Billing before the start of contract

[ak2453]

Initially I was supposed to raise a request to get access to their system and once that's done they suppose to give me contract with immediate start date but wrong instructions were given and then due to their slowness that access is not sorted and I spent lot of time chasing end client to get it done. Now feel like to give up but won't be get paid unless I go to court. But against whom? End client? Consultancy or agency? And how?

[ak2453]

I'm finding some parts of this difficult to believe and am pretty sure there is some over exaggeration going on here to say the least.



Just from that line alone I'd say you are done. You should have assumed you've got nothing and carried on looking. To sit and wait for 4 months for a contract to start is just utterly ridiculous.



I'm pretty surprised as this as well but... spending full time on onboarding activities? I don't think so. Doesn't take a long time to raise requests and not sure why you are bothering chasing them as you haven't got a contract to start yet so really doesn't matter if you've completed the activities. I can't see how you can ask to bill for time spent chasing when there is no need to chase.

But I'm finding the fact you've got a client laptop and I assume some sort of log in's with no contract very troubling. I've seen some places make major c*ck ups like this but I think something else is amiss here that you've missed or not told us. Have you chased the agency and the consultancy? The consultancy particularly will have their necks on a block if they've provided you with client gear you should not be authorised to access without a proper contract. You should have told them you can't access the laptop without a contract. That would have kicked them in to action to do something at least.

Sorry to be harsh but you are (IMO) mostly to blame here. Firstly you can't bill them for time without a contract. You should have sorted this first and not lifted a finger before it appeared. You chose to carry these tasks out and chase when there is absolutely no need to and you shouldn't be doing without a contract so for me that's on you, not them for billable time. And a whole month? 20 billable days for chasing stuff? You stick an invoice for that in they'll can you there and then for either being the slowest person on earth or for taking the p*ss. It's a couple of hours tops.
You also shouldn't have let it roll on for four months or assumed you had anything after that length of time. You should have pushed back saying you won't do anything until a contract arrived. You chose to do work out of contract so (again IMO) you are going to have to lump it. Any sane person would have been looking for something in the meantime and when they got a gig just sacked this one off.

Sounds like the consultancy have pulled a fast one, got you on boarded without any work ready to put you forward when something appears, which it has't. You are just a back pocket substitute for when they can snaffle some work at the client, which they haven't so far.

So let me explain the timeline. 3 weeks to get interview outcome then 1 week for vetting. I am not counting this period. Then they required SC and NPPV3 clearance which took another 10 weeks. After that client sent their laptop and asked me to read few things and confirm over email. Then consultancy asked they'll start once I have access to their system (so agency will only start the contract) so I am asked to raise another request on their system. But that process is not ending even after 3 weeks. Why I am following up is because I am without work and hoping to start ASAP after all this frustration. So already 6-7 tickets, around 50 emails and chat with different people spending most of my time. They will not start unless end client confirm the access to their system and they are damn slow taking weeks to even respond to single email. I am hoping if anyone has worked with this client could guess the name. Thought of going for another job/contract but market itsn't great and they are taking advantage of the situation. Hope this clarifies your points.

[northernladuk]

So let me explain the timeline. 3 weeks to get interview outcome then 1 week for vetting. I am not counting this period. Then they required SC and NPPV3 clearance which took another 10 weeks. After that client sent their laptop and asked me to read few things and confirm over email. Then consultancy asked they'll start once I have access to their system (so agency will only start the contract) so I am asked to raise another request on their system. But that process is not ending even after 3 weeks. Why I am following up is because I am without work and hoping to start ASAP after all this frustration. So already 6-7 tickets, around 50 emails and chat with different people spending most of my time. They will not start unless end client confirm the access to their system and they are damn slow taking weeks to even respond to single email. I am hoping if anyone has worked with this client could guess the name. Thought of going for another job/contract but market itsn't great and they are taking advantage of the situation. Hope this clarifies your points.

SC in 10 weeks is an improvement. Used to be many months so they must have pulled their finger out. I guess in a depressed job market the need to vet new people must also go down. But it does make a whole lot of difference to the situation. I don't think you can add the SC time to your woes. It's going to be that long every time so you can take two and a half months off your four months. So then you say 3 weeks trying to raise the correct access so that's 13 weeks. So you are missing three weeks from your original 4 months.. but that's splitting hairs.

The market is bad yes but that's no reason not to look, you've nothing to lose. We have a mantra here that you don't stop looking until your are sat at your clients desk/got first invoice in/got first pay so you had just over three months to find something.

