Agency misleading re Contract Length

[bathingape]

More of a rant than anything else....I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. I've been contracting at client for a couple month or so. Originally I was offered a 12 mth contract, however on all internal client systems (timesheet etc) I notice my end date is within 6 mths. I queried this with my manager and he advised that he wasn't sure why I was told it was 12 mths.

I queried with the agency and they advised tht it was originally 12 mths however when the work order came through, it was for 6 months only. I am a bit p*ssed off but realise that nothing can be done however it would have been nice of the agent to at least advise me. I'm sure there are honest agents out there however the minority like this mob certaily leave a bad taste.

[Fred Bloggs]

Move along folks, nothing to see here.....................

OP - It happens fairly often, get a new gig.

[bathingape]

Move along folks, nothing to see here.....................

OP - It happens fairly often, get a new gig.

Didn't realise it was a common occurence. First time it's happened to me

[northernladuk]

Sorry but you are going to have man/woman up. It's a tough world contracting and you are ultimately at the mercy of the client and agents. Stuff happens, it leaves us in the lurch a bit, sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly. I'd say this one is way down on the scale and I've seen it plenty of times. I've seen (and had) agencies offering me 12 months thinking it's making the gig more attractive to me even though I am fully aware the clients billing systems only work on three month cycles. It is what it is. The contract is only as long as the notice period so I file it, get on with the gig and make sure I can see what is going on at the clients so I know the score.

If this type of thing is a problem to you there is going to be some dark days ahead when you get canned on the spot, give notice, contract pulled before starting. All of which are part of being a flexible resource. Getting annoyed over over paperwork when you've still got 6 months should be a minor irritation at best. It doesn't mean you won't be there for 6 months, it just means you'll just have to renew again. Park this, concentrate on doing a good job and nail that renewal. Happy days.

Oh, on the plus side 6 months give you an option to negotiate a rate increase which you wouldn't be able to do in a 12 mother...

And IMO always be wary of 12 month gigs. If you are working on projects the chance they've planned to complete it at the end of 12 months is slim to none so it's likely you are going to get served notice at some point in the gig rather than see it out.

[bathingape]

Sorry but you are going to have man/woman up. It's a tough world contracting and you are ultimately at the mercy of the client and agents. Stuff happens, it leaves us in the lurch a bit, sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly. I'd say this one is way down on the scale and I've seen it plenty of times. I've seen (and had) agencies offering me 12 months thinking it's making the gig more attractive to me even though I am fully aware the clients billing systems only work on three month cycles. It is what it is. The contract is only as long as the notice period so I file it, get on with the gig and make sure I can see what is going on at the clients so I know the score.

If this type of thing is a problem to you there is going to be some dark days ahead when you get canned on the spot, give notice, contract pulled before starting. All of which are part of being a flexible resource. Getting annoyed over over paperwork when you've still got 6 months should be a minor irritation at best. It doesn't mean you won't be there for 6 months, it just means you'll just have to renew again. Park this, concentrate on doing a good job and nail that renewal. Happy days.

Oh, on the plus side 6 months give you an option to negotiate a rate increase which you wouldn't be able to do in a 12 mother...

And IMO always be wary of 12 month gigs. If you are working on projects the chance they've planned to complete it at the end of 12 months is slim to none so it's likely you are going to get served notice at some point in the gig rather than see it out.

cheers and like I said, I realise nothing can be done and that it's part and parcel of the game, as I've been contracting for a few years now.

On a side note - how do you guys go about negotiating a rate increase - without pissing off the client? Do you push the agent to take if out of their percentage?

[northernladuk]

cheers and like I said, I realise nothing can be done and that it's part and parcel of the game, as I've been contracting for a few years now.

On a side note - how do you guys go about negotiating a rate increase - without pissing off the client? Do you push the agent to take if out of their percentage?

Absolutely. Unless your role has changed at the client and are delivering a lot more than when you originally there is no reason the client should pay more. If you are doing what you were engaged to do you can't warrant a rise.

If the agent is on a fixed rate (and you believe him) there is nothing you can do though.

Plenty of threads discussing here..

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ne...MsHbgAaji7awBQ

[bathingape]

Absolutely. Unless your role has changed at the client and are delivering a lot more than when you originally there is no reason the client should pay more. If you are doing what you were engaged to do you can't warrant a rise.

If the agent is on a fixed rate (and you believe him) there is nothing you can do though.

Plenty of threads discussing here..

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ne...MsHbgAaji7awBQ

Before I accepted the gig, the agent tried to pull a fly one with the rate. Offered me £50 less than advertised. Is this a give away that he's not on a fixed rate?

[SimonMac]

A contract is only as long as the notice period, forget it and get your head down and earn the extension at 6 months if its offered.

[simes]

A contract is only as long as the notice period, forget it and get your head down and earn the extension at 6 months if its offered.

This was the response I was looking for before I made the same comment.

I could give a damn about the length of contract. And to be honest, I could give a damn about the notice period. Like someone above says, if you're close to the news, you'll know when you're likely to be let go.

[northernladuk]

This was the response I was looking for before I made the same comment.

I could give a damn about the length of contract. And to be honest, I could give a damn about the notice period. Like someone above says, if you're close to the news, you'll know when you're likely to be let go.

Sadly this is also pretty irrelevant.