Originally posted by billybiro
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Client will ditch the agency but want to keep me - handcuff clause
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Last edited by zonkkk; 20 February 2021, 13:27. -
Originally posted by zonkkk View PostIs it even enforceable if the agency won't get any more work from the client anyway?
A lot of handcuff clauses are puffery anyway. Enacting them is risky in terms of reputation. Personally I'd tell them at termination time that it's my intent to continue working.
Originally posted by zonkkk View PostBull crap
This contact that been assessed, this would be the same contract you're going to need to provide is void in order to get out of the handcuff clause? How's that going to work?
At the least I would be looking at re-doing a CEST.
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Originally posted by CalmEddie View Post
Those clauses are designed to prevent you from bypassing the agent in its work with the client. If the agent is sacked by the client, depends on wording but they would find it hard to show you are bypassing them.The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't existComment
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Originally posted by CalmEddie View PostLOL. Good luck. The assessment is not a 'get out of jail free card'.
Originally posted by CalmEddie View PostThis contact that been assessed, this would be the same contract you're going to need to provide is void in order to get out of the handcuff clause? How's that going to work?
Originally posted by CalmEddie View PostAt the least I would be looking at re-doing a CEST.
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Originally posted by LondonManc View PostIf you're the only person on site through that agency and the client have decided to never use that agency again, terminating their relationship with them, then the agency cannot demonstrate loss of earnings because of your actions. The agency can no longer provide a service that they are claiming they are able to provide and attempting to seek recompense for. Make sure that you have been cc'd in on the termination from the client to the agency so that it is clearly set out.
I see them as two unrelated things, but maybe just because I am risk averse.
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Originally posted by zonkkk View Post
While I wholeheartedly agree with this, however I am not sure that the fact that the agency won't get any work from the client has anything to do with my contractual responsibility towards the agency not to engage the client directly (or if I do, pay the fee stated in the contract).
I see them as two unrelated things, but maybe just because I am risk averse.
However it helps if the agency decide to go all legal on you and they have to prove that by your actions (by breach of contract) you have reduced their income. Which is exactly what they have to do.
If they have been fired by the client it makes it harder for them to demonstrate a loss.
But that matters not. Your contract doesn't stop you from going direct. It simply commits you to paying the agency off. This is not a usual case so this may well be enforceable.
But as I said earlier, nothing is enforceable without evidence that you have breached. If the agent are gone from site there is no way they can get that evidence short of paying a PI to follow you.See You Next TuesdayComment
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Originally posted by Lance View Post
It doesn't....
However it helps if the agency decide to go all legal on you and they have to prove that by your actions (by breach of contract) you have reduced their income. Which is exactly what they have to do.
If they have been fired by the client it makes it harder for them to demonstrate a loss.
But that matters not. Your contract doesn't stop you from going direct. It simply commits you to paying the agency off. This is not a usual case so this may well be enforceable.
But as I said earlier, nothing is enforceable without evidence that you have breached. If the agent are gone from site there is no way they can get that evidence short of paying a PI to follow you.
The key phrase used in court and by solicitors is "demonstrable loss".
Above all else, zonkkk - what's in it for you? Are you getting any extra out of the arrangement? Are payment terms changing or is this simply a favour to the client?The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't existComment
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Originally posted by LondonManc View Post
Without seeing the exact wording of the contract, I can't add more than this and what I already have.
The key phrase used in court and by solicitors is "demonstrable loss".
Above all else, zonkkk - what's in it for you? Are you getting any extra out of the arrangement? Are payment terms changing or is this simply a favour to the client?
The difference here is the OP has agreed to pay the agency a sum if he goes direct. So it's not a traditional handcuff. The agency do have to demonstrate a loss if it goes to court, but as the money they have 'lost' is from the OP's LTD not the client it does, in my mind, change the circumstances.
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Originally posted by billybiro View Post
So then you're effectively a disguised employee, or at least that's a huge pointer to being inside IR35 as, for one thing, there'd be no RoS with that.Comment
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They are so risk averse that they are reluctant to engage me outside IR35 through the agency. They want to have access to the whole contract chain to make sure it's watertight.
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