Contract Change Issue

[bwg]

Hey,

I'm having a slight issue with my Umbrella company with regards to my contract.

I work through agency A for client B and I'm using umbrella C for my payroll.
During the initial interview with the client I was told my hours would be based on a professional week. I didn't question this because that normally means anything between 35-40 hours. Since I'm being paid by the day, it wasn't too much of an issue.

The only contract I signed was with my umbrella company and my hours were marked down as "37.5" per week.

After some heated discussions with the client as to why I wasn't working my contracted hours I decided to speak to my agency. It was at this point, some 3 months into the contract, that I found out I was supposed to be working 40 hours per week, not 37.5 as contracted. The 40 hours were on a contract between the client and the agency and the agency and the umbrella - but not between me and the umbrella.

Now the umbrella then sent out a new contract with the 40 hours which I had no choice but to sign as this is my only source of income.

These extra hours don't seem like much, but I commute and this has had a significant impact on my journey; not to mention that I'm not being paid any extra.

What options do I have? Can I claim anything from the umbrella because of the mistake they made? This has caused severe embarrassment between myself and the client and I'm extremely lucky that they were understanding and allowed me to stay.

[NotAllThere]

It happened to me once. Expecting 40 hours, turned out to be 45. Since then I always ask the expected length of a day. ( It also happened to me the other way. I quoted an hourly rate £80. Oh, this is daily, says the agent. That'll be £640 then, I said. Too high said that agent - £550. Eventually we agreed on £600. Turned out to be a 7 hour day - equals ~£85 an hour )

While you hadn't signed the new contract with your brolly, you had a negotiating position. Now you don't.

You are looking at is as though you are doing extra work for no extra pay; instead you should look at it as you had three months of doing 37.5 hours for 40 hours work. The client aren't asking you to make up the time, are they?

The client is crazy anyway. I bet in 37.5 hours you were still doing more work than some people were doing in 40 hours.

Mind

[Pondlife]

While you hadn't signed the new contract with your brolly, you had a negotiating position. Now you don't.

Think you're missing the point here. The brolly is a service provider to you and nothing more. They have no influence of the work (or working time) that you do. That is discussed and agreed between yourself and the client/agency.

If you agreed a 37 hour working week with th agency and they have increased it to 40, then you can discuss it. What your brolly says is totally irrevant as they have no control over the work you do. If you don't like your brolly you can bin them and find another.