Reply to: Real Staffing

[Saz]

As Commercial Director for the group I am genuinely interested in how much of a problem this really is. We try treat all our contractors in a true business to business relationship and 28 day terms are reasonable B2B terms.

Although the terms are 28 days for Limited Companies the vast majority of our UK contractors are on weekly worksheets and we have no cutoff, do payment runs daily and our electronic time sheet system operates for over 99% of our active contractors.

My experience has generally been that contractors would rather be paid reliably than promised something better but paid less frequently.

A B2B relationship with 28 day payment terms are of course reasonable.

They're not reasonable AT ALL when Real Staffing are subcontracting through another agency whose payment terms are less than 7 days.

I for one am in this situation and need to submit 2 different time sheets.

Unless your subcontracting terms pay you in 28 days you're hanging on to payments for a minimum of 21 days. Interest rates aren't that high at the moment but still there are many other high risk short term investments which you could be profiting on using this capital for 21 days.

Would you like to share those profits?

[garethevans1986]

Some of us are used to getting paid by an agency within 7 days of submitting an invoice.

Snap. Not a massive problem, just through I would point it out to others.

GE

[NigelJK]

Main problem with S3 electronic invoicing is that it still requires the 'client' to sign off a time sheet and that this then requires a process at S3's end to 'approve' for invoicing, you can then invoice. I have no issue with filling in time sheets, even less when they are electronic - they benefit everyone. I do however take issue with the lack of the ability to issue an invoice directly to my client (i.e. S3) as you would in a true B2B relationship. Currently if the 'time sheet' is not approved in a timely fashion the date stamp on the invoice suffers, usually rolling over to the Monday next which then effects the payment date.
I also believe that the 'approval' process currently falls foul of some wretched tax legislation.

[Old Greg]

Would you be offended if I were to point out the errors in your punctuation?

Not at all. But I see it for myself now, so thanks.

[Churchill]

As I said, I have never contracted with Real, but I don;t have a problem with weekly payment on 28 day terms. Usually I work with monthly payments on 28 day terms.

By the way, Andy, your Birmingham office staff always seem a pretty decent bunch. For pimps, of course.

Would you be offended if I were to point out the errors in your punctuation?

[Old Greg]

As Commercial Director for the group I am genuinely interested in how much of a problem this really is. We try treat all our contractors in a true business to business relationship and 28 day terms are reasonable B2B terms.

Although the terms are 28 days for Limited Companies the vast majority of our UK contractors are on weekly worksheets and we have no cutoff, do payment runs daily and our electronic time sheet system operates for over 99% of our active contractors.

My experience has generally been that contractors would rather be paid reliably than promised something better but paid less frequently.

As I said, I have never contracted with Real, but I don;t have a problem with weekly payment on 28 day terms. Usually I work with monthly payments on 28 day terms.

By the way, Andy, your Birmingham office staff always seem a pretty decent bunch. For pimps, of course.

[SueEllen]

We try treat all our contractors in a true business to business relationship and 28 day terms are reasonable B2B terms.

Although the terms are 28 days for Limited Companies the vast majority of our UK contractors are on weekly worksheets and we have no cutoff, do payment runs daily and our electronic time sheet system operates for over 99% of our active contractors.
<snip>

Some of us are used to getting paid by an agency within 7 days of submitting an invoice.

Some agencies seem to want to treat contractors as businesses when it comes to payment but temps when it comes to other terms with legally unenforceable anticompetitive clauses.

[petergriffin]

Just treat it as spam and block them.

I'll go for that. Case closed.

[Andy Hallett]

Contracting via them at the moment. Good firm but they have 28 day payment terms.

GE

As Commercial Director for the group I am genuinely interested in how much of a problem this really is. We try treat all our contractors in a true business to business relationship and 28 day terms are reasonable B2B terms.

Although the terms are 28 days for Limited Companies the vast majority of our UK contractors are on weekly worksheets and we have no cutoff, do payment runs daily and our electronic time sheet system operates for over 99% of our active contractors.

My experience has generally been that contractors would rather be paid reliably than promised something better but paid less frequently.

[Andy Hallett]

Real Staffing are part of the group I work for. You can either Pm me your email address and I will find out or there should be a address on the bottom if the email that you can write and request where we got the data.

[Old Greg]

Originally Posted by administrator
Have you used the email address on any toilet doors? They could well have picked your email up from there...


FTFY

At least you know where SY04's dead staring eyes come from now.

[Bellona]

If it is worrying you / bothering you, give them a call and ask how they found you

[amcdonald]

They are real (), and part of the s3 group AFAIK

Payment terms tend to be rubbish, but otherwise no problems getting paid

Their margins tend to be high though, so even though you might be getting an ok rate you have to really push the agency hard for rate increases as the clients will no margin being fleeced heavily by real

[suityou01]

Have you used the email address on any toilet doors? They could well have picked your email up from there...

FTFY

[petergriffin]

Have you used the email address on any job boards? They could well have picked your email up from there...

I could have back in 2005-2006.