Contract renewal - whats good enough as an offer?

[Sausage Surprise]

Because they can

I've had agencies change the notice period and payment terms at renewal. Or try to anyway.

Never happened to me in 10 years.
There's some right drama queens on here.

[psychocandy]

Terms are not an issue - they stay the same as the original contract. Its just a renewal so all that gets issued is a revised schedule.

To be honest, if I waited for the actual signed contract from the agency every time then it would never happen.

However, I'm sure there's some legal argument that says that a contract can be assumed to be accepted/extended by several means rather than a complete signed contract.

As mentioned, a contractor accepts an extension on the same terms by just showing up.

Thats the thing - I'm sure there was a discussion in the past that a contract extension can be legally binding even verbally (but Im not risking that one!). Hence why Ive accepted email confirmation.

[psychocandy]

This is the line I always take - I'd love to go in, but I'd need an indemnity from an approved person at the agency and at the client beforehand. Once the client thinks that they are opening up an insurance problem, they stop hassling me to turn up, and chase the agency to get it sorted out.

Some years back, I stayed at home because the agency hadn't sorted anything out. Client bollocked the agency, agency chased me. I explained to both that I had no paperwork, so no insurance. Client bollocked the agency. Agency sorted paperwork out, and I then explained that I wanted them to pay my train fare, since I'd wasted the ticket I'd pre-booked. Agency refused, client bollocked the agency. Agency offered standard fare to replace my first class fare because "the client won't pay first class". I explained that it was first or nothing and I'd have the week off, and the client shouldn't be paying anything as it was the agent's foul up. Agency refused. Client bollocked the agency. Agency paid up.

If I hadn't hated that agent so much, I'd have been back in on the Tuesday with no problem, though.

Good for you. LOL.

When I did by 9-10am I'd had about 5 phone calls from project managers stressing that I had actually left. Then it all kicked off at client because the contracts are all done by someone else in another country (and hes a lazy tulipe). This guy then even had the cheek to phone me later and ask me to go in while he sorted it - I'd been hassling him to do it for 2-3 weeks!

But thats my viewpoint. Contract is with agency not client so it doesnt matter what client says. If agency want to provide email indemnifying whilst they sort out the tulipe then normally I take that.

But I do get concerned that I should be doing so....

[psychocandy]

Don't see the point of not billing when you know they're going to pay you if you go in....signed contract or not. Surely verbal acceptance will do until the paperwork arrives?

Don't see the point in getting so wound up.

In most cases yes no problem but how hard is it to sort out a renewal? If I did this you can guarantee first time it'd be a week to sort out, next time two weeks, then they just wouldnt bother.

And you do read stories of contractors who show up then get told theres no budget to pay them 4 weeks down the line. I could see that happening here.

[Pogle]

Because they can

I've had agencies change the notice period and payment terms at renewal. Or try to anyway.

Ditto

[MyUserName]

It's a renewal - why would they change the contract terms?

Because they might be able to make money out of it? My agency was putting pressure on me to change from weekly to monthly payment terms and I refused, they did it anyway until I noticed and chased them down.

If they could have slipped it into a contract I had implicitly accepted they might well have done - after all they had the cheek to do it after I explicitly refused.

Would the agency allow you to start working and then set your terms which they have implicitly accepted?

[BolshieBastard]

Kinell, what a drama queen. His professional life is like an episode of a soap.

[eek]

Kinell, what a drama queen. His professional life is like an episode of a soap.

I think in this case its the client and agency at fault. Between the two of them some document should exist telling him that its ok to go into clientco and that he will be paid.

[javadude]

Never happened to me in 10 years.
There's some right drama queens on here.

I did have this while working direct with a client. They changed their standard contract and made it more like an employment contract. They did at least send it to me two days before my contract ended but it was a rush to negotiate keeping it something like the previous contract.

[Zippy]

Never happened to me in 10 years.
There's some right drama queens on here.

Ooh, get her!

I'll go in if I've got an email stating rate, payment terms etc, but not otherwise. It's not always possible to wait for a signed contract.