DASA Umbrella

[hobnob]

Some (potentially) good news: I think this is now sorted. I spoke to the recruitment agency, and said that I can't take the contract unless they do weekly payments. This was hardball negotiation, i.e. I literally said to them a couple of times "Just cancel the contract, this isn't going to work" and I fully intended to walk away. They said that they'd speak to their CEO, but I didn't expect anything to come of it. However, they came back today and said that they'll do weekly timesheets + payment a week later.

So, I think NLUK is correct that the recruiters didn't want to go back to the consultancy and say that the whole thing has fallen through.

I still don't trust the agency, but at least I've now got this commitment in writing (email), and my employment contract with DASA specifies weekly payments. I'll feel happier once I get paid, but hopefully it will work out.

Thanks again for all the moral support - this has been a stressful time, and I appreciate it.

[hobnob]

Following up on this, things have worked out quite well, so I can answer my own question!

After my previous post, the agency and consultancy kept messing me around, and postponing the start date. (They didn't keep me informed, so I only found out when I chased them for joining instructions.) So, I followed the advice from other posts here: "don't stop applying until you've got your feet under the desk". I got an interview with another company, who also wanted someone to start immediately, but in this case it literally meant the following day. That meant that I started before I had the paperwork in place, which I wouldn't normally do, but in this case I got lucky. As well as the immediate start, the new contract paid the same rate that the original role had offered (before the agency reduced it).

I emailed the original agency and consultancy on a Thursday afternoon to tell them that I was withdrawing my application. (I don't think that counts as giving notice, since the agency never actually sent a contract to the umbrella company.) They weren't happy, and both phoned me trying to change my mind. The agency said that they could guarantee that I'd start work the following Monday, but I said no. When the consultancy phoned, they said that it would definitely be Tuesday, or failing that Wednesday. Anyway, I just kept saying "No" until it eventually sunk in.

The new contract came through Hays, so they sent me their PSL. DASA (and Clarity) aren't on the PSL but they are apparently on the drop-down list (i.e. in the software that the agents use). Hays don't insist on the PSL, but they strongly recommend it. However, due to the time constraints, I decided to stick with DASA (since I'd already been through the onboarding process with passport etc).

One of the emails from Hays said:
"Please Note: with DASA Umbrella Ltd not being on our Umbrella PSL, we cannot action same day payment requests for delayed payments due to delayed timesheet submissions and approvals, like we can do with Umbrella Approved companies on our PSL."

There have been a few hiccups with the Hays timesheets, which caused delays. However, I've received payment from DASA incredibly quickly. My first 2 timesheets were approved by the client on Friday, then I got paid by DASA on Tuesday (i.e. the next working day after the bank holiday weekend). My 3rd timesheet was approved yesterday, and I got paid by DASA today.

I don't know whether it will always be that quick, or whether Hays/DASA are doing me a favour because of the initial delays. (I.e. I've now received all the payments that I should have received by today.) I also don't know whether Hays have sent the money to DASA right away (given their comments above), or whether DASA are paying me upfront while they wait for Hays to pay their invoice. Either way, DASA certainly haven't been dragging their feet, so I can see why they won awards.

[fabios]

No favours in this business. They stick to the process unless they don't have one .

btw I've just learned that quite significant amount of margin we pay to umbrella goes back to agency. Apparently my umbrella (which costs me around £60pcm) costs slightly over £100pcm when used through another agency (agency Y). That umbrella is on PSL list of agency Y. If i choose a different umbrella than what's on PSL then my payment terms are extended by 30days. Some sort of punishment for not letting them take the bribe.

[eek]

Apparently my umbrella (which costs me around £60pcm) costs slightly over £100pcm when used through another agency (agency Y).

And there is the real issue - agencies want to make money from everything every way they can.

If i choose a different umbrella than what's on PSL then my payment terms are extended by 30days. Some sort of punishment for not letting them take the bribe.

And that's the other side of the same coin.