Online timesheets?

[Rebecca Loos]

the Conduct of Agencies Regulation thing. The stuff that came into force last year

[Mustang]

Clarification

Help me out here folks. When you talk about "opt out" what are you opting out of?

[ratewhore]

hmmm

Notice periods can suggest employment, most contractors who trade as independent businesses and are IR35 exempt do not expect or request them.

I would disagree with this. I have agency contracts and direct clients. I have a notice period on my direct call-off contracts and I don't accept agency contracts with no notice on my side when the client and agency can end the contract.

[boredsenseless]

Know the feeling I think of 60 days payment terms as a damn good deal

[Lucifer Box]

Wos wrong with being paid weekly?

One of the few good things about Regressive was weekly timesheets.

Matchtek did it too.

Weekly?!?! You agency people don't know you're born. Out in deal direct land, with my major client it's 90 days, take it or leave it.

Mind you, threatening to eat the agent probably does wonders to focus their minds.

[Rebecca Loos]

Close, BB! I sometimes think picking strawberries would be a more intellectually demanding job than what I have been doing the last 2 years!!!
And yes I was going to the pub on Fridays, but because of the asynchronous nature of the sending off of timesheets and the BACS payment reaching my bank account, I used to find myself unable to use my week's pay for my weekend's, err..., 'activities' - so I had to rely on funds collected from previous weeks' assignments! Now that's what you call financial planning!

On a more serious note (this is the serious part of the bb after all), being paid weekly is not something every agency will offer, so it was nice to be able to invoice weekly and get paid 10 days later. In a way, it reduces the length pf your exposure to the agency not paying you.

[BlasterBates]

Paid weekly....were you picking strawberries.

Did you get it in a paper pay-packet on Friday and then go straight off down to the pub?

Them were't days..

[Rebecca Loos]

what I forgot to say is that I was also paid weekly which was nice! OK, I had to send my timesheet thru the post every friday, but being paid weekly was a nice bonus!

[bridder]

Cool RL, that is really good news to hear, it just gives that little piece of mind, I can sleep easy now knowing that I am going to be paid,

brid

[rootsnall]

I' m just job hunting for the first time since the opt in/opt out issue came along. I have read quite a bit about it and it makes a lot of sense to be opted in BUT first time I was asked upfont I just went Opt Out. Its not such a good deal for the agents so if you go against the norm and insist on Opt In you are making life that bit more difficult for yourself !

[Rebecca Loos]

I used to work with pathway (leeds branch), up to last year, they were good, no problems with payment. I was opted out too, so dunno whether they would get arsey if you didn't. Contracts were IR35-friendly, contacts were good. I had a manual (i.e. through the post) t/s system so can't comment there. Overall, yes, good agency, no problems.

[bridder]

Thanks for your views on the online timesheets. Opting out seems such a big issue, I'm very new to this, it's my first contract.

Basically from the beginning the agency has presumed opting out, I also have made the assumption that I would opt out. Now I've come to this conclusion after reading posts with regard to it and talking to a few contracting friends, it seems some believe opting out is madness and some that opting out puts you in a better position for finding work, I can obviously see that opting in does put me in a better position legally for various reasons. More than anything I suppose I have been guided by friends that have been doing this for years, whether they are right or not, whether I am right to follow in their shadows I don't know, it just seem such a fragile and confusing area of contracting.

thanks for your input,
brid

[handsfree]

Sorry, no experience of them. Sounds pretty standard though - the online timesheets and invoices are very common now, and work quite well.

Can I ask why you opted out? Were you pressured into doing so?

Notice periods can suggest employment, most contractors who trade as independent businesses and are IR35 exempt do not expect or request them.

[bridder]

Has anyone had any experience of using these online timesheets? Do all agencies use this kind of system?

Everything is done electronically, weekly timesheets(you also have to fax them a signed copy) that have to be supported by online invoices, I always imagined I would fill in weekly timesheets yes but then ultimately paper invoice the agency on the 1st of the month for the previous months work + VAT of course.

I have to say the contract is quite good apart from the lack of a notice period that I have mentioned in a previous post, it relates to project deliverables and has clauses that allow substitution, so I think it is a solid IR35 exempt contract, if there is such a thing! I'm opting out and my experience with the agency so far has been a positive one, I have no compaints as yet, early days though I suppose as the contract doesn't start just yet.

Anyone had any experience of using an agency sounding a lot like "pathwhy it resources", good payers, online timesheet experience, communiction etc...? Searching the forum finds me only one hit and it's not a good reference for them but it is from early 2004 and they could have reformed by now and become good kind hearted souls, yeh right.

Like I say so far so good but I'd like to know what I'm going into before I sign this several month no get out clause contract...!

thanks for any input,

regards,
brid