Reply to: Aagency Wont Pay Me!

[BoredBloke]

I've not been following this thread, but would your original client sign off a timesheet for no hours for the last week worked?

[Mailman]

Firstly Kettle, did you opt in or out of the regs?

JKettle,
Now, who do you have a contract with? The client - no. The agency - yes. It is understandable that the agency are refusing to pay, and they are perfectly within their rights. You did not agree to vary the terms of your contract with anybody who was empowered to agree.

This is exceptionally poor advice. What the agents have done is effectively enforce a penalty clause and unfortunately for the agents penalty clauses in contracts signed in Great Britain are unenforceable.

The simple fact is that between yourself and the client you agreed that there was no point in continueing the relationship. Im assuming you have this all in writing of course.

Should you decide to persue the agency then you could probably expect a counter claim, they could quantify their loss as the notice period times their margin. This is a direct loss to them caused by your breach of contract. If this is greater than the monies owed then I would think very carefully about launching action.

You can expect the agency to make all sorts of noises about counter claims but the reality is that for them the costs of pursuing such an claim would outweigh the money they will be able to claim back.

Also, your first avenue should be written demands giving them 7 days to pay up or you will seek a county court judgement against them and/or go to the small claims tribunal.

The agents will try and scare you in to giving up but remember, if they want to lodge a counter claim they are going to have to go to the high court to seek a remedy for your broken contract. Naturally because you are a businessman you kept all correspondence between yourself and the client showing the split was agreed.

But Ill ask again, are you opted in or out as this makes a difference on just how easily you will be able to claim the lost weeks wages.

Regards

Mailman

[messiah]

Update

Looks like the agency is going to get away with not paying me. Despite my agreement with the end client that I could leave without working notice the contract between my Umbrella company and the agency states I must work 1 weeks notice. So on a technicality I'm in breach of contract. Chasing the money would cost more than I'm owed and I might lose the case.

On a slightly little happier not, I pretty sure the end client is now using a different agency.

Name and shame JKettle .. name and shame the agency.

Don't use the official title just use something that rhymes with it eg ....

"Fairity" or "Regressive"

[Jkettle]

Update

Looks like the agency is going to get away with not paying me. Despite my agreement with the end client that I could leave without working notice the contract between my Umbrella company and the agency states I must work 1 weeks notice. So on a technicality I'm in breach of contract. Chasing the money would cost more than I'm owed and I might lose the case.

On a slightly little happier not, I pretty sure the end client is now using a different agency.

[Jkettle]

Hey Guys, This is all very good advice. Thank You

I've developing a very unbiased view of the situation thanks to your various comments.

I will let you know how it pans out but in the mean time please keep your comments coming.

Thanks

John

[ratewhore]

I would resend the invoice with late payment penalty and interest and take it from there.

http://www.payontime.co.uk/legislati...tion_main.html

[mcquiggd]

Alexander Mann handled the contract arrangements on behalf of Atos Origin... AM signed the 6 month extension after talking to Atos Origin.... then AO tried to blackmail me into taking a pay cut, and then AM terminated my contract at 4pm on the last day of the original contract and i was told by my technical architect and project manager 'it wasnt a termination, but there would be no renewal'. When I contacted my agency about the weeks notice period the agent had mysteriously left the company, and they said 'we dont know'. The contract was then advertised on Jobserve at 3 months instead of 6.

[messiah]

Sounds a bit like the way Atos Origin and Alexander Mann work... sign a sixth month extension, then tell you they cant afford you due to budgets not being signed off by their end client, and try to blackmail you into taking a paycut and verbally threaten to sack you if you dont, want you to agree shorter terms or take a two month holiday, then wait until the day before your existing contract runs out before telling your agency you wont be needed anymore. Then you get a 'letter of termination' at 4pm on the friday by email from Alexander Mann, and the agency says 'oh sorry, the guy who negotiated the renewal has left the company' and deny any knowledge of a one weeks notice period. Alexander Mann of course insist on a one months notice period from your side.

