Opt in\out

[gables]

First of all I start this thread with a certain amount of trepidation (NLUK I'm looking at you) as it's about opt out\in :gulp: I have looked at the 50 page sticky and you can see I've quoted a bit: (from 2007)

The upside is that you can just let them believe what they want to believe but if it ever goes to court You show them an interview date of say 1st December and an opt-out signed 10th December and the court laughs themselves silly at the stupid agency because it is blatantly obvious that you are opted in.

If you are opted in, you are opted in. You can't change that no matter what you sign or what you agree with the agent.

But I'm looking for an up to date definitive answer to my question:

Is it even possible, in writing (for whatever reason), to opt out if you're already opted in?

Tony

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

No

[gables]

No

Thanks Lisa, I thought as much.

The contract I have in front of me contains 2 clauses referring to opt out, do they make the whole contract invalid or is it just these particular clauses that are invalid?

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

It depends what's contained within those clauses to be honest; if certain elements of the contract are affected by the opt-out then they are relevant, if they just stand alone they're not of concern

[gables]

The two clauses only refer to confirming that I'm opting out.

There is a handcuff clause which is at odds with the opt-in handcuff of '8 weeks after the end or 14 weeks after the start'. There are two points on this (1) they're willing to change this so maybe I should just change it, but (2) it's very unlikely it'll be needed, so I'm minded to just leave it because as I'm technically opted in it's irrelevant.

The rest of the contract is okay, but if I insist on a contract reflecting that I'm opted in, then it's a totally new contract.

[TheFaQQer]

The rest of the contract is okay, but if I insist on a contract reflecting that I'm opted in, then it's a totally new contract.

If you do insist on that, be prepared for lots of other things to change as well.

[gables]

If you do insist on that, be prepared for lots of other things to change as well.

Yup, which is why I'm reluctant to go that route, I'm quite happy for them to think the opt-in rules don't apply, but should it prove necessary that they in fact do, without invalidating the rest of the contract.

Seems to me to be best of both worlds for me??

[SueEllen]

There should be a clause near the end of the contract that states something along the lines that if any individual clause is invalid it doesn't mean the rest of the contract is invalid.

If you sign the contract make sure you keep detailed notes to show that you never opted-out. Preferably you have a recorded phone call, with the recording and transcript saved, or an email saying this.