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Agency withholding invoices

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    Agency withholding invoices

    Hi All,

    I am in a sticky situation.

    I started a contract in September 2022, Inside IR35 via Giant Umbrella. However, due to personal reasons, I had to leave my contract end of January 2023.

    Now, my contract with Giant stated the following:

    "May not give notice and you are obliged to work for the full term of the Assignment unless have a valid express written confirmation from the Client/Customer of their agreement to a specific notice period to terminate your Assignment before it is due to end."

    My end client agreed with to release me after two weeks notice period which I did but the agency is now withholding my invoices - claiming a breach of contract. They have not paid me since September 2022 and when I try to contact them (it's been almost two months), they are completely unresponsive.

    I am really not sure what to do now.


    #2
    Do you have "a valid express written confirmation from the Client/Customer of their agreement to a specific notice period to terminate your Assignment before it is due to end" that's been forwarded to Giant?

    If so, does the contract say anything about how far in advance of the new termination date you have to provide them with that? Or anything else that might affect whether that written confirmation is valid/acceptable?

    Assuming you've followed the contract terms and Giant are just being difficult, I'd start by sending a reminder letter asking for payment of £xxx within 7 days (or whatever), followed by a letter before action stating the same amount and whatever date you choose, followed by a court summons (presumably small claims court for only 2 weeks money).

    Or, as you have an inside IR35 contract, I believe the umbrella is your employer, in which case - after a warning letter - you can take it to an employment tribunal. But note that there are quite strict and tight deadlines on doing this (see https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/wo...ment-tribunal/) and it take a lot longer to get your money.

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks for your reply.

      The agreement was made directly with the end client and I do have their agreement. However, the agency I was working is claiming that I had to serve a notice period of 1 month.

      This notice period of one month appears absolutely nowhere and they claim it has been done between Giant and the said agency.

      I asked Giant what the issue was and they told me they can't do anything since it's the agency who is withholding the money.

      Comment


        #4
        So what you need to understand is the players in the chain which I think you are muddling up. You've got Client-->agent-->Umbrella-->You. The responsibility goes up the chain so you can immediately see that you have no contractual responsibility to the client. The agent and umbrella will have agreed a contract and then you go work that contract. Snookys advice might be good but I think it's wrong as they are talking about Giant being the difficult party here but I think this issue is with the agent, not Giant.

        The terms will have been set in the contract between the agency and umbrella. You've cut the agent's revenue off and they don't want to pay. It's sadly pretty common. You are in breach so owe them money so they hold your monies as compensation. This is illegal. They must pay you then must sue you for breach. Problem is it is the first to blink and it will be you. It's simply not worth taking to court unless you really want to on principle and they will get away with it.

        What you need to see is the contract the agent issued just to make sure Giant are giving you the right story. Is that statement you posted verbaitim or did you re-type it as the english is poor as well? My problem is here is that the wording is too ambiguous and that it's not the clients job to terminate you directly anyway so a right nonsense.

        "May not give notice and you are obliged to work for the full term of the Assignment unless have a valid express written confirmation from the Client/Customer of their agreement to a specific notice period to terminate your Assignment before it is due to end."
        So did you get this in writing from the client and issued it to the agent and umbrella? You might have agreed it with the client but you've got to tell the agent. If you didn't pass on that agreement to agent before starting the notice period I'd say you are indeed in breach but only because the wording of that termination clause is utter crap.
        My end client agreed with to release me after two weeks notice period which I did but the agency is now withholding my invoices - claiming a breach of contract. They have not paid me since September 2022 and when I try to contact them (it's been almost two months), they are completely unresponsive.
        But it's the agent that needs to release you from the contract so they should have been service the express written confirmation before the agreed period started.

        Are you sure there isn't something else written somewhere else you are missing. That's a terrible termination clause.

        Drop us the answer to that and then we can see what is next.
        Last edited by northernladuk; 22 March 2023, 20:45.
        'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

        Comment


          #5
          As an umbrella worker, I'd expect OP to have no contract with any entity in the supply chain other than the Umbrella company as OP's employer

          In particular, I'd expect OP to have no contract with the Agent.

          That being the case, then ...

          (a) Where work has been done and evidenced (e.g. by approved timesheets), and
          (b) OP has complied with the employment contract terms regarding termination (including sharing the client's early termination agreement with the umbrella company)

          then surely OP's only option is at ET against OP's employer (i.e. the umbrella company) where OP should seek missing pay, holiday pay, pension and bonus payments (assuming that there is prior evidence of bonus being paid during the employment).


          CUK article from 2021 ...
          https://www.contractoruk.com/umbrell...ould_know.html
          Last edited by Protagoras; 23 March 2023, 01:23.

          Comment


            #6
            Speak to Jacob at contractor voice - he will love the story and Giant will absolutely hate it to the extent that payment alongside an nda will instantly appear
            merely at clientco for the entertainment

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by eek View Post
              Speak to Jacob at contractor voice - he will love the story and Giant will absolutely hate it to the extent that payment alongside an nda will instantly appear
              But it's the agent witholding the money not Giant and we don't know if the wording between the agent and Giant is the same yet.
              'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by northernladuk View Post

                But it's the agent witholding the money not Giant and we don't know if the wording between the agent and Giant is the same yet.
                Supply chain B2B contracts are not relevant to OP; it's not up to OP to ensure that OP's employer aligns contract terms.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by northernladuk View Post

                  But it's the agent witholding the money not Giant and we don't know if the wording between the agent and Giant is the same yet.
                  It is up to giant to pay the worker for the work done at the full rate including any bonus payment…

                  What the agency does is utterly irrelevant here…
                  merely at clientco for the entertainment

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by eek View Post

                    It is up to giant to pay the worker for the work done at the full rate including any bonus payment…

                    What the agency does is utterly irrelevant here…
                    Interesting. Seems odd Giant has to pay them when it's the contractor that's breached terms but guess thats the point of being employed.
                    'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

                    Comment

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