A warning about the FOS contract

[Cirrus]

I’m sorry, but for the avoidance of doubt, no experienced contractor would consider £205pd a good rate.

Yes, but this is for an ordinary unskilled office temp. It sounds to me like a damn good deal. I don't think many temps read this bulletin board but if you can take people being unpleasant to you at work I can imagine lots of situations where it would be worth a punt.

[uk contractor]

OP contracting is probably just not for you most contracts are like you describe its not unusual as T0m J0nes would sing! Most of the time you get legacy management who lack basic man management skills & or humanity towards their fellow workers but have many years with the end client so its hard for them to get rid of & they know it! Its fairly common across the board for many end clients they are stuck with questionable people who would not last for long in a contract but know exactly how to play the system in a perm role so eventually they get sidelined or thrown projects they can fail at either get used to it or try perm. A lot of contractor demand is created by this as well the end clients do have some very savvy senior people in accounts who know its way cheaper to hire perms but they also know you get what you pay for hence why many go for contractors as well. £205PD is the perm equivalent of about £45-50K a year (minus the holiday pay & other perm benefits) if you have a good accountant so not bad money in this day & age when rates are rapidly dropping.

[WLB2018]

Assuming this isnt another troll post!

I know that many contractors intend to work hard and expect long hours at times, but for the sake of your well-being, avoid the Financial Ombudsman Service at all costs. The daily rate at £205.00 may look attractive, but when you take the tax rates, IR35, and the way FOS treats its contractors into consideration, you will hopefully realise that it isn't worth it.

I would only take a contract if I was happy with the rate - If I wasn't then I wouldn't take the contract! Even my first contract I had worked out what I need (irrespective of IR status).

If you don't believe me, all you have to do is take a look at the Glassdoor review. Not a single contractor has a positive thing to say about FOS, and I don't want other people to put up with what I have had to go through. We are all willing to put in the work, but the terrible training (2 weeks in total that doesn't even cover all aspects of the job), silly little rules that restrict the freedoms that self-employed contractors are meant to enjoy, and the inconsistent grading system means that you are always on edge. Nearly every day I would come across people in a corner or in bathrooms over getting another red case and potentially getting put on a performance plan. It is a system that sets people up to fail, and even when you're a person who can handle hard work, I am pretty sure that no one is who enters into the contract is signing up to be full of anxiety at work. A number of my friends work (or have worked) on the Coventry contract and apparently it is even worse than London (which is pretty bad).

Glassdoor should not be used in isolation, typically people only leave negative reviews (who are disgruntled or generally not happy or have issues with management etc).

You should have also known what the job entailed, be that working conditions, hours and expectations, if those were not met then simply leave and get another contract, its the nature of the beast.

I personally worked for the FOS years ago (albeit it was called something different). My experience was somewhat different, but I guess times do change.

As it has already been pointed out, perhaps you should rethink being a contractor.

WLB.

[cosmic]

As a developer that rate stinks. It bad as it brings other rates down when idiots go for it. Why do I say idiots? It's within IR35 so an already bad rate makes it even worse and you get no benefits (holiday, sick pay and everything else) but you do get all the baggage that comes with a perm role. YUCK happy that you left and seen why rates are important when in ir35! When I go for a job the rate has to be right for the circumstances given from the client or they can jog on

[Eunomia]

Experience of what?

Experience working as financial services contractors to open doors for better contracts.

[Eunomia]

Assuming this isnt another troll post!



I would only take a contract if I was happy with the rate - If I wasn't then I wouldn't take the contract! Even my first contract I had worked out what I need (irrespective of IR status).



Glassdoor should not be used in isolation, typically people only leave negative reviews (who are disgruntled or generally not happy or have issues with management etc).

You should have also known what the job entailed, be that working conditions, hours and expectations, if those were not met then simply leave and get another contract, its the nature of the beast.

I personally worked for the FOS years ago (albeit it was called something different). My experience was somewhat different, but I guess times do change.

As it has already been pointed out, perhaps you should rethink being a contractor.

WLB.

Contractors should have expectations as well. If you are going into a contract that is affected by IR35 and requires heavy supervision, you should at least expect proper training and guidance on how to do the job. After all, it is a job where your quality is constantly monitored, and if you are getting failed for misinformation then it means there is no job security. I am sure that no one wants to go into a contract knowing that they can be fired very easily for things that weren't their fault. Even a high day rate would mean nothing if you could easily end up with no income in a couple of weeks.

