Reply to: Dodgy agency?

[Boo]

Good idea but I would suggest that all thats needed is to follow the GOLDEN RULE - DONT START WITHOUT A CONTRACT.

I've had some right run-ins with agents about this.... But I always win. Deal is you give me contract, then it gets reviewed, then we agree it, then I start.

Fair enough, but IME clients often have end dates that are fixed in stone and these may not change just because you delayed the start date to extract a contract out of the agency. This can result in lost income while wrangling with the agent.

My method is just as effective as yours and means you can earn the money that is there for the taking in the week that the agency is prepping a contract. And if it all goes TU and you go up before a judge then your terms apply, not the agency's.

Boo

[psychocandy]

One defence against underhand agency practices like the OP has stumbled into is to download template contracts from QDOS or IPSE and edit them to reflect the actual company names and rates / other terms etc.

Then sign two copies and send to the agency via recorded delivery making certain that they arrive, and are signed for, before commencing work on the client site. These terms will be the ones that legally apply in a dispute if no other terms are agreed instead and it puts the onus on the agency to play ball. I always do this (using a variant of the QDOS template) and have even had agencies accept the terms in preference to their own, surprisingly.

Now I have an edited pro forma with MyCo's standard terms set out it is just dates and agency / client Co names and numbers etc as well as the rate and other details so doesn't take more than an hour or so to do.

Boo

Good idea but I would suggest that all thats needed is to follow the GOLDEN RULE - DONT START WITHOUT A CONTRACT.

I've had some right run-ins with agents about this.... But I always win. Deal is you give me contract, then it gets reviewed, then we agree it, then I start.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

If the offer of the higher rate was made in writing and you accepted it in writing then that would IMHO constitute a legally binding contract

[Boo]

One defence against underhand agency practices like the OP has stumbled into is to download template contracts from QDOS or IPSE and edit them to reflect the actual company names and rates / other terms etc.

Then sign two copies and send to the agency via recorded delivery making certain that they arrive, and are signed for, before commencing work on the client site. These terms will be the ones that legally apply in a dispute if no other terms are agreed instead and it puts the onus on the agency to play ball. I always do this (using a variant of the QDOS template) and have even had agencies accept the terms in preference to their own, surprisingly.

Now I have an edited pro forma with MyCo's standard terms set out it is just dates and agency / client Co names and numbers etc as well as the rate and other details so doesn't take more than an hour or so to do.

Boo

[Contreras]

I would have agreed with you until I read a thread this week where not one poster had good things to say about one particular agency.

This one?

Quite a few one-time posters there. Just sayin like...

[SueEllen]

There is no such thing as a bad agency, there are good and bad agents in any organisation.

I would have agreed with you until I read a thread this week where not one poster had good things to say about one particular agency.

[Boney M]

Tell them you will leave site and can the role if it is not amended, they will soon pay up

[psychocandy]

Oh dear. Im betting this original offer was verbal only....

And agency knows full well whats its doing and knew they could get person to start gig without contract.

Another example of why its a no-no...

[SimonMac]

You must have dealt with some really bad agencies then....

There is no such thing as a bad agency, there are good and bad agents in any organisation. That's why some people have good experiences with agencies who people have had bad. There is also the fact that people have different expectations from their agents, if someone wants hand holding from their pimp and another doesn't want to see or hear from them until it's renewal time, the same agent could be both good and bad

[stek]

You must have dealt with some really bad agencies then....

Never, TEK weren't great but never had any woes like people post on here since I started in 1992 ish...

[SueEllen]

Worked for Lorien twice, one of the better agencies in my experience.

You must have dealt with some really bad agencies then....

[stek]

Worked for Lorien twice, one of the better agencies in my experience.

[northernladuk]

Never start a gig without seeing your contract at the very least. Get it fully reviewed optimally.

What does your new contract say about notice periods?

If you've got the agreed rate by email and you genuinely haven't seen a contract i'd be all over them like a rash. That was agreed and changing after the event, even though you started without a contract, is totally out of order. You need to be threatening to walk off site until they reconsider.

[SimonMac]

Yeah I have had this done, it sucks but you have to weigh up which is worse 95% of something is better than 100% of nothing while you find another gig.

[DodgyAgent]

Hello all,

I started a contract last week (monday) on the basis that it was a certain rate per hour with Lorien, they confirmed it in an email with me, they then sent me the contract 5 days after starting (so last friday), and on the contract was a rate £2.51 per hour less than what i was told, now this may not sound like much but when the contract is not paying a great amount anyway, this adds up to nearly £400 a month doing standard hours. I forwarded the email to Lorien and questioned it, and all they said was sorry but it was a mistake and I am in fact on the lower rate, I am not happy to say the least, but they also got my start and end dates wrong too, they didnt even have the decency to take a hit on it and honour the original agreement and put me on the rate they promised to begin with. It was basically a case of take it or leave it, another guy in here has had a similar problem with them, so they sound like a dodgy cowboy agency, anyone else had any problems with Lorien???

Cheers

It is an old trick that was invented by Eurolink . They do it to both client and contractor hoping it is too small for anyone to take issue with.
we use it all the time