Default AWR

[kmge]

I have just been told that if I opt out of AWR in my current contract, my payrise from earlier this year will be revoked (about 10%).

As far as I am concerned, my contract is business to business. I run a company which specialises in web development, Lotus Notes, Project management and provides various services to various clients. I run a true business, with other streams apart from my day to day contract.

I have been asked if I would like to opt-out of AWR and hence revoke my company's day rate increase. If I ignore the form and do not sign it, the client will assume I am happy to work under AWR by default.

As far as I am concerned, by contract is business to business and therefore it does not have anything to do with me as an individual (I am the named representative), and is a contract from my agency to my company (supplier) to include a client....

So you were arbitrarily placed within AWR by the Client Co rather than the Agency?
The 10% "payrise" would have been what the Client Co calculated as "holiday pay, bonus" and alike. The Agency would have been given this by the Client Co to pay you during the weeks that you set aside for holiday and for bank holidays, this should not have been invoiced by your Agency to the Client Co and should not have been included in your day rate.
Now, if the Agency led you to believe that this 10% was part of your day rate then they led you astray they should have made it clear that the 10% or 12% or indeed the 11.59%, whatever it was was actually for holiday, bank holiday and bonus payment avaraged over the length of your contract and not used it as "bump" on the day rate.

Your choices.
1 sign the paper, drop out of AWR take the hit on the 10% (it was never meant to be if you are serious about business to business anyway) and it firms up your IR35 argument when Hector comes calling (only a bit but every little helps)
2 ignore the paper, stay in AWR, keep the 10% and hope that Hector doesn't come calling but your business to business statement sounds a little hollow if you do this.