Who can sign the working practices, confirmation letter or engagement letter?

[mickael28]

Hi,

I've got a couple of doubts about this subject of having something signed by the end client to help with our IR35 status:

1- Is a confirmation letter and an engagement letter the same thing? Anyone has a good template to share?
2- And do you know who could sign any of those documents or a working practices questionnaire from the client side? In all the projects I've been involved before we are all mainly a team of contractors but I don't think a contractor could sign this on behalf of the end client, or could they? Do they need to hold a specific position or work in a specific department to do so?

Thank you

[SueEllen]

Who in Client Co sorts out contractors contracts? That's the person to find to see if they will sign the letter.

[mickael28]

I've never seen anyone mentioning those documents in my previous teams, which were very large teams of contractors. I've not even seen one of those letters of engagement or confirmation yet...

Do most of you have any of this documents sorted before or shortly after starting a new contract? Do clients tend to be collaborative?

[SueEllen]

I've never seen anyone mentioning those documents in my previous teams, which were very large teams of contractors. I've not even seen one of those letters of engagement or confirmation yet...

Do most of you have any of this documents sorted before or shortly after starting a new contract? Do clients tend to be collaborative?

Some people get them done, others don't bother.

Regardless you need to ensure your contract and working practices show you aren't a permanent employee and just at the client to complete a piece of work.

How do you do that? You ask questions at interview to find out what you are suppose to be doing. You make sure your contract including schedule reflects this and when you are on-site you act appropriately.

[Qdos Contractor]

A confirmation of arrangements letter can be a very useful document during an enquiry as it shows the intensions and understanding of both parties. This should be signed by someone within the end client’s organisation that knows and understands the way that the Limited company contractor operates.

While they can be very useful, we would not recommend that you jeopardise your professional engagement by forcing the issue as many end clients may not feel comfortable in signing such a document.

If you would like a template confirmation of arrangements letter these can be found on our website and are free to download. However if you would like a link to this, please send me a direct message.

Jon

[MPwannadecentincome]

I would try to get the hiring manager to sign it - or their manager. They will know best what the working practise is. HR have no clue.