Interested in your thoughts on client and agency

[Hex]

I've worked for a few investment banks and I've had the same sort of thing to one degree or another. The banks use Hays, Resource Solutions etc. as in-house Agency and they ask for all sorts of documents that you shouldn't have to provide. The Agency probably does this to cover their a**e in case they bring someone dodgy into the bank. So they are always OTT with their requests. It's very difficult to fight against as they have too much power compared to the department you'd be working for.

[vjmac108]

The RPO's like Hays, RS do this not to make contractors lives that more difficult but at the insistence of the end client (i.e. the bank). The criteria and extent of checks is dependent and predetermined by the end client.

[northernladuk]

Lets apply a bit of common sense here. Put it another way. If you were going to employ someone to look after billions of your pounds how intensive would you be checking their past history for crimanal activity, liabilty to blackmail, financial matters and past employment? That in mind what they are asking now seems pretty reasonable no?

I would have thought this level of check would have been expected when working in these environments but it still surprises me the number of people that question it.

Just fill it in and get on with it. You arn't the first person to question this and won't be the last and everyone else seems ok. Your not exactly gonna tell them to take a hike and lose the contract are you?

[bennyhedgehog]

Lets apply a bit of common sense here. Put it another way. If you were going to employ someone to look after billions of your pounds how intensive would you be checking their past history for crimanal activity, liabilty to blackmail, financial matters and past employment? That in mind what they are asking now seems pretty reasonable no?

I would have thought this level of check would have been expected when working in these environments but it still surprises me the number of people that question it.

Just fill it in and get on with it. You arn't the first person to question this and won't be the last and everyone else seems ok. Your not exactly gonna tell them to take a hike and lose the contract are you?

I agree they need to be rigorous... but how do I sign off the workstation suitability checklist, say, when I haven't even seen the workstation or stepped foot in the room it exists in? How do I sign to say I agree to the AML procedure when I have never read it or seen it and the document they refer to is an intranet webpage and not an internet webpage?

I appreciate people may not question this kind of thing, but they really should, shouldn't they? Otherwise your signature on something just isnt worth the ink, is it?

[SeekingIT]

Simples

When they ask for references, just give the names of previous Agencies & agents that have got you the previous gigs.....

Everybody's happy.....

Well done on getting gig

[bennyhedgehog]

When they ask for references, just give the names of previous Agencies & agents that have got you the previous gigs.....

Everybody's happy.....

Well done on getting gig

Cheers for the ... it would be great if the references were that simple.

A lot of my work has been direct, some others have been quite convoluted (sub-sub-contracting) and frankly even remembering over that time period has been a bit of a trial. It has meant I've ended up catching up with a few colleagues over the last couple of days which is nice, but then also the odd kafka-esque phone call to a HR department for a company I didnt work for trying to detangle who the agent was... you see, if the dates don't match, they will assume I am lying, this is what it is all about, aint it... so I want to ensure they are correct prior to giving the contact details.

Incidentally, they have actually relented on a couple of these things today, and I have gotten them to question the suitability of signing some of these bits and pieces off before going on site... so ho hum.