Permie Hijacking My Deliverables

[Willy Win]

Having recently started an outside IR35 contract, for which the client had stated clear deliverables, I had my contract assessed by Qdos and was all deemed good to go. I knew at the time that a couple of the deliverables were not within the scope of my skills and experience but, having a limited warchest I couldn't afford to turn down the opportunity so I said they were all fine and within my capabilities.

It's week one and on the first day the client contact who brought me in introduced me to the permie PM (as good as, being on a fixed term agreement) who I would be working with in a consultative support mode. Having more industry specific subject matter experience he has taken over delivering some of the deliverables with myself as support and now I am seriously worried that this could put me inside IR35.

Could this put me at risk? Not only that, could the client head refuse to pay me on the basis that I'm not taking a lead on some of the deliverables? Permie's objectives also appear to be the same as mine as he is says there is alot of overlap. Strangely he made reference to the needs of the project and in his words "when you need to request annual leave." He is also not being free with sharing information e.g contact names, including me in emails etc to enable me to do what I need to, stating that he will manage . How do I deal with this?

[WTFH]

... permie PM (as good as, being on a fixed term agreement) ... Permie's objectives .. . How do I deal with this?

I'd suggest the first step is to stop referring to someone as a permie if they are a contractor.

You mention that you agreed to some deliverables you knew were beyond your skill set.
When you had the meeting with them on 28th June, did you discuss that certain deliverables were outside your skill set?
Are these the ones that the other contractor is now leading or are you coping fine with them?

As for sharing information with you, you're still in week 1, I would not expect someone to give me every piece of information at the start, but that it would come out as and when required. Also, consider that you've only just started, the people who you are working with are trying to establish what kind of person you are, how skilful you are, how good at listening, how good at asking relevant questions, how clear your are in your responses.

[cojak]

For the first week focus on doing your work, you might not get a second week if you don’t.

[eek]

Also IR35 in most firms once you have that outside contract is the companies problem, not yours..

[northernladuk]

Your post shows quite a lack of understanding of what you are and do. If you knew this these type of questions wouldn't need asking. You've been a contractor for over 2 years looking at your history so not sure why you are still doing this.

Fixed term is still a contractor. It might be similar but it's not helpful using the term 'as good as'. It's key you get the terms right. We've a post going on where someone is discussing and inside gig which has SoW and because that person is talking about it being psuedo permie which is wholly wrong and that thinking is tripping them up.

You mention outside and getting your contract checked. You mention nothing about SDS and understand the new legislation. You then mention in danger of going inside. You don't seem to understand where the risk lies. So it appears you've a fundamental misunderstanding of IR35 legislation which is causing you to have to ask this question. If you had a good understanding of it you wouldn't have needed to ask.

You also mention requesting annual leave. Nothing wrong with a project tracking and managing leave. Maybe poor wording around 'requesting' but in our case a request is us putting it in the relevant stakeholders calendars and maybe on your email sig. It's not asking if you can go. You are a week in, I wouldn't be hanging on terms about things that happened yet and also an experienced contractor would know they just say when they will be unavailable and off you go.

Regarding sharing I'd say you give it a bit more time and use other methods to go find the info. Again, an experienced contractor hits the ground running and part of our skill set is to get our name around and get what we want rather than hanging off the tails of a mentor. Get a list of everyone involved and set meetings up for general chats and intros and tease all this info out. Don't wait for one person to guide you. You'll get what you need and more that way and then when you've been there a couple of weeks you'll have a better idea how to deal with the PM.

Could be as a contractor he's been a bit protective at first in case you are a threat to him so just go along with it for a bit. Once the PM has a bit of confidence you aren't there to oust him the dynamics could change 180 degrees. He's a contractor as well so you've something in common and can work better than if it was a perm. Go in with your eyes open, suck in info for a couple of weeks then see how land lies as you progress.

I'd expect a post like this from a brand new contractor, not one with two years experience. Your first job on this gig is to learn what you are and what you do better. The work bit is easy. Perms and FTC's can do the work on the project. The difference is you are a contractor and have more knowledge and better skills than them.

[cojak]

Get a list of everyone involved and set meetings up for general chats and intros and tease all this info out. Don't wait for one person to guide you. You'll get what you need and more that way and then when you've been there a couple of weeks you'll have a better idea how to deal with the PM.

This. My very first task would be to fire up Excel and start compiling a relationship management file with people I met the first week. Who they were, what they did and their specialism. That sheet would stand me in good stead for the rest of the project.

The most important thing is don’t set up this PM as a problem so early in the contract. You don’t know enough to make that decision yet - your insecurity is showing.

[b0redom]

.

Fixed term is still a contractor. It might be similar but it's not helpful using the term 'as good as'. It's key you get the terms right. We've a post going on where someone is discussing and inside gig which has SoW and because that person is talking about it being psuedo permie which is wholly wrong and that thinking is tripping them up.

You also mention requesting annual leave. Nothing wrong with a project tracking and managing leave.

Not necessarily. it might be one of those stupid permie roles that only last x months, where holidays, sick pay etc are part of the 'package' on offer. Generally they pay around the same as a permie, but are only very short term (covering maternity or whatever), you're hired directly with no umbrella, and the customer is responsible for taxes etc. That could also be why the are talking about annual leave - if they're not aware you're an outside IR35 'real' contractor.

Agree with most of the rest though.

[Protagoras]

Not necessarily. it might be one of those stupid permie roles that only last x months, where holidays, sick pay etc are part of the 'package' on offer. Generally they pay around the same as a permie, but are only very short term (covering maternity or whatever), you're hired directly with no umbrella, and the customer is responsible for taxes etc. That could also be why the are talking about annual leave - if they're not aware you're an outside IR35 'real' contractor.

+1
I worked a while back as a fixed term employee. The employment documentation, leave, pension, sick pay and access to some statutory powers that came with the role were exactly the same as other employees. The only difference was an expected end date to the employment.

In my view, a 'contractor' takes supplier risk, so that I'd not describe a fixed term permie, or any non-off-payroll worker (including an umbrella company 'employee') as a 'contractor'.

My advice to OP. Concentrate on the work and building the necessary relationships. As a Contractor you need to be productive asap and then become invaluable so that you have more opportunities with the client for future work.

[northernladuk]

Not necessarily. it might be one of those stupid permie roles that only last x months, where holidays, sick pay etc are part of the 'package' on offer. Generally they pay around the same as a permie, but are only very short term (covering maternity or whatever), you're hired directly with no umbrella, and the customer is responsible for taxes etc. That could also be why the are talking about annual leave - if they're not aware you're an outside IR35 'real' contractor.

Agree with most of the rest though.

Cant argue with that TBH. To be fair though the point I was trying to make was that person might have a different mindset to a permie. Most of the FTE's I've worked with had. They don't have the full permie mentality which affects how they work. They maybe more inclined to try protect their role, might not be on the clients side etc if you get me.

[escapeUK]

Like many contracts, delivering is important but the relationships with the people are often more important. Nothing that you said makes me worry about IR35 for you, forget about that.

Since you say some of the requirements are outside your skills, it seems ideal that you are sharing with this guy. Assuming he complements your skills. Maybe you can learn something from him?

Be friendly. Be helpful. Smile. Make a coffee. Relax. You got this.

Cojak gave you some great advice about recording connections in the business. Make sure you have good relationships with the senior people, the decision makers in the business (but be nice to everyone). Don't be like a permie who stops talking when the boss walks in and looks down at their work. That's not who you are. (They hate that btw.)

If all this seems like hard work, or you don't know where to start. Get yourself the book how to win friends and influence people. Its old, but people haven't changed since it was written.