In other words, all a cunch of bunts thats should be avoided at all costs.

lets get this straight ... Alex Mann who you are working for are the agents in your current contract, then u manage to get a 6 month extension with the end client and then Alex Mann stops it ? makes no sense. .... they would fall over themselves to take up the 6 month extension.

[mcquiggd]

Sounds a bit like the way Atos Origin and Alexander Mann work... sign a sixth month extension, then tell you they cant afford you due to budgets not being signed off by their end client, and try to blackmail you into taking a paycut and verbally threaten to sack you if you dont, want you to agree shorter terms or take a two month holiday, then wait until the day before your existing contract runs out before telling your agency you wont be needed anymore. Then you get a 'letter of termination' at 4pm on the friday by email from Alexander Mann, and the agency says 'oh sorry, the guy who negotiated the renewal has left the company' and deny any knowledge of a one weeks notice period. Alexander Mann of course insist on a one months notice period from your side.

In other words, all a cunch of bunts thats should be avoided at all costs.

[ASB]

JKettle,

So to make sure I have got this right: you and the end client agreed you were not going to come back and you didn't. The agency is now refusing to pay - and you are suprised by this.

Now, who do you have a contract with? The client - no. The agency - yes. It is understandable that the agency are refusing to pay, and they are perfectly within their rights. You did not agree to vary the terms of your contract with anybody who was empowered to agree.

Should you decide to persue the agency then you could probably expect a counter claim, they could quantify their loss as the notice period times their margin. This is a direct loss to them caused by your breach of contract. If this is greater than the monies owed then I would think very carefully about launching action.

If you do wish to persue it then really, due to the contentions nature of it, it is probably best suited to the small claims court. Expect to settle at the outstanding amount less 4 week (assume a month notice) commision.

since you say you only spent a week there this is not likely to be very much, indeed probably less than your legal fees. If you do decide to go ahead with professional advice be absolutely straight with them - personally I think there is a strong chance a decent commercial will tell you not to bother (and charge you a couple of hundred quid for doing so).

If you want to go it alone you can file the claim on line, google will tell you where.

On the positive side, there is an area which may work in your favour. Your fiduciary duties as a directory (assuming you are one of your company) dictate that you must take steps to mitigate he companys loss. you could try arguing that there was no point in giving notice since the client would not have let you in - effectively claim force majeure (counter argument would be that you and the client colluded to engineer this situation so it would not be force majeue). It's doubtful, but it might fly.

[xoggoth]

Can't say I know anything about this, but surely it is very relevant that the client paid the agency for the work? That would seem to prove that the duties were performed satisfactorily in the eyes of those able to judge and it scarcely seems likely the agency has any case for withholding payment.

[Jkettle]

It was not a trial period, it was a 6 month contract with a 1 week notice period.

[messiah]

1 week is not long for a trial period. who u work for ? Barcrap ?

[Jkettle]

Agency wont Pay!

It was by mutual consent with the end client at the end of the first week. We agreed that their would be no point working any longer if it was not working out. We told the agency that I was going to think about my position over the weekend and they put pressure on my stay as long as possible. That weekend I phoned the end client and informed him I was not going back.

4 weeks after we sent the invoice I we asked them why they had not paid and they first said the client was refusing to pay them and that I had not given my notoice. I spoke to the client and he said this was nonsense and told them to pay me, which they agreed to do. 1 week later they had still not paid me so we asked them again and this time they claimed I had not given 1 weeks notice as per the contract and that was why they were not going to pay me!

If they told me I needed to give a weeks notice when I told them I was going to leave at the end of the first week, Fair play. But they didn't. Everybody knew the situation and it was well understood. They just trying to pull a fast one.

[thunderlizard]

If the other party is unexpectedly refusing to pay, it doesn't sound like mutual consent to me unless this was in the terms of your contract termination.