Odd daily rates being offered

[MojoDog]

Over the last couple of weeks I've been approached by two different agencies for roles offering the following rates:

1. A role with large defence company not known for paying a great deal offfering £45.47 p/h

2. A role with a government agency offering £359.17 per day.


When I asked Agency 1 if that odd hourly rate was before or after VAT he went quiet then said "er..no. that's the hourly rate that the client are offering in total."
So I said goodbye.

A few days later Agency 2 approached me and when I asked the same question about VAT he too went quiet and said that he would "contact accounts and get back to me...". So far he hasn't and I'm not holding my breath.

This is the first time I've heard of or seen this type of payment offered and wondered if it was usual , or perhaps there was some hidden agenda behind it?

[northernladuk]

Well they are going to be without VAT as it is a B2B engagement.

How do you mean this type of payment? The fact it isn't a round number you mean?

[SueEllen]

The agencies are talking tulip.

VAT is added on afterwards if you are VAT registered. The agency doesn't not lose out by you charging VAT as they are either passing it on from the client or can reclaim it from the VAT man.

In regards to the first rate the agency is trying to hide that the working hours don't add up to 40, while the second agency is may be completing against others so asking for some odd figure lower means they will get the contract.

[v8gaz]

Lloyds went through a phase last year of cutting 10% off the rates, but not rounding them up or down. You could always spot one of their rates, as an example the old PM rate in scotland was 440 a day - it then became and was advertised at 396 a day

[mudskipper]

Over the last couple of weeks I've been approached by two different agencies for roles offering the following rates:

1. A role with large defence company not known for paying a great deal offfering £45.47 p/h

2. A role with a government agency offering £359.17 per day.


When I asked Agency 1 if that odd hourly rate was before or after VAT he went quiet then said "er..no. that's the hourly rate that the client are offering in total."
So I said goodbye.

A few days later Agency 2 approached me and when I asked the same question about VAT he too went quiet and said that he would "contact accounts and get back to me...". So far he hasn't and I'm not holding my breath.

This is the first time I've heard of or seen this type of payment offered and wondered if it was usual , or perhaps there was some hidden agenda behind it?

Maybe they've linked contract rates to permie increases - so, e.g. if the permies got a 2.6% payrise, and the contract rate was £350, they've gone with the same?

[Acme Thunderer]

A lot of defence companies have their agencies on fixed percentages and depending on how the percentage is to be calculated it can give odd looking rates.

For example Client says we will pay £50/hr. If the agent takes a 10% cut of that gives £45 to the contractor, however if agency marks up the rate by 10% then a contractor rate of £45.47 gives £50.01 charge to the client. A bit of rounding may come into as well

I personally have seen odd rates from 2 different defence companies, one that makes submarines, ships and aircraft and another that has offices in Filton and Stevenage and make things that fly for a bit and then go bang. Either of them?

[TykeMerc]

A lot of defence companies have their agencies on fixed percentages and depending on how the percentage is to be calculated it can give odd looking rates.

For example Client says we will pay £50/hr. If the agent takes a 10% cut of that gives £45 to the contractor, however if agency marks up the rate by 10% then a contractor rate of £45.47 gives £50.01 charge to the client. A bit of rounding may come into as well

I personally have seen odd rates from 2 different defence companies, one that makes submarines, ships and aircraft and another that has offices in Filton and Stevenage and make things that fly for a bit and then go bang. Either of them?

Indeed, my current rate is £XXX.78 it's a tad weird, but not worrying, just the way the budget works.

[Scrag Meister]

I end up with an odd rate after ClientCo cut the rate by 15%.

[riffpie]

My current rate is £xxx.42, because I negotiated a nice round figure with the client who then announced they couldn't deal with me direct, and would I mind going through this agency, who take a nominal cut, which resulted in my nice round figure being downed into something awkward.

[cojak]

I end up with an odd rate after ClientCo cut the rate by 15%.

15%! Ouch!