What does it take for us to ditch our agency ?

[Wanderer]

I've heard that in some places it's in the contract that you can't renew through any other agency for 6- 12 months. That seems uncompetitive I can't see how that's allowed. In some places even if you get a new job at the client through your own contacts without the agency's help then you've still got to go through the agent and they get commission. How can this be right?

Don't opt out of the agency regulations and they can't enforce this against you.

Even opted out, it's of dubious legality anyway and I doubt that they would ever test it in court where it may be struck out of the contract. Generally the enforcement point is the client who will either buckle under pressure from the agency or tell them to go to hell. Either way, you do what the client allows you to do and don't worry about the agency.

[TykeMerc]

I know you're a troll (you really shouldn't post outside of General for trolling purposes, but what the hell)...

It seems extremely difficult to ditch an agency.

Under what circumstances could a contractor ditch their agency once you are in somewhere on a contract?

As you're well aware from hanging around on CUK for some time it's not our agency, it's the clients. The client went to the agent to get resource for a requirement, thinking that the agent is there to represent you is naive.

- What if the agency really annoys the client in some way which could cause your reputation damage by proxy?

It's easy enough to distance yourself from the agency, worst case talk to the client about it.

- What if the agency represents you poorly in some way and/or somehow blames you for their incompetency when dealing with the end client?

See above...

- What if the agency fails to negotiate properly for you?

See above, it's up to you to negotiate with the agency, if you make demands the client won't accept you should negotiate better, be reasonable and have a good business case for the demands.

Also, when renewing contracts, why must you have to stick with your current agency? I've heard that in some places it's in the contract that you can't renew through any other agency for 6- 12 months. That seems uncompetitive I can't see how that's allowed. In some places even if you get a new job at the client through your own contacts without the agency's help then you've still got to go through the agent and they get commission. How can this be right?

Clients sign agreements with the agents, tie in clauses are almost always built in there that tie the you-client relationship up via them as the introducer. Clients typically have preferred supplier lists and the majority won't deal direct with contractors to avoid a multitude of issues including umpteen invoices, terms and conditions and negotiations.
We're contractors operating in a commercial marketplace, if you don't like the way that the relationships work then perhaps you should go permie or temp as you appear to lack even a basic understanding of commercial realities.

[contractor79]

It seems extremely difficult to ditch an agency.

Under what circumstances could a contractor ditch their agency once you are in somewhere on a contract?

- What if the agency really annoys the client in some way which could cause your reputation damage by proxy?

- What if the agency represents you poorly in some way and/or somehow blames you for their incompetency when dealing with the end client?

- What if the agency fails to negotiate properly for you?

Also, when renewing contracts, why must you have to stick with your current agency? I've heard that in some places it's in the contract that you can't renew through any other agency for 6- 12 months. That seems uncompetitive I can't see how that's allowed. In some places even if you get a new job at the client through your own contacts without the agency's help then you've still got to go through the agent and they get commission. How can this be right?