Concurrent work

[meanttobeworking]

Hi,

I'm sure I've seen similar posts but I can't for the life of me find them on here.

I'm currently in a contract, but am taking on some extra work with another client. There is no moral issue here - I work from home four to five days a week, and the new client understands that their two-ish hours a day will be done outside of a normal working day.

The additional work is assisting on a specific project, with a specific end goal, but is currently unestimated in terms of total effort. The client is happy to pay on a time and materials basis (and we have agreed on an hourly rate), and the first steps will be to determine what work is needed, and how long it might take.

How would one go about engaging with this new client? I am a member of the PCG, and could use their direct b2b contract template, but is this necessary? The new client have offered to provide a purchase order worded something along the lines of "this PO is for £x, to be invoiced in an ad hoc basis for consultancy against project Y".

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

[northernladuk]

I am not sure the actual answer but would it be so difficult to get a contract to cover yourself with deliverables and agreement on working conditions in case its goes tits up and the client decides not to pay you? If whoever you agreed it with moves on you need to evidence your situation.

Could be just some lines of deliverables and agreement in the PO possible but I wouldn't do it with nothing.

You don't need it for IR35 due to you having two pieces of work but get your agreement in paper and signed some how IMO..

[meanttobeworking]

Thanks, appreciate the comments. I definitely want to document the arrangement, I suppose I'm just trying to determine if this kind of arrangement warrants a full on contract, as it's considerably different from your 'average' contract. I suppose a full contract would be best, in case the first couple of day's worth of consultancy blossom into a six-month relationship (here's hoping )

[Contreras]

How would one go about engaging with this new client? I am a member of the PCG, and could use their direct b2b contract template, but is this necessary? The new client have offered to provide a purchase order worded something along the lines of "this PO is for £x, to be invoiced in an ad hoc basis for consultancy against project Y".

Rather than the full blown contract it sounds like you want PCG's template Letter of Engagement and the associated (single page) Terms of Business (A05-11). Issue them a quotation using the LoE as a template and give it a ref. no. and attach the ToB. There might be some negotiation re requirements... re-issue the LoE/Quote each time with a new ref. no. until they are happy.

To accept the quote and your terms "all" they need to do is issue you with a PO which references the Quote no. (without modifying or introducing any new requirements!)

The job requirements and your terms are the effectively enshrined in a contract: Them PO --> Your LoE/Quote --> Your ToB. with minimum effort on their part.

If they have any issues with the ToB, e.g. IP rights, you can override these with additional clauses in the LoE rather than edit your standard terms.

[meanttobeworking]

Fantastic advice, thanks!