Had my contract extended then terminated while I was on holiday, for no apparent reason. ( my job title was being changed and my manager was a little insecure, simply because over time I became the go to guy "without the job appropriate title" )
I worked for a very large betting company and the agency employs many hundreds if not thousands of contract IT workers via this well known employment agency. I asked the agents nicely to pay my two week notice period. They were clear and unequivocal about the fact there they will not be paying me for my notice period. Now this is where it gets very interesting.
Point 1
The very nice lady who responds to my emails from the agency referred me to article 12 section (d), see below
E***ris shall have the right to immediately terminate this Agreement without liability to the Company by giving notice in
writing:
(a) if the Company is in material breach of any of its obligations under this Agreement; or
(b) if the Company makes a voluntary arrangement with its creditors or becomes subject to an administration order,
goes into liquidation or becomes insolvent; or
(c) in the event that the Company fails to provide the on-boarding documents detailed in Schedule 3 within 5 working
days of the commencement of the Project Period.
(d) if the Client no longer requires, for any reason, the Project Services provided by the Company; or
(e) at any time prior to the start date of the Project Period.
The implication of section d is that the end client could turn around and say you are not longer required. pack your bag up and go, (like a decree / directive or and executive order ) isn't that what a contract is meant to protect against ??.
Point 2
The contract also states the following
The Company and Experis shall each have the right to terminate this Agreement by giving the notice stipulated in clause 14 ( 2 weeks notice period for both parties )
of this Agreement. This Agreement may also terminate by mutual consent if the Project Services are completed to the
satisfaction of the Client prior to the Project Period end date.
Which means there is a notice period of 2 weeks baked into the the contract. They two clauses seem to contradict each other.
I contacted IPSE legal helpline given I'm a member. That did not help much as they were not interested in seeing the contract as its a phone advisory service, the lady was very rude, condescending and just seemed to fire off every statement loudly. In the end she said concluded that its a 50/50 situation and could not comment any further unless she sees the whole contract, which she could not see as it's phone only service.
I considering a small claim court action against the agency. Do I stand any chance of winning ?
I got this excerpt from a website - http://bit.ly/214cQMd
There may be a ‘for any reason’ clause that allows both you and the client to end the agreement for any reason at any time (with or without notice)
I worked for a very large betting company and the agency employs many hundreds if not thousands of contract IT workers via this well known employment agency. I asked the agents nicely to pay my two week notice period. They were clear and unequivocal about the fact there they will not be paying me for my notice period. Now this is where it gets very interesting.
Point 1
The very nice lady who responds to my emails from the agency referred me to article 12 section (d), see below
E***ris shall have the right to immediately terminate this Agreement without liability to the Company by giving notice in
writing:
(a) if the Company is in material breach of any of its obligations under this Agreement; or
(b) if the Company makes a voluntary arrangement with its creditors or becomes subject to an administration order,
goes into liquidation or becomes insolvent; or
(c) in the event that the Company fails to provide the on-boarding documents detailed in Schedule 3 within 5 working
days of the commencement of the Project Period.
(d) if the Client no longer requires, for any reason, the Project Services provided by the Company; or
(e) at any time prior to the start date of the Project Period.
The implication of section d is that the end client could turn around and say you are not longer required. pack your bag up and go, (like a decree / directive or and executive order ) isn't that what a contract is meant to protect against ??.
Point 2
The contract also states the following
The Company and Experis shall each have the right to terminate this Agreement by giving the notice stipulated in clause 14 ( 2 weeks notice period for both parties )
of this Agreement. This Agreement may also terminate by mutual consent if the Project Services are completed to the
satisfaction of the Client prior to the Project Period end date.
Which means there is a notice period of 2 weeks baked into the the contract. They two clauses seem to contradict each other.
I contacted IPSE legal helpline given I'm a member. That did not help much as they were not interested in seeing the contract as its a phone advisory service, the lady was very rude, condescending and just seemed to fire off every statement loudly. In the end she said concluded that its a 50/50 situation and could not comment any further unless she sees the whole contract, which she could not see as it's phone only service.
I considering a small claim court action against the agency. Do I stand any chance of winning ?
I got this excerpt from a website - http://bit.ly/214cQMd
There may be a ‘for any reason’ clause that allows both you and the client to end the agreement for any reason at any time (with or without notice)
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