Being bullied by my agent?

[BoredBloke]

Ive been on day rates for ages and I just do what I need to do for that day and then bugger off. If it is 10 I stay for 10. If its 6 then (like Fridays) I do 6 . Over time it evens out. Here you only have to do 5.5 hours to qualify for a full day and 2.5 for half a day.

[The Spartan]

My contract here is very specific it states that a day equates to 8 hours, during the initial training period in California I put in 30 mins extra as I had to look at a specific issue and I put this on my timesheet. My manager at the ClientCo pulled me aside and I thought I had done something wrong, he then turned around to me and said don't do anymore than 8 hours and if you have to just leave earlier the next day or balance it out. This though is a very specific example in my first gig when we did releases to live we did an 11 hour day but then afterwards they took us out for food which they paid for but I still only charged for a day.

[tractor]

...

I remember on my last gig I worked a half day once. I put 4 hours on the timesheet instead of 8. I got paid a full day and complained - but was told that even if I was there for 5 minutes I would get paid a full day.

Regular half days followed where I got paid a full day.

I have often found this is the case. They are not all bad clients. These are the sort of situations where it's worth positively encouraging the give and take.

[psychocandy]

OP - Is it a day rate your on or hourly?

Hmmm. Difficult one here though. Possibly the fact that your contract has got 7.5 on it and not 8 is an admin error on their part. Not your fault of course but I wonder whether its worth the grief for the sake of half an hour (again see above comment about day or hour).

If its day rate then I dont really think you can argue about doing 8 hours to be honest. IMHO, day means average of 7.5 to 8 hours a day.

Then again, you COULD put your foot down and argue the toss and walk out every day after 7.5 hours. Might affect your ability to get renewed but it depends how important that is to you.

[MyUserName]

If the original contract said 8 hours would have demanded a higher rate or would you have accepted it and carried on.


Either way this is your call. If you are happy to walk then demanded the agent pays you more for their error and leave if they refuse, if you are not prepared to walk then just get on with it and count the money. I recomend against bluffing as if they call it (and the usually will, agents are used to dealing with contractors bluffing) and you reveal your bluff they will not take you seriously again.

[Lewis]

I've never had the number of hours per day specified on a contract - just a 'professional day' - which has always in reality been 8 hours.

I might be wrong, but I believe having the number of hours specified may be bad for IR35.

[speling bee]

Is it really worth all this fuss for 30 mins?

Normally (or in my case) the contract states 'a professional working day' which sometimes works in my favour for 15-30 mins, and sometimes doesn't depending on the clients routine but either way I wouldn't be worrying about 30 mins I am afraid.

10-12 is taking the piss though and you need to negotiate yourself in to something that suits you, either paid the extra or work 4 days a week or something. There has to be some common sense applied.

And to be fair to your client, you do spend 7.5 to 8 hours operating a CUK proxy search engine service.

[SueEllen]

I've never had the number of hours per day specified on a contract - just a 'professional day' - which has always in reality been 8 hours.

I might be wrong, but I believe having the number of hours specified may be bad for IR35.

It isn't.

What is bad is you not staying until you get the job done or hanging around when there is no work for you to do.

[d000hg]

Although this is about the client definitely saying they want a specific amount more than your contract with the agent says, I'm dubious over 30min a day being worth it. If it was an hour I'd kick up a fuss perhaps.

If other contracts have sorted it out, tell the agent you want the same but don't pee off the client.

[Gentile]

I have signed a contract with AgentX wich says that I have to work 7.5 hours in the client. What happens is that the client obligates me to work 8. My current rate is 300 for 7.5, should I claim the difference? I mean for 8 hours it should be 320. They argued that they invoice per day so it doesnt matter how many hours I work... is this right/true? where is the limit? I mean what if I have to work 12 hours a day? or what if I decide to work only 2?

Whist I appreciate the sentiment that they're only talking about 30 mins extra a day, and have sympathy for the questions being asked about whether that's worth making a fuss over, I would also note that:

1. It might only be 30 minutes a day you're talking about this time, but what about next time? If you capitulate now, what are you going to do when/if they use the same trick to try and get you onto the same crap rate as another contractor? Or to extend your hours beyond those contractually agreed again?
   
   
2. Being able to fine-control your working hours is a clear pointer to D&C, and therefore places you at greater risk of coming under IR35 should you ever be audited. For that reason alone, is insisting on a lousy additional 2.5 hours a week of your time worth it to your client given the risk of your being considered a disguised employee down the line?

If it were me in your shoes, I wouldn't comply. The fact is I usually do work extra hours on occasion when I need to in order to get things done. But there's a huge difference between choosing to go an extra mile when you judge it necessary, and being required to do so just because some client HR drone says so.

If any party to the bargain isn't prepared to honour their part of the terms and conditions of the contract under which you've been engaged, then why bother having a contract at all? Bottom line, if they take the pee about small stuff, they'll take the pee on more important issues down the line in my experience.