I've been on contract for a large multi-national for around 3 months now. My contract was set up and B2B and back-to-back (as confirmed with client, which I saw evidence of). I am also careful to behave as a B2B contractor by working out of my home office most of the time and only visiting the client site when I need to do a face to face. Only stay on site to work if I have two meetings fairly close to each other which wouldn't make it worth my while going home first. However, my name is on the office door which I am not pleased about either.
However, I feel as I'm being dragged into the personal services arena more so now and that my client is viewing my contractual status as supplier as a smokescreen instead of a real own company. He keeps referring to me as a member of a team (which I don't mind if we're talking deliverable outputs whereby working with others is essential to get it done, but now it seems that it extends to how I am being viewed on the programme as a whole (as if I belong to it rather than the programme being a client organisation).
For example, today I got an invite for a meal out 'with the team' next week with my name on a general programme distribution list. I am pretty angry about this because I feel that my company should have been invited on my own e-mail addy which my client knows exists and has corresponded to on a regular basis in the past. I do most of my work on my own computer but do have a company provided laptop for 'network' purposes only (the addy was sent to this laptop address).
How do I handle this? I feel annoyed that I am being treated and considered as an intrinsic member of a team when I have behaved and made clear all along that I am a separate supplier company. I don't even eat in the staff restaurant and come and go as I please like any other external supplier. However, even this is difficult to differentiate as many of the personal service contractors and staff can 'work from home' too (I use the term 'working out of my home office and set my network profile up as a separate business). Clearly, they are not taking my business status seriously enough, if they are doing this, despite all the evidence that I am behaving as a supplier not a team member.
Am I making a fuss over nothing or do I have to be cautious. The programme manager also sends out a holiday fill in sheet each week which so far I have avoided filling in. However, I am on that list too.
Do I ask to be removed from all irrelevant non-deliverable distribution lists that have nothing to do with my work schedule outputs or do I stay quiet and put up with it?
Serious answers only please. I would really appreciate some good, relevant replies from those who work (contract terms and behaviours) as own business contractors genuinely viewed as outside of IR35 who work for large clients on extended contracts.
However, I feel as I'm being dragged into the personal services arena more so now and that my client is viewing my contractual status as supplier as a smokescreen instead of a real own company. He keeps referring to me as a member of a team (which I don't mind if we're talking deliverable outputs whereby working with others is essential to get it done, but now it seems that it extends to how I am being viewed on the programme as a whole (as if I belong to it rather than the programme being a client organisation).
For example, today I got an invite for a meal out 'with the team' next week with my name on a general programme distribution list. I am pretty angry about this because I feel that my company should have been invited on my own e-mail addy which my client knows exists and has corresponded to on a regular basis in the past. I do most of my work on my own computer but do have a company provided laptop for 'network' purposes only (the addy was sent to this laptop address).
How do I handle this? I feel annoyed that I am being treated and considered as an intrinsic member of a team when I have behaved and made clear all along that I am a separate supplier company. I don't even eat in the staff restaurant and come and go as I please like any other external supplier. However, even this is difficult to differentiate as many of the personal service contractors and staff can 'work from home' too (I use the term 'working out of my home office and set my network profile up as a separate business). Clearly, they are not taking my business status seriously enough, if they are doing this, despite all the evidence that I am behaving as a supplier not a team member.
Am I making a fuss over nothing or do I have to be cautious. The programme manager also sends out a holiday fill in sheet each week which so far I have avoided filling in. However, I am on that list too.
Do I ask to be removed from all irrelevant non-deliverable distribution lists that have nothing to do with my work schedule outputs or do I stay quiet and put up with it?
Serious answers only please. I would really appreciate some good, relevant replies from those who work (contract terms and behaviours) as own business contractors genuinely viewed as outside of IR35 who work for large clients on extended contracts.
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