Reply to: FAO Dodgy Agent

[LondonManc]

Touch wood, never had a problem.

My payment agreement is with my agency, not the end client. There's a payment schedule that is adhered to, I get my timesheet and invoice to them by a certain time and they pay me. Whether that's monthly or weekly is a negotiation with the agency. How they are paid by ClientCo is of no concern to me.

[Halo Jones]

True, also the existence of a dedicated Act & court makes it easier to react to the needs of the day

[SueEllen]

Odd, in construction legislation (The Construction Act) has made it illegal to use “pay when paid” clauses, specifically to protect the smaller companies.

Exert from the 2011 CA Amendments

"Conditional payment clauses

The previous law: provisions which make payment conditional upon receipt of payment from a third party ('pay when paid' clauses) are ineffective, unless that third party is insolvent. The Construction Act does not prohibit clauses which make payment conditional on other events, such as 'pay when certified' clauses - where payment is conditional on a certificate being issued under another contract.

The amendment: a clause will be invalid if it makes payment conditional on:

•performance of obligations under another contract; or
•a decision by any person as to whether obligations under another contract have been performed.

This is to prevent a party up the line from relying on circumstances relating to its own contract to delay payment under a separate contract - for example, the fact that an employer has not complied with its certification obligations to a main contractor cannot be used by the main contractor to deny payment to a subcontractor."

I guess with you all being loaded contractors you don’t need protection

Construction is an older industry.

[DodgyAgent]

sorry.
I did not keep a log a diary or any notes. So it's anecdotal rather than forensic.

I used a clientco email account and endless landline phonecalls. (so no audit trail)

I do recall talking to DA at the time, and he talked about not doing business with a 'Greek agent', who was a known bandit.

plus, I did get paid in the end (unlike others.)

but I never got paid for the sleepless nights and the gut-wrenching stress

Still going I believe Software Development | IT Recruitment | Testing | Support & Maintenance | RDF Group

[Halo Jones]

Odd, in construction legislation (The Construction Act) has made it illegal to use “pay when paid” clauses, specifically to protect the smaller companies.

Exert from the 2011 CA Amendments

"Conditional payment clauses

The previous law: provisions which make payment conditional upon receipt of payment from a third party ('pay when paid' clauses) are ineffective, unless that third party is insolvent. The Construction Act does not prohibit clauses which make payment conditional on other events, such as 'pay when certified' clauses - where payment is conditional on a certificate being issued under another contract.

The amendment: a clause will be invalid if it makes payment conditional on:

• performance of obligations under another contract; or
• a decision by any person as to whether obligations under another contract have been performed.

This is to prevent a party up the line from relying on circumstances relating to its own contract to delay payment under a separate contract - for example, the fact that an employer has not complied with its certification obligations to a main contractor cannot be used by the main contractor to deny payment to a subcontractor."

I guess with you all being loaded contractors you don’t need protection

[SueEllen]

Can you pm those examples to me. We need examples for HMRC

No one else has asked for this in their evidence collecting for the consultations.

I've spoken to many contractors now who have had to threaten clients or agents with debt collection procedures.

[browntractor]

That's double my worst experience. I was strung along for a month

a month of sleepless nights. the last thing I want to hear is some balloon telling me to 'read the contract carefully'

Yes, and another half a dozen contractors on my site had the same issue at the same time.

[EternalOptimist]

Can you pm those examples to me. We need examples for HMRC

sorry.
I did not keep a log a diary or any notes. So it's anecdotal rather than forensic.

I used a clientco email account and endless landline phonecalls. (so no audit trail)

I do recall talking to DA at the time, and he talked about not doing business with a 'Greek agent', who was a known bandit.

plus, I did get paid in the end (unlike others.)

but I never got paid for the sleepless nights and the gut-wrenching stress

[eek]

It doesn't matter what the contract says.
All that does is provide you with ammo for possible redress.

The fact is, some agencies operate in a fly-by-night way, and that can leave contractors dangling. The agencies have the whip hand and I have had two very bad experiences.
Although others have had worse


It's another factor that the legislators ignore as well
no holidays, no sick, no training and no security

Can you pm those examples to me. We need examples for HMRC

[EternalOptimist]

Believe it or not, in my worst case I had 50k exposure to the agency. I was in a monthly pay cycle ,on two months arrears, and they were a month late paying. That was a bit stressy.

That's double my worst experience. I was strung along for a month

a month of sleepless nights. the last thing I want to hear is some balloon telling me to 'read the contract carefully'

[browntractor]

Believe it or not, in my worst case I had 50k exposure to the agency. I was in a monthly pay cycle ,on two months arrears, and they were a month late paying. That was a bit stressy.

[EternalOptimist]

It doesn't matter what the contract says.
All that does is provide you with ammo for possible redress.

The fact is, some agencies operate in a fly-by-night way, and that can leave contractors dangling. The agencies have the whip hand and I have had two very bad experiences.
Although others have had worse


It's another factor that the legislators ignore as well
no holidays, no sick, no training and no security

[AtW]

I pay reasonably close attention to the contracts I sign, I've only seen that clause once that I can recall and I got it removed before I'd sign.

Quite.

But then again all jobs in McDonalds are like that.

[TykeMerc]

Contracts are usually worded that you only get payment when the agents do

I pay reasonably close attention to the contracts I sign, I've only seen that clause once that I can recall and I got it removed before I'd sign.

[DimPrawn]

Contracts are usually worded that you only get payment when the agents do

^ This.

Agent phoned me a few months ago, saying client co payment had not arrived, don't expect to get any invoices paid, tought titties. And we are employees are we HMR&C? ^ 1000