Reply to: Contract Rate Change In Term

[TheVoice]

Well, the news is, I made it clear that should the agency terminate me I would invoke my termination fee clause within the terms of business & as I have already commenced on site, this would be at 95% of the full booked amount.

The agent has now agreed to keep paying me the rate they put in the contract & which both parties signed, the client has agreed to pay a higher charge rate as they say they're very very pleased with what I'm doing for them.

Win-win & no contracts are broken.

Seems sticking to ones guns works - especially when you have a termination fee

[Turion]

However, don't ever expect that if it were the other way around (the contract was less than you agreed, but you signed anyway) that they would be as pragmatic.

Any contractor worth his salt will read the contract before signing. However, if I had signed for a lower than expected rate (without having agreed to this in advance) I would expect it to be rectified immediately.

[Orangutan]

I think the key thing here is that the pimp is making a loss - and as several have already said - that is not going to carry on for long.
Accept that miskates can happen, offer to meet them half-way.
You get £20 more per day and they still make a (small) profit.
You come out looking professional, pragmatic and not a complete ars*.

However, don't ever expect that if it were the other way around (the contract was less than you agreed, but you signed anyway) that they would be as pragmatic.

[TheFaQQer]

We're talking 40 quid a day here...& in my I see it that the agency are going to have to go back to the client & admit their cockup anyway, they might as well do so in my favour.

I'll be having a growl at the agency tomorrow & will keep you posted - just fed up with being messed about by people!

What's the percentage difference (roughly)? £40 on £800 a day, is kind of different from £40 on £120 a day.

If the difference is significant enough to be more than the agency getting a better rate for you (e.g. you agreed £100 a day, the contact says £140 a day) then I would expect that the contract could be declared void as there was never a clear intention to create a contratc at that rate.

If the difference is a minor one, then you could argue that the contract is valid, and they should pay you the "agreed" rate.

I guess it comes down to having a contract that was agreed between both parties - this hasn't happened in this case, though.

I would negotiate it to a lower figure than you are on at the moment, but higher than originally suggested - if the agency is going to be losing money on it, then they will get rid of you as soon as possible.

IANAL, YMMV etc. etc.

[NickNick]

How long did you last at the gig after that? Have you used the agency since?

I dropped that agency about 2 or 3 months later and stayed on site for another year or so. The agency also attempted legal action over the golden handcuffs clause, which I just ignored. They came back with the usual "You'll never work again once we tell all our friends about this" line, and now, 18 months down the line they are trying to court me for contracts again.

[BrilloPad]

An agency I once worked for cocked up in this same way when i got a rate increase that I'd asked for, and didn't notice till three months down the line. Rather than come clean about it and tell me, they just called and told me that I owed them X (plus VAT) for the period.
I told them where to stick it and left it at that. Heard nothing rmoe about it until I discovered later that they had fired the person responsible for the cock up. (They'd done it for a whole bunch of contracts)

How long did you last at the gig after that? Have you used the agency since?

[NickNick]

An agency I once worked for cocked up in this same way when i got a rate increase that I'd asked for, and didn't notice till three months down the line. Rather than come clean about it and tell me, they just called and told me that I owed them X (plus VAT) for the period.
I told them where to stick it and left it at that. Heard nothing rmoe about it until I discovered later that they had fired the person responsible for the cock up. (They'd done it for a whole bunch of contracts)

[Turion]

Yes and you will make a lot more at £100 a day for 6 months than you would at £140 a day for a week.


End of the day I can't see the agent subsiding the contractor to the tune of £200 a week. Not going to happen.

Take SP's advice. You agreed a rate and that's what you're gonna get. Trying to exploit a typo in the contract will make you look foolish at best.

If you don't mind that and if the agency does not yet know about the typo, you could try invoicing the increased amount and the dozy accounts dept might even pay it. If they question it, you can just act ignorant and say you simply used the amount stated in the contract. If they subsequently find out, they will deduct the overpayments from future invoices. Nothing gained. nothing lost.

[Sockpuppet]

most businesses are there to make money. remember Alan Sugars' comments on last apprecentice series?

and even if I do upset the customers, I upset them alot less than they upset me.

Yes and you will make a lot more at £100 a day for 6 months than you would at £140 a day for a week.


End of the day I can't see the agent subsiding the contractor to the tune of £200 a week. Not going to happen.

[BrilloPad]

Seems strange that regular businesses don't go out of the way to p**s customers off. Contractors do however. Its almost like most of you are tax dodging permies.

most businesses are there to make money. remember Alan Sugars' comments on last apprecentice series?

and even if I do upset the customers, I upset them alot less than they upset me.

[Sockpuppet]

We're talking 40 quid a day here...& in my I see it that the agency are going to have to go back to the client & admit their cockup anyway, they might as well do so in my favour.

I'll be having a growl at the agency tomorrow & will keep you posted - just fed up with being messed about by people!

If it was me I'd probably do it for the original rate. That is after all what you agreed.

You'll probably find that the rate on your contract is what the client is paying.

You have 2 choices:

a) play hard ball. Prepare to either get a £40 a day rise or binned
b) tell them to keep the money, the agent may just thank you for it.

I know a lot here hate agent and treat them like tulip going down the road of "its them or me" but I've never done that and now get regular first refusal on the majority of logistics projects that come their way.

Seems strange that regular businesses don't go out of the way to piss customers off. Contractors do however. Its almost like most of you are tax dodging permies.

[TheVoice]

We're talking 40 quid a day here...& in my I see it that the agency are going to have to go back to the client & admit their cockup anyway, they might as well do so in my favour.

I'll be having a growl at the agency tomorrow & will keep you posted - just fed up with being messed about by people!

[BrilloPad]

I do wonder what would happen if they were making a 100% markup? To me it all depends how well you know the client/agency.

[thunderlizard]

It does sound like they made a genuine mistake and you'd be acting in bad faith if you were to exploit it.

Turion's kind of right - if they're losing money on you they'll want to use whatever termination clause they've got ASAP, regardless of whether they can get somebody in to replace you or not!

A tripartite discussion between your company, the client and the agency might be a good idea: but first make it a condition of that discussion that you can pull out without penalty if you're not happy with the final rate.

[Sockpuppet]

How much extra we talking a day here.

£10 or £100?

I'd go for a compromise. Depends what agent says.

What you could do is get paid what the agent thinks you should get paid. Wait till contract is over and then send them an invoice for the rest. A signed contract will decimate them in court. Then you gets your money and you gets a full term contract out of them.