Agent threatening to take legal action - urgent advice needed

[Andy Hallett]

I don't know how the contracting industry / legal system in the Netherlands works.

I do, he will be fine.

The OP should relax, end of. If they actually formally send you anything post it up here again.

[MyUserName]

Another +1 for you having nothing to worry about.

They are just trying to scare you into giving them a good commission. They are not going to sue you, it would cost too much and be too much hassle for the gains they almost definitely will not get.

[Bellona]

What the rest have said. No contract has been signed and you are not duty bound or legally bound.

You can tell the agency straight, that as a contractor you get paid by the hours you work and a delay until Jan was unacceptable & because of their delay they have lost the business.

+1
You may have been willing and implied you would accept the offer ( which started Nov), but this materially changed when it became January.
Added to the fact they couldn't even get the contract right, then where do they expect your confidence/loyalty to lie ?!

+1 here too

Now just blank them. Don't take their calls, don't respond to their emails. The agent is just pissed that they won't get their fat commission. None of their threats were put in writing, were they? Do you wonder why this is? Ignore their empty threats because they are talking tulip.

And finally.............
well done on the extension

[BlasterBates]

You can relax you were going in as a temporary employee not as a business so absolutely nothing to worry about. It's even less of an issue than if you were going through your own company. Even if you had signed the contract there's no way a temp employment contract wouln't have had a short notice period. No legal leg to stand on, and no contract anyway.

Good decision, a lot of hot air from the agency. I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. They didn't go out of their way for you, they did it for themselves, and you were expected to throw away 4 weeks revenue

[GillsMan]

You can relax you were going in as a temporary employee not as a business so absolutely nothing to worry about. It's even less of an issue than if you were going through your own company. Even if you had signed the contract there's no way a temp employment contract wouln't have had a short notice period. No legal leg to stand on, and no contract anyway.

Good decision, a lot of hot air from the agency. I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. They didn't go out of their way for you, they did it for themselves, and you were expected to throw away 4 weeks revenue

Completely agree. Tell the agency to do one.

[psychocandy]

Same as everyone else - don't worry about.

So they delay the start causing you hassle, then moan when you take something else. Just about says it all for clients/agents these days. Want it all they're own way.

Like everyone says, agent/client thought it was in the bag and sorted, thought they could do what they wanted and now they've had a nasty shock. Client is wassed off because its hassle for them and agent was probably already counting his comission which is why they're annoyed.

Unfortunate for them but thats the way it works. Clients/agents seem to have a short memory when it comes to expectations as to how to be treated and, in general, treat contractors worse.

Additionally, even if you had signed the contract, in reality, they probably would never chase you legally anyway. Too much hassle and not enough return.

[sunflower]

Don't worry too much about it.

Some agencies can be very aggressive and will try to bully you into accepting their offer.
I've heard of a couple of examples of Netherlands based agencies asking contractors to agree to terms and conditions like the following before even going for an interview:

contractor promises not to accept any other project offer for 8 working days after the interview and keep themselves available for this gig

Don't ever sign or accept anything on email like that. What if your skills do not match after all cos the agent only understands buzzwords and the client wants skill x,y and z which were not in the spec? There are other candidates in the running too. Why should anyone keep themselves off the market for 8 days+?

Companies understand contractors can become unavailable after offers are made; the challenge for the agent is to find a replacement for you for the role and they should concentrate on that rather than threatening you.