Reply to: Elans 10 day cut off for payroll

[xoggoth]

SG Technology Project Services are good. You can invoice weekly, or monthly if lazy like me. No particular point in month to submit and they run 2 payrolls a week, I was paid within a few days last time.

All the agencies I have been through so far have been ok. Only hastles I have had over payment delays are when going direct.

That comment about bankruptcy from any agency would worry me too. Surely they should not be trading without a sufficient reserve for normal delays in payment.

[Ghengis]

I have to hold my hand up to that but as I said before, the schedule is rarely imposed.
However, I will avoid Elan in the future and would advise others to do also.
Their remark about going bankrupt if they paid within a week still worries me.

[privateeye]

Most agencies have payment schedules but rarely impose them

Every agency I've been with has had a contract that paid within 7 days of receipt of invoice so to impose they must pay within 7 days or else. Elan are the only agency I know that has such a long winded payment schedule. I would not touch them after what I've been hearing.

The question has to be asked why don't people read what they are signng?

[Ghengis]

It's not really a defence, but I assumed that Elan would try to keep its contractors happy by paying them promptly. Most agencies have payment schedules but rarely impose them and are happy to pay invoices whever they arrive. Elan just deliberately plonk their fat *rses on them for 10 days then have a look at them and pay after 3 weeks.
We accept that, in general, agents are necessary evils. Elan are just evil.

[Jabberwocky]

This site is not about contracting - it is much more than that.

I see it as a crusade against capitalism, a cry for the socialist ideals of yesteryear twinned with the pragmatism of the cold war. I see it in the posts here - the frustration that material wealth brings, the bickering over contracts, the sexual frustration and personal inadequacy. People long for a new ideology, a new direction, a yearning for something better, something more human and compassionate.

I aim, in my own small way, to educate the common folk, the little people here, to provide a resource, a source of wisdom and inspiration, so that people might better themselves and develop their own careers in a way that is personally fulfilling and mutually rewarding to all.

[dazza12]

If you don't like it, don't sign the ******* contract, it's not difficult, is it...

I was starting to worry about this board. People were giving advice and were actually discussing the subject at hand.

For a worrying minute, I'd thought I typed the wrong name into the address bar and I'd got on to a contractor site by mistake.

[Not So Wise]

That is business reality. Why should contractors be any different?

Simple, because it why agencys get paid, if they are not going to be a factoring service then after tops 3 months of stardard margin rates (to cover introduction fee) they best ready to drop that margin to same as standard umbrellla rates...actually less as they provide less of a service.

[Mordac]

That is business reality. Why should contractors be any different?

True, but whenever agents justify their margins, they usually go on about how they factor the invoices so you can be paid straight away. It would appear Elan are still factoring and yet they are keeping the dosh for 3 extra weeks. Perhaps they are having cash-flow problems themselves? *Hint hint* has anyone checked them out?
Otherwise you might like to try ringing them up and complaining. The more contractors who do that, the more likely they are to listen.

[Dundeegeorge]

He's right you know

So the system is sh*t, everybody says so. And the advice - well that's business, that's the reality in which we live.

But it need not be that way my children. Embrace socialism, value people rather than wealth, care for others, show compassion, separate yourselves from the animal kingdom and prove that Darwin was right, we live, we breathe, we evolve. All that you need to change is yourselves. Come open your minds and gain your freedom.

Embrace socialism and you won't have to sign a contract, because you'll be sent to break rocks wherever the 'Bureau of Leisure' choose to send you, unless of course you're a signed-up member of the inner-party.

[Jabberwocky]

So the system is sh*t, everybody says so. And the advice - well that's business, that's the reality in which we live.

But it need not be that way my children. Embrace socialism, value people rather than wealth, care for others, show compassion, separate yourselves from the animal kingdom and prove that Darwin was right, we live, we breathe, we evolve. All that you need to change is yourselves. Come open your minds and gain your freedom.

[ratewhore]

The worst Agency I have come across is SPL, they pay 30 days after they receive the invoice.

That is business reality. Why should contractors be any different?

[Dundeegeorge]

Ooh, ooh, I know what to do, I know what to do

With Elan, it's not the cutoff date that is a problem but the fact that they insist an invoice has to cover exactly one calendar month and then they pay it 3 weeks into the next month. Thus you have to do your invoice at a certain time of their choosing and they do not pay you for 3 weeks. All the other agencies that I have worked through allowed you to invoice when you wished and they paid it within a week. That has always been what I believed agencies existed for!

If you don't like it, don't sign the ******* contract, it's not difficult, is it...

[Snowman]

With Elan, it's not the cutoff date that is a problem but the fact that they insist an invoice has to cover exactly one calendar month and then they pay it 3 weeks into the next month. Thus you have to do your invoice at a certain time of their choosing and they do not pay you for 3 weeks. All the other agencies that I have worked through allowed you to invoice when you wished and they paid it within a week. That has always been what I believed agencies existed for!

[foritisme]

I guess depends on the client, according to my pay schedule from Elan the latest I get paid this year is for March - it reaches my account the 7th April.

I thought I had my timesheet for January sorted, but had a call from Elan on Tuesday saying that it hadn't been authorised and to get it sorted by the end of the day. I though it was nice of them to tell me, could have easily not bothered and paid me the following month.

The worst Agency I have come across is SPL, they pay 30 days after they receive the invoice.

[PerlOfWisdom]

I am and yes, I'd rather be paid weekly. Not happy with their margin either but since I signed up for the rate, I'll have to put up with it 'till the end of the contract.