Would you work without a contract?

[Wanderer]

Thanks for all the replies. Thankfully the contract arrived this afternoon. My gut instinct said not to start unless there was one in place but being new to this business I was obviously being given a load of lines by the agent and falling for it.

I wouldn't work without one unless it was an established client where I had worked previously and I had an written confirmation that I was working under an extension of a previous contract.

If you start before you have a contract then they can foist all manner of crappy contract terms on you and you are in a pretty weak position when it comes to negotiating.

If I were a cynical person I would wonder if agencies deliberately delay the issue of the contract so you don't have too much time to review it and argue the point about things like IR35 compliance, restrictive covenants and draconian terms....

Don't be too star struck by getting your first contract. MAKE SURE you read your contract from beginning to end and get it reviewed if you are at all unsure about terms in it. You would be amazed at how many people just sign their life away without reading contracts and then come on here crying when it comes back on them. You aren't going to be one of those are you?

Also, don't be in a mad rush to sign it. Remember that the agency took their time to send it to you so make sure everything is in order before returning it....

[Goalie33]

Well hopefully I won't be someone that comes crying. I've read through the contract a number of times. A couple of things that stick out is that they expect me to use my own equipment to do the job (I'm doing a support role so would assume that im using their equipment to access the service desk software, etc) and there is a 2 week notice period for me. Is there a sticky to say what you would expect and bits to look out for?

[RasputinDude]

It really depends on the circumstances. Would I work on a client site without a contract? Depends on the agency - if I have used the agency before and I think that they're kosher, then yes I would for a few days if I had nothing else to do.

If I hadn't used the agency before, no way. Absolutely not.

If it is a direct bit of work, then yes. In fact, I did just this last year for a bit of work that brought in around 30k. But - and this is important - I retained hold of the client's assets until I got paid and I knew just how important those assets were to the client.

So it's up to you. If it's your first contract and you're new to contracting then I'd say no.

[Safe Collections]

If the 'agent' fobbs you off over a contract, what are they going to be like paying you?

Agree completely with Bolshie, it isn't a good footing to start the contract on.

But we are pretty fascist about contracts and the like given our business