Client offering Contractors Perm positions

[Sockpuppet]

My client looks to be interested in permanent roles, whereas i want to go direct. Cut out the pimp in the middle. By doing this the client will save £7-8 per hour, which will pay off the release fee in the long run. If i saty here for a minimum of 1 year, the client will get thier money's worth back from the agency in savings!

Yep and if they ake you go perm in the long run they save even more as I assume the salary is going to be a lot lower.

Ask them for direct. If they say no you can either go perm or leave. Not really a lot else to it.

[Mordac]

I was thinking about that. Are the agency required to give me the reference? I read something about it being confidential?

If a client has given a malicious reference, purely because he didn't like you, it's defamation. I've seen people fired for gross misconduct (including fraud in one case) and they still get a decent reference, because HR goons were scared of being sued. If it went to court, they would have to substantiate everything in the reference.
Get a copy from the agency (ask them nicely, tell the pimp there's a drink in it for him) and write to the clients HR department enclosong a copy of the reference. Tell them they have 7 days to offer you a decent cash incentive not to take this to court. If they are a largish company, settle somewhere north of £10K. Push for even more if you like, this idiot deserves all he gets.

[Epiphone]

If you find it a struggle getting £25 p/h, I think you need to reconsider your options. It looks like you're a BoS temp, perhaps you need to get yourself up-skilled and into a position where you can start adding value to a client.

Ballcocks. The rate is what the client is willing to pay and what the market will support. Location plays a big part in this.

There seems to be a huge misconception on this board that if you're not coding you're not a 'real' contractor.

You earn what you can and if you're happy with that then all the willy waving over "I earn more and wouldn't get out of bed for less than X" is utter tulipe.

[chicane]

Ballcocks. The rate is what the client is willing to pay and what the market will support. Location plays a big part in this.

Agreed - I think some of the Southerners on this board would be somewhat suprised at how rates differ elsewhere in the country. Much as I'd love to retire at 40, an income £25/hour results in a pretty good day-to-day standard of living out here, and I imagine the market recognises that.

[malvolio]

Agreed - I think some of the Southerners on this board would be somewhat suprised at how rates differ elsewhere in the country. Much as I'd love to retire at 40, an income £25/hour results in a pretty good day-to-day standard of living out here, and I imagine the market recognises that.

Hmmm... Want to come to the Bristol area then. Cost of living not very far behind London, rates about 40% down (with some hilariously optimisitic offers - £250 a day for a 10-year experienced PM anyone?). Most of the good guys end up commuting to the Smoke.

[lukemg]

A number of factors determine the rate you can get. You can manipulate some of them but most are out of your control.
These include :
Supply of and demand for that skill in that location - SAP (barriers to entry, strong demand = higher rates to attract candidates), support monkey(anyone can do it= big supply= peanut rates).
Manipulation by the agent - talking down the market to get you to take a lower rate either in response to tight client or to boost their own cut.
The newbie factor - you're new, even the crap rate is more than you get now so you take it and the market takes another hit.
Things that don't affect the rate - how much your mortgage/expenses are, what you think you are worth, comparison with other professions.
If the market can get someone cheaper who can do the same job as well as you, rates fall across the board, even if there is a lag before the changes kick through.

[premiere]

I went permie once from a contract, biggest mistake of my contracting career so far, Client basically lied about the job, once you are permie they have you by the short and curlies, it's then when the politics kick in.

Abuse of support rosters, pointless reviews of any little thing, no creativity, basically , lied to who my boss would be, given a position much lower (but not mentioned nor agreed), reporting to (get this) some f*** clown with 8 months experience in the toolset when I had 10 years.............what a joke.

I lasted 8 weeks as a permie and walked.......out to another contract, I sat in the HR office and said plainly that having been lied to I would rather not discuss anything other than the fact that I am leaving, they asked for an "exit" interview and I told them to shove it and figure out their own mistakes, I'm certainly not going permie again for a long long time.....

unless its a very senior role and the lucre's better than the contract rate.

The last perm job I had.....my manager argued the toss and insisted that I kept my pager and mobile on in case they needed me for support purposes whilst I was at the hospital with my wife as she was giving birth to our son!!

Needless to say I told her to feck off...in fact I told the company to feck off and have contracted ever since.

[XLMonkey]

I was thinking about that. Are the agency required to give me the reference? I read something about it being confidential?

My good friend the data protection act means that you are entitled to a copy of the reference if you ask them. That's one of the reasons why most smart organisations have a policy of not providing references, just confirming start and end dates of employment.

[tim123]

I was thinking about that. Are the agency required to give me the reference? I read something about it being confidential?

Yes and it's not. The DPA requires that they make the information available to you.

tim

[tim123]

Tell them they have 7 days to offer you a decent cash incentive not to take this to court.

Such language is technically blackmail. You have to be very careful with the form of words that you use to stay the right side of the line, even if the end result is the same.

You need to say, "I have suffered a loss"..."entitling me to compensation"..."if you do not offer this compensation willingly"..."I will sue for it".

tim