End Client working hours vs Agency contract working hours

[zonkkk]

I am just about to sign my first contract through an agency. Being paid daily rate
The end client said the normal working day is 8:30-16:30 with 30min lunch break (non flexible) = 37.5h working week.

However my contract from the agency says 40h / week. I have queried this with them, but won't be getting an answer before monday.
I don't want to be paid pro-rata for 7.5h instead of 8h.

Have any of you had this before? What did you do?
PS. I am aware that I will be sometimes required to be working more than the agreed hours.

[NotAllThere]

Agent once asked me my daily rate. I said £640. He said "too high" and we settled on £620. Thing is, I was thinking of an 8 hour day, and it turned out it was a 7 hour day. At £80 per hour, I'd've been happy to take the post at £560. As it was my usual £80 per hour was negotiated "down" to £88.50. ... and then more often than not, I'd work a 40 hour week anyway.

In your case what matters is whether the work is contractually per hour or per day. Frankly, the agency won't want to lose money - they want 40 hours of commission, not 37.5. They may well be billing the client daily, so they'll adjust your rate accordingly. Or perhaps, like in my case, the official hours are lower than 40, but you end up working 40 anyway.

[zonkkk]

It's a daily rate contract.

But funnily enough it says I can charge pro-rata for work done outside normal working hours...

[psychocandy]

If client says these hours are fine and you bill daily then thats what I'd do.

I made this mistake once early on of asking the agent. Told me they work really hard and expect contractors to work 8-6. Of course, when I got there it was nothing like this.

Think about it. Agent gets his money regardless of how many hours you work. If he can get the contractor to work 10 hours a day then client is impressed with the hard working contractor hes supplied. On the other hand, if contractor works bare minimum then agent puts up with client moaning.

Agent wont care if you have no life so will say anything to get an easy life for himself. Always remember the agent is not your friend.