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Agency not paying final invoice

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    Agency not paying final invoice

    Hi all,

    I'm new to the boards, but I've been reading them for over a year since I started contracting. Thought I would put this out there as I'm not sure what to do about it.

    I have my own limited company - a few months ago I won a contract to work for a consultancy through an agency. I was contracted for 12 weeks to do various pieces of work for one of the consultancy's clients.

    12 weeks = 60 days, but I was messed around quite a bit. I ended up only doing 28 days. The notice on the contract is one week - I was not issued anything via email or post, and the only correspondence in reference to the termination was the day before they terminated the contract, from the agent, over the phone. He stated at the time that they would more than likely reinstate my contract as soon as more work came in, which was confirmed by the consultancy.

    That's the first issue - but it wasn't much of a problem at the time as I didn't mind having some time off. I pushed them for a date, and only got a little bit of information about future work with the consultancy, but nothing solid, so started looking for other work, which I made them aware of.

    Now, although I was happy with this arrangement at the time (I was at least aware that this may happen as it was consultancy work), I was asked to do a bit of additional work by the client themselves after the fact - I was working at home and ended up doing an extra 7 days of support / work. I spoke to the consultancy and my agent on the phone before I commenced the work, and they told me to continue as normal and invoice them appropriately.

    I, unfortunately, have nothing in writing for this, though I do have multiple emails from the client, agent and consultancy to prove that I was working for those days.

    Both the agent and consultancy are telling me that they are waiting for sign off for those days by the client and that a work order wasn't raised for the additional days, so are withholding payment.

    Where do I stand legally? At the end of the day I was not handed the appropriate notice, though it wasn’t an issue at the time. It's been 3 months since I stopped working for them and my weekly badgering just results in a standard "We're doing all we can". I'm under the impression that people are just being lazy / forgetful as it's not a massive amount of money, whereas I have budgeted based on these additional days, so I'm suffering.

    I’ve got to a point where I think they need a bit of motivation to get things moving – would seeking legal advice be productive?

    #2
    Were you opted in or out, have you visited www.payonetime.co.uk?
    Down with racism. Long live miscegenation!

    Comment


      #3
      Opted out, but I don't really know what the difference is between the two.

      http://www.payontime.co.uk/? No, but I'll take a look now...

      Comment


        #4
        Have you a signed timesheet? if so you should be paid for this it is the agents problem if they are dealing with a client with budget issues.look at your contract

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Recruitment Agent View Post
          Have you a signed timesheet? if so you should be paid for this it is the agents problem if they are dealing with a client with budget issues.look at your contract
          No, no signed timesheet unfortunately... just a verbal agreement over the phone that the days should be completed, and a load of emails proving I worked those days.

          Comment


            #6
            Unfortunately you are going to have to sit tight and hope the budget gets signed off. Is the agency you work through a big organisation? as they should know more better.

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              #7
              It's a one man band I think.

              I was working remotely most of the time, and the consultancy were also remote - so we didn't get time sheets signed off for anything at all... we just confirmed everything via email because that's what we agreed.

              I just don't think this is going to happen - I've been put off for 3 months now and I'm just starting to get a little sick of it.

              Comment


                #8
                Sue the agency and the client for the money - you did the work, you should be paid for it.

                Have a look at the small claims court, and get it filed online quickly - then be prepared to argue it in court if it comes to that.
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                Comment


                  #9
                  Who is withholding payment - the client or the agency? Surely it's in the agencies interest to get the money so they can get their commission?

                  If you have a signed contract then they are in breach of that simple - full stop. Take them to a small claims court. I would speak to a solicitor, remember your first 1/2 hour consultation is always free. And when you win remember to add losses, interest etc!!! People like this wind me up.

                  Remember, you are not a charity - you are running a business, you have bills to pay - how do they expect you to live.

                  Lessons to learn as well - always get your weekly timesheet approved by your line manager from the client site. Cover your a**e !

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by virtualm View Post
                    Who is withholding payment - the client or the agency? Surely it's in the agencies interest to get the money so they can get their commission?

                    If you have a signed contract then they are in breach of that simple - full stop. Take them to a small claims court. I would speak to a solicitor, remember your first 1/2 hour consultation is always free. And when you win remember to add losses, interest etc!!! People like this wind me up.

                    Remember, you are not a charity - you are running a business, you have bills to pay - how do they expect you to live.

                    Lessons to learn as well - always get your weekly timesheet approved by your line manager from the client site. Cover your a**e !
                    The client is witholding the payment from the consultancy, who's witholding the payment from the agency

                    I don't wanna tell the agent I'm going to seek legal advice (to try and scare them in to paying me) unless I think I have a case. I don't really know where I stand... because I don't have the signed timesheets.

                    Comment

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