Opt out of Conduct of employment agencies 2003 act?

[northernladuk]

C'mon guys, have mercy! If I knew all the implications of clauses in contracts, I wouldn't need to be here.

You shouldn't be, your husband should. I hope he is reading all this.

[GlenW]

You shouldn't be, your husband should. I hope he is reading all this.

No, neither of them should be here.
One of them should be getting professional advice, although they are going to struggle to get that advice before Monday!

[cojak]

C'mon guys, have mercy! If I knew all the implications of clauses in contracts, I wouldn't need to be here.

And I echo this - please give newbies some slack on the Professional forums.

I will take action if this continues.

[MyUserName]

C'mon guys, have mercy! If I knew all the implications of clauses in contracts, I wouldn't need to be here.

Please do not take offence. The guys who you are talking to have become frustrated over the years by people who should know better asking irrational questions and spreading misinformation hence sometimes they can come across as a bit harsh to genuine newbies.

However, you always should get the contract reviewed by an expert like QDOS or B&C. Tell your husband that from now on you will knee him in the groin unless he does this! They will hold your hand and walk you through the various IR35 clauses.

I do not know your accountant but generally they are not IR35 experts nor are they liable if they give you wrong advice.

Remember that no-one cares if HMRC nails your husband to the wall because he took bad advice. Not your accountant, agent or client - they will tell you that you should have sorted things out yourself. HMRC will not care if you explain it was a genuine mistake or you were mislead etc.

The way contracting usually works is that that clients have agencies recruiting for them acting as a filter and general screening device. The client has a contract with the agency with various clauses, your husband will have a contract with the agency (not the client). It would be very unusual for an agency not have legal protection from you being introduced via them and then going direct as they would view this as them doing the work and then not getting paid. One of the assumptions that clients often have is that a contractor knows their business inside out and might be unsettled if you ask them questions about it or make unusual requests (like going direct after being introduced by an agency).

[falkera]

MyUserName; No offence taken at all and thanks for your advice. Confirms what others have said.
NLUK & Malvolio; Yes, I know I need to "step it up" but this is only the husband's second contract (the first was much clearer). Also, he got the contract only yesterday afternoon, no chance we can become experts or locate competent legal advice at such short notice hence the forum. He hasn't been sitting on his backside btw, rather emailing back and forth with agent. As a result the agent has just sent him another contract with the most offending bits taken out (mainly the opt out). That is the best we can do at this point. So, thank you both for your advice (including the sarcasm ) and I'll make sure next time I have a company ready to pick through clauses and help negotiate with the agents.
Cheers cojak!

[malvolio]

MyUserName; No offence taken at all and thanks for your advice. Confirms what others have said.
NLUK & Malvolio; Yes, I know I need to "step it up" but this is only the husband's second contract (the first was much clearer). Also, he got the contract only yesterday afternoon, no chance we can become experts or locate competent legal advice at such short notice hence the forum. He hasn't been sitting on his backside btw, rather emailing back and forth with agent. As a result the agent has just sent him another contract with the most offending bits taken out (mainly the opt out). That is the best we can do at this point. So, thank you both for your advice (including the sarcasm ) and I'll make sure next time I have a company ready to pick through clauses and help negotiate with the agents.
Cheers cojak!

Don't worry about it and please don't take it personally, I'm rude to everyone. It kinda goes with the name. NLUK, however, is still learning...


I will stand by the advice though. Being a contractor is a job, what you do to earn money is incidental to that. So, from my perspective, we all ought to be as good at being contractors as we are as being programmers, engineers or PMs or whatever else we are experts in. And that means understanding all the myriad things that get in the way of a simple life. Getting it wrong can be expensive, whether it's losing money by thinking you are IR35 caught, getting an unfavourable contract by not understanding the opt out or even not getting a job at all because you don't know how clearance works.


There are many sources of advice, but it's a big and difficult field. PCG is one independent place that pulls it all together (at a very minimum read their Guide to Freelancing) but there are others. Asking on here is a good first step, as long as you take the advice offered in the way it is meant. We're all in this together, at the end of the day.

[falkera]

Joined PCG! I do listen (sometimes).

Malvolio roughly means "ill will" not rude, from the Italian "male" (bad, evil) and "volere" (to want). Bet you didn't know that. I know bugger all about contracts but I speak excellent Italian.

Ciao e grazie

[malvolio]

Joined PCG! I do listen (sometimes).

Malvolio roughly means "ill will" not rude, from the Italian "male" (bad, evil) and "volere" (to want). Bet you didn't know that. I know bugger all about contracts but I speak excellent Italian.

Ciao e grazie

Prego. And I speak decent Shakespeare...

[northernladuk]

Don't worry about it and please don't take it personally, I'm rude to everyone. It kinda goes with the name. NLUK, however, is still learning...

My infraction list tells me I am pretty good at it actually.

That is the best we can do at this point. So, thank you both for your advice (including the sarcasm ) and I'll make sure next time I have a company ready to pick through clauses and help negotiate with the agents.

It isn't and I have said it at least twice already so will say it again and then give up. You are in a position to ask for a delay while you get your contract checked properly. It's common in business for delays while contracts are sorted out. Not doing it can cost a lot of money and time so people understand that it has to be right. Your agent won't be over the moon but he won't bin you. QDOS can turn a check around in a day if you lean on them hard. You could have had it done by now if you actually listened. You could easily tell them you will start Weds instead and get it all in place. Problem is now you are in a position that you have already spent any credit with the agent up so he will not take any more crap and you have squandered the chance to get it right. Best you can do now is get your insurances and cross your fingers.

I'm done. Good luck in the gig.

[malvolio]

My infraction list tells me I am pretty good at it actually.

That's my point. I ain't got any...