Hi.
I just wanted to describe a situation that I have found myself in and to check if anyone else has had a similar experience.
I recently moved from one agency to another whilst still working for the same client and through the same umbrella company.
I had numerous discussions with the new agency regarding terms and conditions and one of the things we agreed was that they would make payment to the umbrela company within 7 days of receiving an invoice from the umbrella company.
When the agency sends a contract to the umbrella company I do not see it. I have to go onto the umbrella company website and sign the contract with them. The only info that I see is rate, notice period and start/end dates.
Following my signing the contract I asked the umbrella company if I could see a copy of the agreement they had with the agency and they refused citing data protection. They did say that they could answer specific queries about the contract but could not show me the whole thing.
I was disturbed to find that the contract the agency had sent to the umbrella stipulated 30 days for payment of invoices and not the 7 days that I had negotiated with them.
Fortunately in this case I managed to get the agency to agree to pay in 7 days as per the discussions that I had with them. They could very easily have refused though.
The concern I have is for future assignments. How can I be sure of the terms of a contract that I am signing when I am not allowed to see the detail of what the agency send to the umbrella? There is nothing to stop the agency telling me one thing... and then inserting something to the contrary into the contract which I would not be able to see?
Has anyone else come across this problem and does anyone have any advice on how to deal with it? Also does anyone know of a decent umbrella who would allow me to see the contract that they have with the agency?
Many thanks in advance.
C
I just wanted to describe a situation that I have found myself in and to check if anyone else has had a similar experience.
I recently moved from one agency to another whilst still working for the same client and through the same umbrella company.
I had numerous discussions with the new agency regarding terms and conditions and one of the things we agreed was that they would make payment to the umbrela company within 7 days of receiving an invoice from the umbrella company.
When the agency sends a contract to the umbrella company I do not see it. I have to go onto the umbrella company website and sign the contract with them. The only info that I see is rate, notice period and start/end dates.
Following my signing the contract I asked the umbrella company if I could see a copy of the agreement they had with the agency and they refused citing data protection. They did say that they could answer specific queries about the contract but could not show me the whole thing.
I was disturbed to find that the contract the agency had sent to the umbrella stipulated 30 days for payment of invoices and not the 7 days that I had negotiated with them.
Fortunately in this case I managed to get the agency to agree to pay in 7 days as per the discussions that I had with them. They could very easily have refused though.
The concern I have is for future assignments. How can I be sure of the terms of a contract that I am signing when I am not allowed to see the detail of what the agency send to the umbrella? There is nothing to stop the agency telling me one thing... and then inserting something to the contrary into the contract which I would not be able to see?
Has anyone else come across this problem and does anyone have any advice on how to deal with it? Also does anyone know of a decent umbrella who would allow me to see the contract that they have with the agency?
Many thanks in advance.
C
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