Glassdoor should not be relied on alone but come on; it is one of the worst rated organisations in the UK. When and organisation reaches 1.9 stars in such a short space of time, it should be telling. It is a very different organisation to what it was a few years ago. One of the reasons I joined was because of what its reputation used to be. I thought it would be an organisation of integrity as opposed to the banks whose only interest is profit. I was wrong.

They are transparent about the daily rate but a lot of people do not know that they will only be taking home 60% of it if they have a student loan and a few dozens of pounds extra if they don't.

[Eunomia]

OP contracting is probably just not for you most contracts are like you describe its not unusual as T0m J0nes would sing! Most of the time you get legacy management who lack basic man management skills & or humanity towards their fellow workers but have many years with the end client so its hard for them to get rid of & they know it! Its fairly common across the board for many end clients they are stuck with questionable people who would not last for long in a contract but know exactly how to play the system in a perm role so eventually they get sidelined or thrown projects they can fail at either get used to it or try perm. A lot of contractor demand is created by this as well the end clients do have some very savvy senior people in accounts who know its way cheaper to hire perms but they also know you get what you pay for hence why many go for contractors as well. £205PD is the perm equivalent of about £45-50K a year (minus the holiday pay & other perm benefits) if you have a good accountant so not bad money in this day & age when rates are rapidly dropping.

The vast majority of my colleagues were very unhappy. I even met experienced contractors who said that this was their worst contract yet because it was so badly organised and no one knew what they were doing, so I really hope that this isn't the norm. The staff turnover rate was shockingly abysmal, yet they would keep hiring new replacements, knowing fully well that these people would also leave within a few months because they can't retain their contractors.

I am in a much better position now; I went perm and am working in a much more interesting field than PPI. I would look into contracting in this field once I get enough work experience. At least I would be treated like a skilled professional and my work would be respected.

I just wanted as few people as possible to go through what I went through. They should at least know what it's like because the truth is heavily sugar-coated during interviews.

[LondonManc]

Fair point; this contract tends to attract young people who are fairly new to contracting (perhaps graduates with a couple of years of experience, as I was). To them it is a good rate when compared to what some perm jobs pay. They are constantly interviewing people so there are enough out there who find it attractive. I just wanted to let them know what it is really like before diving into it. After all, it is not the only Financial Services contract out there so there are other options.

£205pd, expecting to realistically work 42 weeks a year is £45,100. Then deduct tax and hope you're not ill....

Those interviewing are probably figuring that £205 is better than £0 and have a fast-disappearing war chest. How many actually take the gig though?

[Eunomia]

£205pd, expecting to realistically work 42 weeks a year is £45,100. Then deduct tax and hope you're not ill....

Those interviewing are probably figuring that £205 is better than £0 and have a fast-disappearing war chest. How many actually take the gig though?

I initially went into it with the idea that I would take almost no holidays so that I wasn't missing out on my weekly pay.

After a few months in, I had to take regular holidays for the sake of my sanity . Most of my colleagues were also taking several days off, and the cost was huge (you lose roughly £100 a day after tax for a day off).

They get loads of people coming in, somehow. They manage to replace the hoards of people who leave within months. I guess it's partly because some people do not know what they are getting themselves into, hence my thread.

[uk contractor]

The vast majority of my colleagues were very unhappy. I even met experienced contractors who said that this was their worst contract yet because it was so badly organised and no one knew what they were doing, so I really hope that this isn't the norm. The staff turnover rate was shockingly abysmal, yet they would keep hiring new replacements, knowing fully well that these people would also leave within a few months because they can't retain their contractors.

I am in a much better position now; I went perm and am working in a much more interesting field than PPI. I would look into contracting in this field once I get enough work experience. At least I would be treated like a skilled professional and my work would be respected.

I just wanted as few people as possible to go through what I went through. They should at least know what it's like because the truth is heavily sugar-coated during interviews.

This is usually the norm though & sounds like almost every contract I ever did (and I have done well over 20 by now!). Contracting is just not for you I am sure the company you mention is a very poor place to work but equally so are many others in Financial Services especially it seems to attract the real douchebags! The senior people who pay the bills usually know this as well (you get what you pay for) but they get stuck with legacy staff who are hard to dispose of so eventually as more & more people leave because of this you get the scenario you describe as people leave they do not have a proper handover so you reach a stage where things break down & it creates a difficult working environment.

Do you really think it was that easy going contracting & they handed out decent money for nothing!