NDA specifies agency employee

[BHicks]

If you had a decent agent, he'd ring legal at the client and point out that a mis-statement like this might invalidate the NDA since you simply aren't an employee and certainly leaves the client open to various IR35 and employment law hassles.

Since you don't have a decent agent, have you tried contacting their inhouse legal or if all else fails HR ?

The other thing that a lawyer will tell you is that just as important as what's in writing (eg in the NDA itself) is what the intention of the parties was at the point of signing?

How do you demonstrate intention in a situation like this you may be wondering?

A suitable email to your agent confirming that the NDA is badly worded but that you're signing this anyway as a non employee since you fully understand the client's need to address the issue of non disclosure. This has you nicely covered should any future issues arise.

Then as advised elsewhere, file in the 3 month retention pile and get on with the gig

[Dark Black]

Sorted

Agency chased me up at the beginning of the week as the contract start is imminent. I re-iterated that I wasn't happy signing the forms as they stood, and this time he asked me if I would re-word them to something I was happy to sign and then he would pass them to the client to verify they were happy.

Have now done this, client has accepted (and admitted they need to change the default wording in future).

Result

(would have been nice if the agent had let me do it in the first place though...)