Switching agency?? :o

[panadol]

I just checked, it said 4 months.

Is that reasonable? Also, where is the link to egos article??

i am not sure how badly the client want me to say, but basically, they wanted me to stay as they think I am a good asset to them and wanted to keep me there, but then, many ppl out there can fill in as well, welcome to the contractor world!!

[The Lone Gunman]

Fold your limited. Start a new one. Contract the new one direct to the client.

Assuming your original contract is with your old one and not for you personally.

[malvolio]

Egos are at http://www.egos.co.uk/ (not surprisingly!). Can't remember where I saw the original article though - sorry.

[tim123]

It sounds like the client has a 12 month non-solicitation clause in their contract with the agency. You will probably have something similar, in an unfair competition clause. The agency regulations 2003 put a stop to this sort of carry on,...

And there was me thinking that (for IR35 purposes) we were a businesses, not employees.

If you want employment rights you should stick to being an employee, if you are a business selling a product then you work on business terms. Just because your product is 'the personal services of the director' doesn't make you any different to someone selling apples.

Engageing (and paying) someone to find you a customer for your product is a normal business practice. And once that person has found you the customer there is nothing unreasonable about the idea that they they should be compensated for every product that you sell them and not just the first one.

I don't see how such a requirement is a restraint of trade, you want to do business with the customer, you continue to pay the guy who found you the customer. What's the problem? You don't like the clause, negotiate it away or don't use that person to find you customers (and find them yourself). You've got a free choice, I don't see how it can be described as nonsense!

tim

[panadol]

Fold your limited. Start a new one. Contract the new one direct to the client.

Assuming your original contract is with your old one and not for you personally.

I just checked, it is 4 months, and in did mentioned about 'Personnel' providing services...

Quote:
...4 months afterwards the Contractor [the limited company], will not and will procure that the Personnel [ie, me] will not provide serices similar to the Servces or any IT related services in any capacity either directly or indirectly to the Client....etc...

So even if i fold my limited, it still wouldn't work right?

man..i should read contracts more carefully next time!

[panadol]

And there was me thinking that (for IR35 purposes) we were a businesses, not employees.

If you want employment rights you should stick to being an employee, if you are a business selling a product then you work on business terms. Just because your product is 'the personal services of the director' doesn't make you any different to someone selling apples.

Engageing (and paying) someone to find you a customer for your product is a normal business practice. And once that person has found you the customer there is nothing unreasonable about the idea that they they should be compensated for every product that you sell them and not just the first one.

tim

I partly agree here.
But, if someone find me someone to sell apples to, doesn't mean I have to sell them oranges as well?

Am saying this because for my situation, it is a different project, for a different role, would that make any difference?

[malvolio]

No, it's about the client. The agency has an expectation of income from continuing to sell your services, hence they make it difficult for you to cut them out. And 4 months is not that unreasonable, I would suggest.

If you want a long term deal with the client, the only gentlemanly way out is to pay off the agent the commission they would have received for four months of your time, less a bit (about 15%, because they won't have to pay admin and factoring costs). If you aren't looking to stay a long time, then you will have to keep the agency in the loop, and renegoiate the margin with the client's backing. Them's the choices.

Next time, read things before you sign them - contracts have a habit of turning round and biting you.

[insight14]

The choice is probably not going to be yours to take at the end of the day. Don't forget that the client has a contract with the agency, restricting them from hiring you through anyone but that agency. Clients are notoriously risk averse.

As you are armed with the knowledge of your agent's margin, why not just contact the agent and let him know that there's another opportunity at the client. Get the agent to contact the new PM and they can bash out a price. If you stick to your rate, the agent will have to make a decision between making (reduced) £x/day from you or £0/day.

[panadol]

Agree with what insight14 said totally,

I don't think I can get rid of the agency, as suggested, the client is not going to take that risk just because of ONE contractor!!

Choose between one, £0/day, or £x/day for doing absolutly nothing but admin (as they don't need to hunt for new guy, etc...)

However, they would probably cut my rate down too, but i am already on a VERY low rate, purely because the agency is taking 20% of client's pay, and leaving 80% to me...is that a big margin?

my contract is ending today, but by the looks of things, this project will finish in 1.5 months, so I am staying on my extension rate (which was originally a 6 months extension!), and will probably get a formal notice in 2 weeks time, as I am on 4 weeks notice.

For this other opportunity, my manager is saying the agency would required the same rate because it has been agreed in my extension, but client cannot afford it, so it makes it difficult.

Which sounds a little strange to me, does it mean in the next 4 months, I can NOT work on a different rate with the same client, even if they are asking me back as a cleaner and I'd still have to charge just as much??

[Dundeegeorge]

Isn't a reasonable line to take

that the client has a new project to do with a fixed cost. Not an extension to an existing contract. A new contract.
At the rate the client can afford. The agency can place you in that role at a rate you can agree with them, and previous contracts have no impact on this. If the client is willing to pay £40/hr (for example) and you are happy to take £35 an hour then the agency gets £5 an hour. Or the agency gets nothing, pisses you off (which they don't care about) and pisses the client off, which they should care about.
The 'can't drop the rate' line is a complete red herring, this is a new contract, not an extension. Agents may be annoying but they're not (generally) stupid.