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Clause in contract

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    Clause in contract

    Hi

    i hope this is the correct section.

    I have a contract between myself and a client through an agency. One of the clauses in the contract is that I may not provide services to the client either directly or indirect for a period of 12 months after the currect contract terminates. If I do supply services to the client not through the agency, then the agency will be entitled to charge the client a fee.

    I am looking in to contracting directly to the client after the contract finishes, any idea if they would actually go ahead and try and charge the client, if so do you think it would be a set fee or they would try and calculate a percentage for any hours Ive worked for the client directly?

    Surely this wouldnt stand up in court if it ever went that far?

    Has anybody got any experience of this?

    Thanks

    #2
    Originally posted by Wa1nuts View Post
    Hi

    i hope this is the correct section.

    I have a contract between myself and a client through an agency. One of the clauses in the contract is that I may not provide services to the client either directly or indirect for a period of 12 months after the currect contract terminates. If I do supply services to the client not through the agency, then the agency will be entitled to charge the client a fee.

    I am looking in to contracting directly to the client after the contract finishes, any idea if they would actually go ahead and try and charge the client, if so do you think it would be a set fee or they would try and calculate a percentage for any hours Ive worked for the client directly?

    Surely this wouldnt stand up in court if it ever went that far?

    Has anybody got any experience of this?

    Thanks
    Hi, this has been covered quite a lot on the forum already, but I imagine the agency would enforce this if you continued working for the client directly after the contract with the agency ended. This is how they make their money after all, if they didn't enforce the clause there would be very little to stop all contractors doing that after the initial contract was up, or even giving notice immediately after starting and then just working with the client directly.

    If it were some months in between the contract ending and you working directly, this may be different. 12 months might be difficult to enforce, again this has been covered in the forum before but I can't remember the details off the top of my head. There are a few variables here, the main one being the agencies relationship with the client I think.

    Comment


      #3
      Clause in contact

      Handcuff clauses are in most contracts.

      Do a search as it’s been discussed a lot on here and depends on a lot of factors. Like if the client has a good relationship with the agency and if they want to spoil that relationship over one contractor.

      Edit- Doc beat me to it.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Wa1nuts View Post
        Hi

        i hope this is the correct section.

        I have a contract between myself and a client through an agency. One of the clauses in the contract is that I may not provide services to the client either directly or indirect for a period of 12 months after the currect contract terminates. If I do supply services to the client not through the agency, then the agency will be entitled to charge the client a fee.

        I am looking in to contracting directly to the client after the contract finishes, any idea if they would actually go ahead and try and charge the client, if so do you think it would be a set fee or they would try and calculate a percentage for any hours Ive worked for the client directly?

        Surely this wouldnt stand up in court if it ever went that far?

        Has anybody got any experience of this?

        Thanks
        You might want to re-read your contract. They will most likely charge you a fee (a % of the rate).

        12 months is long for a handcuff clause, which you might be able to argue out of in a court. 6 months is closer to the norm.
        …Maybe we ain’t that young anymore

        Comment


          #5
          If they charge the client a fee, why would you care?

          Quite often contractors go permie and the agent gets paid. Its a matter of negotiation between them.

          Is this your idea or the client's?

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Wa1nuts View Post
            Hi

            i hope this is the correct section.

            I have a contract between myself and a client through an agency. One of the clauses in the contract is that I may not provide services to the client either directly or indirect for a period of 12 months after the currect contract terminates. If I do supply services to the client not through the agency, then the agency will be entitled to charge the client a fee.

            I am looking in to contracting directly to the client after the contract finishes, any idea if they would actually go ahead and try and charge the client, if so do you think it would be a set fee or they would try and calculate a percentage for any hours Ive worked for the client directly?

            Surely this wouldnt stand up in court if it ever went that far?

            Has anybody got any experience of this?

            Thanks
            How about having some moral compass?

            Do you not think it is unethical that you are trying to fleece the company that introduced you to the client?

            If you want more money, negotiate with the agency.

            They deserve some money for the work they have done! You agreed to the terms when it suited you!

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by prozak View Post
              Off Topic Post
              FTFY. The subject has been done to death before.

              Comment


                #8
                Thanks for the answers everbody I will search a little more in depth in the next few days. It doesnt actually state what the fee will be or the %.

                The reason I am keen to go direct, is that the workload may be a lesser the near future, the client I work for does only fixed price work, therefore anything they save on paying me is extra profit to them (its a small company). I have said to he client I am happy for them to keep the savings and I will take a further reduction in pay.

                To Prozak, the agency has gotten their % from me for a year, so I would say they have done ok out of me. My agent recently rang me asking if I was "looking for work", he didnt even realise he was my agent or know who I am, so although they did put me forward for the job, they have made a decent amount of money for the last year after forgetting who I am. He has never contacted me since getting the job other the phone call I mentioned.

                Thanks again everybody

                Comment


                  #9
                  Have you been contracting long?
                  …Maybe we ain’t that young anymore

                  Comment


                    #10
                    What does NLUK's accountant say?

                    Comment

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