Being bullied by my agent?

[psychocandy]

WHS and

Try having an agent call you every day for a whole month and shout the word "Cee you next tuesday" at you because you didnt take a job you secured at interview. That's what I call being bullied by an agent.

Tell them to either put up, or you'll leave - thats the only choice you really have .

??? Why'd they shout that?

[MyUserName]

OMG so now my agent answered me:

I would probably handle a reply something like this:

"Your contract is €300 PER DAY – the hours are not important, that is a small error by our admin staff.

Hi, I think I can see why we are missing each other's points of view here. To my company the contracted hours are extremely important and form part of a binding business contract. Otherwise, do you think would the client be happy if I cut down my working hours to less than the agreed amount? The rate was accepted after taking these working hours into account and they form a large part of my calculations, when they change my rate has to change too.

Hope this helps but as I said this is very early to be having this conversation and doesn’t look great to be talking about money so early."

Sorry, I am not sure I understand. You and I have already discussed money in the initial contract - hence the 300 per day rate. I appreciate that that your staff made an error in the details but the contract was signed as is. If you wish to change the hours, then this will logically have a knock on effect to the rate.

If I accept otherwise I feel I am not acting in my company's best interest which I am legally obliged to do.

[NotAllThere]

NAT - thats a pretty good email. Gonna wind the agent up no doubt though.

Oh yes. But sometimes you have to use a blunt instrument to achieve your objective.

State your position and what you want. Don't get into a discussion.

[northernladuk]

Some great posts and interesting view points. Personally I can't belive all this fuss for 30 mins. It's just ridiculous but that is my personal view and my working style.

On the IR35 point though, I don't think setting hours is a clear fail by any means. There are very few clear fails so I don't think this is. I think there is a grey area between D&C and honouring a clients working practices. If he says you do x hours because everyone else does you could easily argue you were not being controlled but opted to honour his wishes so not to cause agro in the office. If everyone else does that then you will to appear professional and not stir the water with the permies.

For example look at xmas close downs. Many clients do not want you to come in between xmas. That could be seen as D&C as they are working days and you are available but you are happy to honour it as it the customers wish. Would be very hard for HMRC to nail you on those conditions alone.

Just my thoughts on the IR35 element. It's not good but it's not a killer IMO.

[Asspain]

Well, finally I wrote:

"Lets see if you catch my point: the situation is not that all of sudden I decided that I want to get more rate, if only that were important for me, I could have wait to get a better rate in London or in Dublin, in fact I am currently receiving contract interviews from Dublin and I am refusing them because for me is also important the reputation, and not to burn bridges with agencies/clients. What happens is that there is now a mismatch between client expectations and our contractual agreement. Our contract clearly states €300 per 7.5 hour day. That's what we agreed to, that is what I have signed up for. but the client requires that I work 8 hours. do you think would the client be happy if I cut down my working hours to less than the agreed amount? The rate was accepted after taking these working hours into account. So if the working hours of my contract are going to change I want my rate to change accordingly. I think it is fair."

I dont really want to lose the contract, so I think this is not very harsh...

Lets see what the agent have to say.

[northernladuk]

Lets see what the agent have to say.

He will say you should use a capital letter after a full stop

[psychocandy]

To be honest, I can agree with what NLUK says about its only 30 mins and if it was a day rate and the client said it was 8 hours then I'd go with it.

BUT how far do you let agents/clients go with this only 30 mins thing. Contract said 7.5 so its their problem now.

Going back to the analogy of getting a plumber to do work for you. You agree that he's going to fit a bath for you (and he gives you a written quote for said work), then he shows up and you tell him hes got to fit the taps as well. What do you reckon would happen? Possibly if hes feeling generous he might do it for you but, I bet a pound to a pinch of tulip he'd tell you where to get off if you told him he HAD to do it.

OP - Keep us posted on this though because it sounds like fun.

[TestMangler]

To be honest, I can agree with what NLUK says about its only 30 mins and if it was a day rate and the client said it was 8 hours then I'd go with it.

BUT how far do you let agents/clients go with this only 30 mins thing. Contract said 7.5 so its their problem now.

Going back to the analogy of getting a plumber to do work for you. You agree that he's going to fit a bath for you (and he gives you a written quote for said work), then he shows up and you tell him hes got to fit the taps as well. What do you reckon would happen? Possibly if hes feeling generous he might do it for you but, I bet a pound to a pinch of tulip he'd tell you where to get off if you told him he HAD to do it.

OP - Keep us posted on this though because it sounds like fun.

The difference being that the plumber would probably risk the loss of the entire job by telling you to f**k off and not lose any sleep over it. He certainly wouldn't go on a plumbing forum and ask what he should do with an awkward client who couldn't decide on what he wanted done.

I don't get the impression that the OP is in that position.

[speling bee]

To be honest, I can agree with what NLUK says about its only 30 mins and if it was a day rate and the client said it was 8 hours then I'd go with it.

BUT how far do you let agents/clients go with this only 30 mins thing. Contract said 7.5 so its their problem now.

Going back to the analogy of getting a plumber to do work for you. You agree that he's going to fit a bath for you (and he gives you a written quote for said work), then he shows up and you tell him hes got to fit the taps as well. What do you reckon would happen? Possibly if hes feeling generous he might do it for you but, I bet a pound to a pinch of tulip he'd tell you where to get off if you told him he HAD to do it.

OP - Keep us posted on this though because it sounds like fun.

I kind of agree, but presumably they would have no problem if it was only 7 hours instead of 7.5.

[MyUserName]

I am sure that if a plumber turned up and you said that you had added extra hours to the work required he would tell you it would cost more. If you refused to pay he would refuse to do it. Many plumbers I know would put a 2x4 across your head if you gave them aggro over it too.

However, this is a slightly different situation and a different industry.

What would happen if IBM came in with a contract and, after signing, you told them that you had changed the contract without consulting them and added more work without their agreement and had no intention of adjusting the rate accordingly?