renegotiating hourly rate?

[ookook]

Another newby question I'm afraid.. say I have a 3 month contract for £30ph and at the end of the 3 months the client wants to renew the contract but I feel I should be paid more..

Do I negotiate with the agency or the end client? I assume the agency takes say another £5-10 per hour on top of my wage, so do I ask them for more per hour, which would obviously reduce their profits?

I ask because the majority of my dealings are thru the agency as I work shift patterns and have little contact with the direct managers who approve the contract etc. I dont want to try and negotiate with the client if I should be talking to the agency and vice versa..

[Ardesco]

Through the agency, they are the ones paying you. If the end client pays more the agency could thoeretically just absorb the extra. Let the agent deal with the end client or reduce his/her rate.

[lukemg]

You have to bear the client in mind but you/your co works on a contract with the agency and should dao all this through them.
You need to be ready when offered a renewal to ask for more. It's the same as in a permie job where it is dificult to get a decent rise once you are in there (much better to dig in before going in !), but there are ways.
3 months is a very short time to be asking for a rise, 6 or 12 is more usual.
Things to bear in mind -
- If the agency is currently skimming a big percentage off the top, they may be able to cough up some of this. If they are on a PSL this is unlikely (usually 15% ish).
- If you have taken on new responsibility/local knowledge/job is different from the one described at interview, these are all plus points for getting extra.

In reality, you need to play hardball. When contacted, simply say you are happy to stay but you are looking for £x/hour for the next period.
They will say the client won't pay any more (unlikely they will have told them to start with).
They will hate to lose the contract and have to tell the client so will be hoping you will cave in.
You need to be prepared to leave to push this right to the wire and they may well contact the client as it goes on to say you are being very awkward (they will make it sound like all your fault so if the worst happens, you are the b@stard, not them). They are very good at this and it may make turn the client against you.
Best of all is to secure another role which puts you in a very strong position, but be careful bluffing this one with an imaginery position, they might call you on it and suggest you take it !

By all means try it on and ask, if they chuck a bit extra, be prepared to compromise and keep everyone happy. If this doesn't suit, start looking for a better role during the next 3 months and bail.

HTH

[MarillionFan]

If the client has talked to you directly, then let them know you are interested but would need a rate increase as the rate does not reflect the role you are doing.

Then ask the agency.

Therefore everyone is ready.

[ookook]

thanks for the advice - will take it on board and see how it goes