Time to start getting the big guns out. You need to send a mail to your hiring manager at the consultancy and the cc the agency in explaining exactly what is going on, that it's unacceptable and you'd like a swift resolution else you are walking. Just the fact you've got SC should have them jumping up and sorting it. If you leave they'll have lost another three months to replace you so if I were them I'd be taking notice if my contractors was about to leave. If you are unhappy and it's not going anywhere then you've got very little to lose to send a rather stern email to the powers that be requesting a swift resolution. What's the worst they can do? Bin you off? Sounds like it's going that way already IMO. No consultancy bins off a contractor it took three months to onboard unless the gig isn't going to happen. Then there is the agency trying to salvage his commission from this. They won't want to start again either so I'd say the power is in your hands at the moment.. Use it.

[Dorkeaux]

SC in 10 weeks is an improvement. Used to be many months so they must have pulled their finger out. I guess in a depressed job market the need to vet new people must also go down. But it does make a whole lot of difference to the situation. I don't think you can add the SC time to your woes. It's going to be that long every time so you can take two and a half months off your four months. So then you say 3 weeks trying to raise the correct access so that's 13 weeks. So you are missing three weeks from your original 4 months.. but that's splitting hairs.

The market is bad yes but that's no reason not to look, you've nothing to lose. We have a mantra here that you don't stop looking until your are sat at your clients desk/got first invoice in/got first pay so you had just over three months to find something.

Time to start getting the big guns out. You need to send a mail to your hiring manager at the consultancy and the cc the agency in explaining exactly what is going on, that it's unacceptable and you'd like a swift resolution else you are walking. Just the fact you've got SC should have them jumping up and sorting it. If you leave they'll have lost another three months to replace you so if I were them I'd be taking notice if my contractors was about to leave. If you are unhappy and it's not going anywhere then you've got very little to lose to send a rather stern email to the powers that be requesting a swift resolution. What's the worst they can do? Bin you off? Sounds like it's going that way already IMO. No consultancy bins off a contractor it took three months to onboard unless the gig isn't going to happen. Then there is the agency trying to salvage his commission from this. They won't want to start again either so I'd say the power is in your hands at the moment.. Use it.

I agree with NUK, but would advise not getting emotional or angry with the agent nor hiring manager.
Stay calm and polite, communicate with them frequently as advised.

And as others have said, always take calls from agents and keep looking.

I was in a similar situation many years ago when the market was very good. The SC clearance took too long, so I took another contract. It meant burning that bridge, the clients were unhappy. The SC clearance arrived by post weeks later anyway!

In this market, I might just accept it takes time and wait it out. While taking other calls..

[SussexSeagull]

Couple of contracts ago I was quite pleased with myself when I found a new contract after a fortnight with a Local Authority. They wanted me up there for a meeting two days later so was expecting a quick start.

It took two months to start. The public sector tends to drag these things out (although I didn't do any work for them and was still looking).

[jamesbrown]

There is a contract, actually, but it was implied/unwritten, rather than written. Contracts can be written, verbal or implied by conduct. The client's conduct (e.g., providing a laptop) clearly alludes to a contract. However, it may end up costing more to pursue legally than the implied contract is worth, so lesson learned for the OP, hopefully.

[ak2453]

There is a contract, actually, but it was implied/unwritten, rather than written. Contracts can be written, verbal or implied by conduct. The client's conduct (e.g., providing a laptop) clearly alludes to a contract. However, it may end up costing more to pursue legally than the implied contract is worth, so lesson learned for the OP, hopefully.

What if I stop communicating from client laptop and completely switch off. The only way for them to reach out to agency via consultancy and then I can ask for payment or not returning laptop as it has all proof of my work. This would put pressure on consultancy and agency fearing for their reputation with client. Wouldn't be going this way but just a deep thought.

[WTFH]

What if I stop communicating from client laptop and completely switch off. The only way for them to reach out to agency via consultancy and then I can ask for payment or not returning laptop as it has all proof of my work. This would put pressure on consultancy and agency fearing for their reputation with client. Wouldn't be going this way but just a deep thought.

When was the last time you spoke to someone at the agency?

[ak2453]

When was the last time you spoke to someone at the agency?

Emailed this morning only to check if they are giving contract or just exploting the situation.

[jamesbrown]

What if I stop communicating from client laptop and completely switch off. The only way for them to reach out to agency via consultancy and then I can ask for payment or not returning laptop as it has all proof of my work. This would put pressure on consultancy and agency fearing for their reputation with client. Wouldn't be going this way but just a deep thought.

No, you cannot legally withhold their equipment pending payment.