Extension or New Contract?

[vetran]

Falls at the first fence :


Many business deals are concluded on the basis that the parties have known each other for many years and trust each other to carry out their responsibilities to each other fairly and honestly.

......

One of the problems often encountered more prevalently with verbal agreements is that different participants in the negotiations may have different views of what was and what was not agreed, and disputes often become a battle of contradictory recollections with varying evidence in support.

Which is going to win the one man band contractor being stiffed or the Agent that failed to provide reasonable notice as a negotiating tactic?

I'd say the custom in these situations is to have a written contract underpinning the relationship therefore a verbal won't count.

If they are unlikely to pay if the contract isn't signed then no contract, how many agents / companies pay with no signed contract issued?

AIUI any contract requires agreement + requirement to pay(consideration), if the agent isn't going to pay without a written contract then a verbal one isn't a contract. - IMHO of course.

If they have issued a written renewal and you haven't responded no in a reasonable time say 7 days or provide work that will fall within it then it seems reasonable to believe you have accepted it. Which I assume is why agents leave the contract until the day your contract is due to expire.

Maybe the thing to do is when provided with a late night renewal is to respond by fax stating you will be having the contract reviewed by your advisors and agree to provide 7 days under the current agreement while its reviewed?

Also depends what you are asked :

Are you interested in a renewal? You answer yes. = no contract you just want to look at the possibility.

Will you renew at the current rate and conditions - You answer yes. = contract.

Obviously a very grey area and agents will have a different view.

IANAL.

[PerlOfWisdom]

Won't stop you from buying your food and tat that's produced in these countries where cheap labour is exploited though will it.

Slave labour by proxy. That's alright then, we can pretend to be ignorant. Pass me the Argos catalogue I need a new plastic piece of junk to fill a corner of a cupboard I rarely ever open.

So, we stop buying their cheap food and these women now get no money. Of course they're free to get another job - starving to death or prostitution are 2 possibilities.

[PAH]

So, we stop buying their cheap food and these women now get no money. Of course they're free to get another job - starving to death or prostitution are 2 possibilities.

Yeah exploitation can always be justified if you want it to.

I like how there's all the fuss about the olympic participants voicing their concerns in China. Yeah we're really worried about the abuse of rights over there, but that doesn't mean we'll do anything about it as long as they keep producing the goods cheaply.

Africa would be a superpower by now if they'd kept the slavery.