Agency contract length differs

[jakestar]

I have an issue ive not come across before in my twenty something years of contracting. I recently signed a six month contract with an agency for a role with a large off shore company (who shall remain nameless). This contract ends end of August. The problem is the clients automated 'career portal' has just sent me an email via their automated timesheet recording system to tell me that my THREE month contract is up for renewal 31st May.

This is not necessarily a bad thing as the contract is the worst ive ever worked on in terms of hours, pressure, politics etc etc. My question is this - do the agency have rights to enforce the full six month term on me ON THE CURRENT Ts and Cs - as per THEIR contract schedule - or do i abide by what the client has logged in their system and hopefully negotiate a better rate more commensurate with my hours and accountability as per their 3 month renewal??

Apologies if this is in the wrong area or has been asked and answered before but a casual search turned up nothing that matched this situation.

[NotAllThere]

As a contractor for +20 years, surely you understand that your contract is with the agency. The contract between agency and client has no bearing on you whatsoever. The agency will seek a renewal after 3 months. You're stuck for six. (Notice periods notwithstanding).

But don't be too quick to take offence. I had one contract that was for six months, but was two months at a time due to the amount the manager was allowed to sign for.

[jakestar]

hmmm....

As a contractor for +20 years, surely you understand that your contract is with the agency. The contract between agency and client has no bearing on you whatsoever.

Im obviously aware of this in theory - i was looking to see if anyone had any real examples of how this may have played out for them within an actual work place? Obvious practical questions arise from this. Hypothetically speaking; if the client stated they no longer wished to renew on the 30th May would the agency really pay my contracted notice of 1 month with no end client payment??? really? would they?

As an aside im sure hmrc would beg to differ with you on this? im sure they deem the contract with the end client pretty material and have said so in past ir35 cases. This 'view' has also shaped my view on these matters also over my time as a contractor. The HMRC holding you to terms you have neither seen nor signed up to is material to how we should view contracts, it is in my view at any rate.

[SueEllen]

If your contract with the agent is outside IR35 and mimics the agent's contract with the client then there is no need to worry about the length of the contract.

Oh and the agency won't pay you one month's notice have a look at the other clauses in the contract which means there are lots of circumstances where they don't have to pay....

[jakestar]

ok fine, i have to abide by the Ts & Cs in the agency contract i signed. thats fine.

However does anyone have any experience of similar situation whereby they didnt have to abide by the agency contract and the clients understanding of the contract length was applied?

I could always hand in my notice but i dont want to do this as i agreed 6 months so fair enough. But if this presents me with an opportunity to renegotiate id be foolish not to take it....?

[squarepeg]

But if this presents me with an opportunity to renegotiate id be foolish not to take it....?

You'd be foolish not to have another job lined up just in case you get terminated to the client's understanding of the situation.

[SueEllen]

ok fine, i have to abide by the Ts & Cs in the agency contract i signed. thats fine.

However does anyone have any experience of similar situation whereby they didnt have to abide by the agency contract and the clients understanding of the contract length was applied?

I could always hand in my notice but i dont want to do this as i agreed 6 months so fair enough. But if this presents me with an opportunity to renegotiate id be foolish not to take it....?

What do you need to renegotiate?

You should have negotiated for what you wanted in the beginning regardless of contract length.

If you got extended by a month you wouldn't be able to negotiate then. Extensions are generally not when you renegotiate things unless you have been their about a year.

Legally your contract is with the agency and the client's contract has nothing to do with you.

The only thing you should always ask for is that major terms in the agency to client contract, upper contract, are the same as in your to agency contract, lower contract, especially IR35 and intellectual property ones. This is where having a contract review comes in before agreeing to the contract.

Anyway now you know the client renews on a 3 month basis so if you want to stay after 6 months then you should find out from the client informally how long they want you for and point that out to the agency. Then tell the agency you want the length to match.

Btw I've had a contract where my contract was shorter than what was agreed with the client. There was a 10 working day hand over of work if I wanted to leave, which I found out when I wanted to leave. I've also had a contract like yours and found out that it was like that due to the to sign off processes with the client.

[SlipTheJab]

Trying to get a few more quid out of the client when you've only been there 5 minutes (give or take 3 months) is taking the p!ss really, a year or so fair enough but even then it's not guaranteed by any means. I got my second renewal recently after 9 months in, didn't even consider asking for more moolah, if they renew again I will weigh up whether to up my rate but that's not guaranteed by any means.

[northernladuk]

Many clients work on 3 month cycles but the negotiations between the client and the agent can agree more. The fact it's automated is the red herring here I expect. What an automated system that works in 3 month cycles and what the client/agent have agreed could be completely different animals.

[jakestar]

i didnt really want to get into a discussion on my circumstances on this contract, it isnt as it was advertised by the agent and ive only discovered this when beginning the engagement. Im sure weve all had contracts that were fairly toxic and if there is an opportunity to now renogotiate earlier than the renewal stated with the agency, i would take it willingly for the reasons i have just outlined - as i am perfectly entitled to. i do wish people wouldnt jump to raging assumptions about this. I ahvent put these details in as i dont think they are relevant to the question i was asking. Im well aware of the usual etiquette for undertaking renewals and asking for rate increases but as ive stated this isnt a 'normal' contract for me. every one of us is perfectly entitled to negotiate at renewal time if the circumstances of the contract are not to the contractors liking. If the contractor cannot change the Ts and Cs he/she is then entitled to leave without rancour. My question is the 'contract end date' of 31st sent to me by the end client really a valid 'contract end date'. the prevailing opinion would appear to be no.

At any rate the opinion of the few people who have replied who have found out renewals werent the same between client and agency seems to be to accept the status quo. It is my personal and professional opinion that the contract lengths should match between agency and client and contractor and client, or else why bother with a contract term at all...? But as noone has been through this before and been able to renegotiate ill take that under advisement.

In addition to this the automated note ive received from the end client clearly states in the email 'contract end date' of 31st may. Seems a bit more than just a cyclical admin thing?