Reply to: end client not approving timesheets

[jmo21]

Maybe worth talking to a debt recovery firm. I think one posts on here frequently though they don't know about dunning...

oops, I still can't think of the word I was aiming for!!

[Safe Collections]

As you have now left start I'd politely tell them exactly what you want (paid), state the contract does not have that deadline in it, with any accompanying emails from you that show this date was never happening. Inform them if time sheet is not signed and invoice paid, you will start dunning.

This

Lay out the issues in an email along with your invoices and demand payment. If you do not have deliverables and deadlines agreed as part of a contract it will be extremely difficult for anyone to argue you can be held to them.

If they refuse to negotiate or engage then you could potentially look at taking it further, but this will be complicated if the contract has not been terminated in line with your obligations...

[tractor]

Maybe worth talking to a debt recovery firm. I think one posts on here frequently though they don't know about dunning...

I hope that's nothing to do with Clive Dunn, he was my grandad he was.

[SueEllen]

As you have now left start I'd politely tell them exactly what you want (paid), state the contract does not have that deadline in it, with any accompanying emails from you that show this date was never happening. Inform them if time sheet is not signed and invoice paid, you will start dunning.

Maybe even go straight to dunning as they are clearly not listening already.

Maybe worth talking to a debt recovery firm. I think one posts on here frequently though they don't know about dunning...

[jmo21]

No, its a multi-national company. The offshore team is theirs (A). Not mine.

As you have now left start I'd politely tell them exactly what you want (paid), state the contract does not have that deadline in it, with any accompanying emails from you that show this date was never happening. Inform them if time sheet is not signed and invoice paid, you will start dunning.

Maybe even go straight to dunning as they are clearly not listening already.

[andy12345]

Who is "we"?

Are you paying the offshore dev team to do this work? or do the offshore team "belong" to the end client or the consultancy?

sounds fishy.

No, its a multi-national company. The offshore team is theirs (A). Not mine.

[BolshieBastard]

Lesson 1, do not opt out (not always easy to achieve).
Lesson 2, always get your timesheets signed at the relevant time as refusal to sign is a pointer to something being wrong!
Lesson 3, dont depend on your agent to fight your corner. They get more business from the client to care about you.

Sounds like a stitch up of a new contractor to me with eff all help from the agency.

[jmo21]

Almost immediately as we submitted the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) which was three times the estimate they had even before the design was complete. But they persisted with their project plan. It was bound to slip. I didn't know it would come to haunt me like this. But, I never agreed to those aggressive deadlines. I was just asked to get on with it.

Who is "we"?

Are you paying the offshore dev team to do this work? or do the offshore team "belong" to the end client or the consultancy?

sounds fishy.

[tractor]

...

So because the timeline slipped, and even though you were keeping them advised, they are not paying 2 months invoices? brutal!

Assuming all is well your side, how can they pin a rubbish development team on one person?

At what point did you know the deadline was not going to happen. Immediately you were told ("we'll never hit that")... or only once dev got underway. I understand you were keeping them uptodate at that point.

Sounds like you are the fall guy, but then they do seem to want to keep you on. That definitely does not sound right. Sounds very messy.

Good luck.

Well, if they can get someone to carry on working without being paid....

To the OP, what deliverables are you responsible for (contractually), what deliverables have you taken responsibility for (practically) and how much control/involvement/responsibility do you have with the offshore team?

And also good luck.

[andy12345]

At what point did you know the deadline was not going to happen. Immediately you were told ("we'll never hit that")... or only once dev got underway. I understand you were keeping them uptodate at that point.

Almost immediately as we submitted the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) which was three times the estimate they had even before the design was complete. But they persisted with their project plan. It was bound to slip. I didn't know it would come to haunt me like this. But, I never agreed to those aggressive deadlines. I was just asked to get on with it.

[jmo21]

The design document was complete by October and the end client (C) also signed it off. So, all happy at this end. Then the development phase and mentoring phase started. The rest of the team is off-shore. So, had a quite bit of mentoring to do to explain the design and enable them to do the development.

This is where the grey area starts. They assumed the development work will be done by so and so date and it slipped. They are pinning the deliverables on me, now. I never gave false status updates. Whenever they asked I told them where we were.

Even now, I cannot agree to those deliverables as I don't know if I can meet them. I was working flat out. Not fooling around.

So because the timeline slipped, and even though you were keeping them advised, they are not paying 2 months invoices? brutal!

Assuming all is well your side, how can they pin a rubbish development team on one person?

At what point did you know the deadline was not going to happen. Immediately you were told ("we'll never hit that")... or only once dev got underway. I understand you were keeping them uptodate at that point.

Sounds like you are the fall guy, but then they do seem to want to keep you on. That definitely does not sound right. Sounds very messy.

Good luck.

[andy12345]

Moreover, there were no emails asking me why we slipped etc. Its a shock to know their actual intentions when I received this email from my agency alleging I missed the deliverables.

Even now, there is no dispute or greivance or allegation put to me directly on my work email id.

[andy12345]

What exactly were the vague/not specific deliverables?

Was there no back and forth about why they couldn't be done.

Did you just ignore them and hope they'd go away? Did you tell them the design document would take the whole 2 months and you would be doing nothing else?

All seems a bit strange to be honest, especially as they want to keep you on.

The design document was complete by October and the end client (C) also signed it off. So, all happy at this end. Then the development phase and mentoring phase started. The rest of the team is off-shore. So, had a quite bit of mentoring to do to explain the design and enable them to do the development.

This is where the grey area starts. They assumed the development work will be done by so and so date and it slipped. They are pinning the deliverables on me, now. I never gave false status updates. Whenever they asked I told them where we were.

Even now, I cannot agree to those deliverables as I don't know if I can meet them. I was working flat out. Not fooling around.

[tractor]

.

I just did not turn up. If thats a bad way, then I'll go to the work place, which is 3.5 hrs by train. But we will be discussing the same without any resolution as I do not agree to their deliverables. But, if thats the right way to terminate then I'll do it that way. Any other things that I should take care of?

Can I ask them to not to use my design as they are not paying for it?

You should first read and understand your contract. You should then comply with it and take legal advice on how to proceed. You are able to pursue the same legal remedies that we all are under English law. For this, you need proper legal advice. But if you have broken your contract terms, then you need to be very careful about how you pursue this.

[jmo21]

any of my pending timesheets unless I complete my deliverables (which I never agreed). The deliverables are very vague and not specific.

What exactly were the vague/not specific deliverables?

Was there no back and forth about why they couldn't be done.

Did you just ignore them and hope they'd go away? Did you tell them the design document would take the whole 2 months and you would be doing nothing else?

All seems a bit strange to be honest, especially as they want to keep you on.