Contracting issue, client trying to treat me like an employee and to pay me less than

[BrilloPad]

Thank you for your responses.

I had a meeting with the VP and they agreed to change the contract.

However my outstanding problem is with the person I “report” to. She treats me like an employee and wants to have a one on one meeting with me.

How do I tell her that I can’t have one on ones with her to talk about my “progress” as I’m not an employee?


Thanks

Maybe suggest that if she has any issues she should contact you? Try to makle it task driven rather than calendar driven?

[TheFaQQer]

Thank you for your responses.

I had a meeting with the VP and they agreed to change the contract.

However my outstanding problem is with the person I “report” to. She treats me like an employee and wants to have a one on one meeting with me.

How do I tell her that I can’t have one on ones with her to talk about my “progress” as I’m not an employee?


Thanks

Have the one-to-one. Discuss your progress against the work that you have to complete. Do not get into HR stuff, or employee type discussions.

[northernladuk]

Thought this doesn't appear to be the case here, you might have a day rate and a maximum month;y invoice amount in the contract, eg £150 per day subject to a maximum monthly invoice value of £3000 + VAT at the prevailing rate.

That allows the client to set their maximum budget for the project but to also give them scope to not have you there for more than 20 days a month either.

That makes sense but I've never seen it on a monthly basis. I'm on an agreement where there are no more than 220 billable days per year. And she does say they will pay her that, not that it's a maximum. That's why I don't see whats going on. I suspect the actuals have gotten lost in translation when the OP wrote the post.

I would get paid “£3.000 every calendar month in arrears”

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I’d walk. That’s probably not what you want to hear but it doesn’t sound like it’s worth the hassle for what is - being brutally honest - a dreadful rate. Not sure what the point is in contracting for that money.

[b0redom]

Thank you for your responses.

I had a meeting with the VP and they agreed to change the contract.

However my outstanding problem is with the person I “report” to. She treats me like an employee and wants to have a one on one meeting with me.

How do I tell her that I can’t have one on ones with her to talk about my “progress” as I’m not an employee?


Thanks

I don't see a problem with 1:1 meetings. If you have a client, the client contact is well within their rights to ask how the project(s) are going - if they are ahead/behind schedule etc. It's not like they're suddenly going to start asking you for focal reviews etc.... and if they do, run!

[psychocandy]

Thank you for your responses.

I had a meeting with the VP and they agreed to change the contract.

However my outstanding problem is with the person I “report” to. She treats me like an employee and wants to have a one on one meeting with me.

How do I tell her that I can’t have one on ones with her to talk about my “progress” as I’m not an employee?


Thanks

Why not? A client is allowed to discuss progress with their supplier after all.

They sound like a tulipe client but be careful if you do want to keep the gig. So what - the client wants to discuss a few things - end of the day does it matter?

[HugeWhale]

I’d walk. That’s probably not what you want to hear but it doesn’t sound like it’s worth the hassle for what is - being brutally honest - a dreadful rate. Not sure what the point is in contracting for that money.

Not everyone is like you. There are millions of people out there on zero hour contracts for whom £175 a day is great money. Not everyone is a top-notch IT guy earning a grand a day! Most contractors are temping, or working on building sites, or NHS locums, carers, or freelance translators or a million other jobs where £20 an hour is big bucks.

[radish2008]

Not everyone is like you. There are millions of people out there on zero hour contracts for whom £175 a day is great money. Not everyone is a top-notch IT guy earning a grand a day! Most contractors are temping, or working on building sites, or NHS locums, carers, or freelance translators or a million other jobs where £20 an hour is big bucks.

Most of the people you describe I wouldn't class as contractors that should be running their own companies.

170 a day puts you on a low permie wage with the client also avoiding emp NI. They are being exploited I would say. N othing wroinf with calling that out.

[northernladuk]

There are two aspects here. One are the commercial terms of the contract and the other is the IR35 aspect. Sounds like you might have sorted the commercial terms but I'd be willing to be it's an utter disaster for IR35. Doesn't sound like they'd accept a sub even if it was in the contract (and written properly). You really need the contract reviewed before you sign anything. Make sure you get it reviewed this time. I've a feeling you are going to have a nasty surprise.

That said working practices trump your contract. At those rates it sounds like temping more than contracting to me. What exactly are you doing? If they want a temp it won't matter how much they massage the contract, your working practice will trump it and your IR35 status should change. If they want to manage you to this level when you are on such a low rate it's going to be very difficult to argue you are a highly skilled professional and expect to be treated as such.

I think your time on this one is probably up and time to go somewhere else, for more than one reason.

[northernladuk]

Most of the people you describe I wouldn't class as contractors that should be running their own companies.

170 a day puts you on a low permie wage with the client also avoiding emp NI. They are being exploited I would say. N othing wroinf with calling that out.

I'd agree with this.