The Agency states that things are a bit more complicated as there is a preferred supplier involved as follows:

The chain between myself and the company is as follows:

Consultant - Agency - Preferred Supplier - Client

As far as I am concerned, I have not been dismissed on the spot and therefore, I have 28 days notice to work from home. My contract is with the agency and their own contracts with the preferred supplier or Client are nothing to do with me.

Opinions?

Thanks.

[oracleslave]

My contract is with the agency and their own contracts with the preferred supplier or Client are nothing to do with me.

My opinion is that you are still entitled to 28 days notice. Sounds to me like the agent has been remiss in aligning their contract with the client to yours and are now worried that they will have to stump up the shortfall when you invoice them.

[Zippy]

OS is probably right (we don't know whether you have a "no obligation to provide work" clause) but it may be better to agree a dignified withdrawal, rather than the client using the excuse that you did sub-standard work in order to get rid of you.

[RockyBalboa]

OS is probably right (we don't know whether you have a "no obligation to provide work" clause) but it may be better to agree a dignified withdrawal, rather than the client using the excuse that you did sub-standard work in order to get rid of you.

Would it be this:

The Service Provider is under no obligation to provide Services to the Company other than as specified in the schedules hereto. There is no obligation on the Company to offer further assignments, nor is the Service Provider obliged to accept any such assignments.

However, given the fact that they have issued notice I don't see how now they can back-track. The issue is simply over the amount of notice.

[northernladuk]

All this contract stuff is great but useless unless you take it legal. The bottom line is the client can do what he wants to you, and probably vice versa but unless one of you wants to shell out for a legal team it is all handbags at 10 paces.

My take on this type of thing is that you work to get paid. You don't work you don't get paid. I know contracts, opt's in/out's say otherwise but as I say, thats just words. The term 'so sue me' comes to mind.

So the situation the OP could be in is.. You are now on 28 days notice but we have no work. When there is we will contact you.. Door is that way --> Cya..

Harsh I know but think about it as a client and what they would do. That way you will understand why they are doing it to you and what your position/options are.

[northernladuk]

-ve Thread: Notice period...
Unending tedium

Intelligent input fckvwls. Have another beer..

Who's sockie are you anyway?

[Zippy]

However, given the fact that they have issued notice I don't see how now they can back-track. The issue is simply over the amount of notice.

Yes, I was being pragmatic. The client wants rid and they can accuse you of being incompetent if you won't go quietly. Best to just go with a decent reference. You might be able to haggle for an extra week if you are lucky.

[centurian]

Would it be this:

The Service Provider is under no obligation to provide Services to the Company other than as specified in the schedules hereto. There is no obligation on the Company to offer further assignments, nor is the Service Provider obliged to accept any such assignments.

No - you are the service provider - it means you do have to do any additional work.

What Zippy is talking about is that most contracts have a clause that states on any given day - they are under no obligation to provide you with any work.

There is usually another clause which states you only get paid for work you actually do.

If these two clauses are in the contract, then effectively you can be dismissed on the spot with zero effective notice and no fees billable from that point onwards.

The contract still remains in force until the actual notice period expires, so they could call you back in during this period. But they don't have to pay you a penny otherwise.

Not all ClientCo's are aware/savvy to this. They think the notice period is the same as for a permie, where they have to be paid for that period. But if they are clued up....

[Wanderer]

No - you are the service provider - it means you do have to do any additional work.

What Zippy is talking about is that most contracts have a clause that states on any given day - they are under no obligation to provide you with any work.

There is usually another clause which states you only get paid for work you actually do.

If these two clauses are in the contract, then effectively you can be dismissed on the spot with zero effective notice and no fees billable from that point onwards.

The contract still remains in force until the actual notice period expires, so they could call you back in during this period. But they don't have to pay you a penny otherwise.

Not all ClientCo's are aware/savvy to this. They think the notice period is the same as for a permie, where they have to be paid for that period. But if they are clued up....

I've not seen the contract you are talking about but let's take a typical mutuality of obligation clause from a contract as posted by RockyBalboa:

The Service Provider is under no obligation to provide Services to the Company other than as specified in the schedules hereto. There is no obligation on the Company to offer further assignments, nor is the Service Provider obliged to accept any such assignments.

Read that very carefully. Notice that this refers to further assignments. This means after the end of this assignment there is no further obligation for the company to offer or for the consultant company to accept work. During this assignment, there is a mutuality of obligation in that the consultant (or possibly a substitute) is obliged to turn up and work 5 days a week for X months for which they will be paid £Y per day.

The agreement can be terminated by giving the amount of notice specified in the contract. If one party unilaterally terminates the contract to the detriment of the other party then the aggrieved party can claim damages (eg a payment in lieu of notice).

If your contract is terminated with out notice then it's time to negotiate a settlement. How much you get from them will depend on how strong their case is for getting rid of you (they may try to claim incompetence, misrepresentation for the job, misconduct etc). Simply saying that there is no more money to pay you isn't a valid reason to terminate the contract without notice.

3. The agreement between the client and the company may be terminated forthwith by the Client for any reason
4. The agreement can be terminated at any time by either party upon the provision of 28 days notice in writing to the other party unless stated otherwise in the relevant schedule.

Item 3 could bite you here, they could just claim that they are terminating you forthwith without giving you a reason. I don't know how enforceable this clause is.

However, I was issued notice to work from home and the client maintains that this is only for a period of 1 week.

OK, so they should pay you for that week. As you rightly observe, the contract is between you and the agency so deal with the agency not the client. Also remember that it's the agency who should be terminating the contract not the end client. Have the agency given you notice that they are terminating the contract?

The Agency states that things are a bit more complicated as there is a preferred supplier involved as follows: Consultant - Agency - Preferred Supplier - Client.
My contract is with the agency and their own contracts with the preferred supplier or Client are nothing to do with me.

Absolutely correct that the chain of contracts is their problem to sort out, it's nothing for you to worry about.

For your opening shot, invoice the agency for the 28 days notice period and then pursue the debt (or at very least a settlement) from there. How much you will get is another story but if you don't ask then you don't get.

Follow it though but set a limit on how much time you are willing to expend on it. When you reach that limit, stop - don't let it eat you up if you would be better off accepting a settlement and dedicating your time towards more positive things like looking for a new contract.

Good luck!

[RockyBalboa]

Issued the agency with an invoice for the days worked that week plus the notice period of 28 days.. awaiting them coming back to me.

Been on the blower to the PCG legal/contracts helpline; explained the situation. They said that the contract between myself and the agency is the one of concern and as I have been put on notice to work from home, 28 days should apply. Should the agency think otherwise, they advise taking up small claims court case.