End client telling me not to come in during notice period as they wont pay me

[LondonManc]

My contract is ending early due to the project being pulled and i have some days notice period left with little work. The end client has told me not to come in as they wont authorise payments if im there not working. The agency are repeating this, maybe to keep the client sweet, but also because its not worth the commission to them to fight it.
my payment is based on a signed timesheet, so if i cant get that im stuffed????

It's called Mutuality of Obligation and the only consolation that you'll have is that it's a big IR35 win, especially with the client exercising their right to enforce it. It's part of contracting life and one of the big risks we take. We are, in effect, on a zero notice working basis. At least they've not made up some bulltulip reason to can you.

You'll find that different clients operate differently; some prefer to get you to work your notice because they don't want a bad reputation if they utilise a lot of contractors while others don't care. Smaller ones may simply not have the budget to pay your notice period up and use the "no work, don't come in" approach. This is all good for demonstrable financial risk that you face as an outside IR35 contractor albeit not very good for the bank balance.

Chin up and get looking for your next gig.

[jmo21]

Sometimes clients pay. Sometimes not. But they are under no obligation to pay.

Yip.

Worst contractor I ever met, decision to can him was made after 6 weeks. Told he was finishing up at the end of the week (on a Tuesday or Wednesday I think) and would be paid 2 weeks notice. That was at a well know global IT firm.

I had a contract pulled Thursday before a Monday start last year, agency told client "that's not on", client paid for a week as an apology, not quite same as notice, but still (agent may well have got 2 weeks, I'll never know I guess). This was a small consultancy company.

Sometime it goes for you, sometimes it doesn't.

[WordIsBond]

Wish I could see these people's faces when the penny drops that contracting isn't quite the easy life as they imagined

Rubbish. All contractors do all day is sit around, post on CUK, talk to their accountants, send out inflated invoices, claim JSA (or mock contractors who do), and avoid tax. I never realised all this until I discovered CUK. My life now feels fulfilled.

[northernladuk]

Wish I could see these people's faces when the penny drops that contracting isn't quite the easy life as they imagined

[mudskipper]

Sometimes clients pay. Sometimes not. But they are under no obligation to pay.

That is the norm, but does depend on the terms of the contract.

[BrilloPad]

Sometimes clients pay. Sometimes not. But they are under no obligation to pay.

[northernladuk]

Every day is Groundhog Day...

Lol

[SlipTheJab]

Every day is Groundhog Day...

[northernladuk]

nice to know for my next contract negotiation

Make sure you understand the while 9 yards, not just know they can do this. It will depend on the contract wording so you need to understand every clause in that and how it applies in your B2B contract. Just knowing they don't have to pay won't prepare you for any other eventualities that may arise.

Remember that contractors pull this clause nearly every contract whereas clients pull it very rarely. You saying you are not available for work to him on holiday is doing exactly the same. It doesn't, however, mean you should dick clients around. Thinking you can pull it just so you don't have to work a notice won't go down well for example.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing as they say.

[eek]

nice to know for my next contract negotiation

No mutual obligation is one of the 3 self employment checks. You may be able to remove it ( although personally I doubt any agency would accept the removal of such a clause) but it would result in a contract less likely to pass an ir35 review

[bluepeter]

nice to know for my next contract negotiation

[northernladuk]

Correct. We've been through this in great detail already today in the link supplied.

[bluepeter]

No work = No pay.

http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...-question.html

so they can ask me not to work within the contract if they have no work for me?

[GillsMan]

No work = No pay.

http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...-question.html

[bluepeter]

My contract is ending early due to the project being pulled and i have some days notice period left with little work. The end client has told me not to come in as they wont authorise payments if im there not working. The agency are repeating this, maybe to keep the client sweet, but also because its not worth the commission to them to fight it.
my payment is based on a signed timesheet, so if i cant get that im stuffed????