Ltd Company IT Contractor, Termination Prior to Start

[ausiee]

Dear All,

I have a situation that require your advise on please.

I am an IT contractor works through my Ltd company. I signed a new contract with a recruitment agency to provide services for their client in UK. The notice period on this contract as per contract schedule is 2 weeks for either side. The duration of this contact is 5 months. Considering the long term revenue opportunity, I resigned from my then existing contract which was in fact due to end after 4 weeks.

I was informed the next day I signed the contract by the agency that this new contract has been terminated due to the end-client's circumstances i.e. terminated prior to my start. No further information was given by the agency despite the fact that services required under this contract was for an on-going program for which the end-client required number of additional resources for.

I spoke to the team at end-client (resources who interviewed me) on this situation and was advised by the delivery manager/hiring manager that there is a disagreement on start date between the end-client procurement/HR and the Agency. I spoke to the Agency about it and they said its not something they are aware of. However, they didn't sound interested to investigate the reasons of cancellations further.

Looking at the contract terms, I see the following as a clause. Based on my conversation with the client, the client never terminated the contract with agency. Its agency who terminated contract with me telling that project is cancelled. So in my understanding the following clause does not apply here and agency should pay me for 2 weeks notice.

"If the Client terminates the Contract or Assignment, or changes the start date of the Assignment, the Supplier will notify the Consultancy Company of such termination or change of start date as soon as possible after the Supplier receives said termination or change of start date notice from the Client. The parties agree that the Supplier will not be liable to pay the Consultancy Company any fee or compensation or any other sums in respect of such termination".

Please share your thoughts as who I can approach for recourse and what I could potentially receive for compensation?

[northernladuk]

Long term revenue opportunity my arse. A gig is only as long as the notice period and often not even that. You tried lining your pocket by ditching a gig that was due to end for a new one and it's turned round and bitten you.

There are a ton of threads in here about exactly the same thing so a search and a read of those would be useful but...

There is likely to be other clauses in your contract such as no pay without a signed timesheet an possibly no pay from the agency unless the client pays them which means you get nothing. The agency certainly won't be paying you out of their pocket and you won't be going to court. Upshot is you are going to get nothing.

The only thing you can do besides suck it up is to claim in the IPSE business interruption policy. They will pay up to 1k in situations where the agency have't met the terms of the contract. That is if you are and IPSE+ member of course.

Don't be greedy and dump clients just because you are close to the end of the gig in future. It's very unprofessional.

Welcome to the messier side of contracting.

[Contreras]

Please share your thoughts as who I can approach for recourse and what I could potentially receive for compensation?

1. A lawyer. 2. Nothing.

Unless the contract includes an explicit penalty clause spelling out compensation then there is nothing to chase.

Move on, find something else, and/or try to make up with the client that you bailed from. There is a lesson here.

[ASB]

Revoked contract offer: What if I was terminated prior to start date? :: Contractor UK

I am not sure why you think the clause doesn't apply. Also there is often a clause saying the agreement only comes into force on commencement.

if you truly believe that the clauseyou highlighted does not apply, and the agreeement is in force then run it hy a contract lawyer to asess chances. Then negotiate with the agency and go to coirt if needed.

your prosprcts ar slim in my view.

[psychocandy]

OP - ignore the crap about terminating the previous contract. If its in there you can do it if you want. Think about it before doing and dont do it lightly of course.

BUT you toss the coin and take your chances. In this case, its gone badly. If it was me - I'd be telling the agency they owe me notice period. Worth a tilt.

One other thing - are you an IPSE member? If so, they may cover you're notice period.

I had same thing happen to me. Cancel on friday before monday start. Notice was only a day but I claimed anyway and they paid up no bother. Possibly because it was only a day. If its a months money they might be a bit more fussy.

[northernladuk]

OP - ignore the crap about terminating the previous contract. If its in there you can do it if you want. Think about it before doing and dont do it lightly of course.

You can if you want but still doesn't make using it in a highly mercenary way a profession way to act. If everyone thought the same way nothing would ever get finished and it would be mayhem so thankfully on the whole most are a bit more professional that that.

That said I guess it's also quite unprofessional to think that someone being mercenary and falling in their arse is quite amusing either.

One other thing - are you an IPSE member? If so, they may cover you're notice period.

No they won't. You've claimed it so should know better. They cover a max of 1k. 1.3 in the link below.

https://www.ipse.co.uk/about-us/busi...ption-services

[psychocandy]

You can if you want but still doesn't make using it in a highly mercenary way a profession way to act. If everyone thought the same way nothing would ever get finished and it would be mayhem so thankfully on the whole most are a bit more professional that that.

That said I guess it's also quite unprofessional to think that someone being mercenary and falling in their arse is quite amusing either.



No they won't. You've claimed it so should know better. They cover a max of 1k. 1.3 in the link below.

https://www.ipse.co.uk/about-us/busi...ption-services

IN YOUR OPINION. Personally, I have no issue with it as long as the person in question has thought it through properly.... It may well give you a bad name it may not but you've got to weigh it up.

Why can't OP claim? Admitedly, its max £1000. Exactly same as I had and I claimed and was successful.

[LondonManc]

I'd have managed my exit better. If it's coming to an end but there are at least four weeks left, you're clearly leaving them mid-project. If you don't intend to return, that's fine, but companies do remember who jumped. Not saying it's a blacklist, but if the hiring manager has two candidates and one has bailed on him in the past, well, you know where I'm going with that.

If the agent has terminated but the client hasn't, have you confirmed if the client still wants you to start "at some point soon"? If so, then I wonder what the agency will do?

[northernladuk]

IN YOUR OPINION. Personally, I have no issue with it as long as the person in question has thought it through properly.... It may well give you a bad name it may not but you've got to weigh it up.

Why can't OP claim? Admitedly, its max £1000. Exactly same as I had and I claimed and was successful.

Yeah to a certain extend but what would happen if everyone went mercenary? There wouldn't be notice periods and contracts would be much more locked down. The whole way of doing business would be different etc. It works because most are there to do business, not screw clients over to make a few quid.

You are right though, it's there to use if you wish. It's like many of the rules. They got put in place for a reason yet some will use it in a way it wasn't really designed for. The contracting model is probably the best example. Some of them suit us and some don't. Guess it's the way of the world. The more people decide to do this the harder it's gonna get for us in the long run.

He can't claim his notice period. He can only claim 1k.

[MrMarkyMark]

I'd have managed my exit better. If it's coming to an end but there are at least four weeks left, you're clearly leaving them mid-project. If you don't intend to return, that's fine, but companies do remember who jumped. Not saying it's a blacklist, but if the hiring manager has two candidates and one has bailed on him in the past, well, you know where I'm going with that.

If the agent has terminated but the client hasn't, have you confirmed if the client still wants you to start "at some point soon"? If so, then I wonder what the agency will do?

Just as we were discussing last night, the world is a very small place.
I know, for one thing, if I had a reputation for this I wouldn't last 5 minutes in London, as everyone pretty much knows each other, its a fairly small market.