Contract has conflicting notice period please advise

[Hotlatte]

Good Morning,

I started my contract in June this summer and before I had started I requested for the notice period to be put down as 4 weeks.

The client approached me yesterday and tendered a notice for one week for me to leave next Friday. I said to him that my contract states 4 weeks clearly on it. He showed me his copy that stated 1 week only.

My contract copies that i received by post and via email both of them state 4 weeks notice. I raised this with the agency but the person that deals with this account had gone home.

Can someone please, advise where i stand with this as I want to fight for my rights here and not going to acknowledge a simple apology from the agency. Not these days when the contract are like gold dust.

Your advise will be priceless.

Thanks

[pmeswani]

Good Morning,

I started my contract in June this summer and before I had started I requested for the notice period to be put down as 4 weeks.

The client approached me yesterday and tendered a notice for one week for me to leave next Friday. I said to him that my contract states 4 weeks clearly on it. He showed me his copy that stated 1 week only.

My contract copies that i received by post and via email both of them state 4 weeks notice. I raised this with the agency but the person that deals with this account had gone home.

Can someone please, advise where i stand with this as I want to fight for my rights here and not going to acknowledge a simple apology from the agency. Not these days when the contract are like gold dust.

Your advise will be priceless.

Thanks

You could take it to a small claims court and state that the agency is in breach of contract and see if you win. Does your contract state if the client is obligated to provide you with any work? If not, what is the notice period they can provide if no work is available?

[kingcook]

Good Morning,

I started my contract in June this summer and before I had started I requested for the notice period to be put down as 4 weeks.

The client approached me yesterday and tendered a notice for one week for me to leave next Friday. I said to him that my contract states 4 weeks clearly on it. He showed me his copy that stated 1 week only.

My contract copies that i received by post and via email both of them state 4 weeks notice. I raised this with the agency but the person that deals with this account had gone home.

Can someone please, advise where i stand with this as I want to fight for my rights here and not going to acknowledge a simple apology from the agency. Not these days when the contract are like gold dust.

Your advise will be priceless.

Thanks

Your contract is between you and the agency, not the client.

The client should be giving notice to the agency, not to you.

It's then upto the agency to give you the 4 weeks notice.

That's what i'd say anyway. But check your contract careful (the one between you and agency).

All the best.

[Hotlatte]

You could take it to a small claims court and state that the agency is in breach of contract and see if you win. Does your contract state if the client is obligated to provide you with any work? If not, what is the notice period they can provide if no work is available?

Hi,

No the client is not to provide me with any work. I came in as a consultant to deliver a piece of work.

Agent just called me to state in an apologetic way to state that 4 weeks notice would have been effective had the client decided to let me go during my first week in the contract.

One thing to note that there is no end date in my contract. The piece of work that I was delivering is now going to be taken over by the clients on site configuration team. Does having no end date make my argument any weaker.

[malvolio]

Lesson 1 : It's important to remember that the only "rights" you have are those in the contract

Lesson 2 : Agency contracts to you rarely reflect the contract they have with the client.

Lesson 3 : The client is the one with the money and the one the agency is interested in.

That said, you might win a case for four week's notice agaisnt the agency but you still won't get paid for three of them becuase you won't be able to show a timesheet. So is it worth the hassle of legal action? If you want to spend money on a point of principle than I for one would support you since it's about time this whole scam of mis-matched contracts was blown apart, but it would be expesnive and ultimately frustrating.


<EDIT> Just read your later reply. If you were there to do a single thing and are no longer required to do it, then notice periods are just a little academic anyway. That's why they took on a contractor. Next time, read the contract before you sign it!

[Hotlatte]

Your contract is between you and the agency, not the client.

The client should be giving notice to the agency, not to you.

It's then upto the agency to give you the 4 weeks notice.

That's what i'd say anyway. But check your contract careful (the one between you and agency).

All the best.

This is how its stated on the contract;

Notice to terminate:

By Candidate: 4 weeks
By Client : 4 weeks
By Agency: None

[Hotlatte]

Lesson 1 : It's important to remember that the only "rights" you have are those in the contract

Lesson 2 : Agency contracts to you rarely reflect the contract they have with the client.

Lesson 3 : The client is the one with the money and the one the agency is interested in.

That said, you might win a case for four week's notice agaisnt the agency but you still won't get paid for three of them becuase you won't be able to show a timesheet. So is it worth the hassle of legal action? If you want to spend money on a point of principle than I for one would support you since it's about time this whole scam of mis-matched contracts was blown apart, but it would be expesnive and ultimately frustrating.


<EDIT> Just read your later reply. If you were there to do a single thing and are no longer required to do it, then notice periods are just a little academic anyway. That's why they took on a contractor. Next time, read the contract before you sign it!

Thanks!

I believe you are absolutely right is it worth the hassle. However, absolutely disappointed by this as you said this scam agencies should be punished for such practices

[dynamicsaxcontractor]

This is how its stated on the contract;

Notice to terminate:

By Candidate: 4 weeks
By Client : 4 weeks
By Agency: None

This means that the agent can terminate the contract with no notice period at all, so if you get a week thats not too bad. Not sure why the client notice to terminate is in your contract as you have a contract with the agent.

[Sausage Surprise]

Notice periods are for permies

[Hotlatte]

thanks all...