Lexstra plc

[pippo]

Has anyone worked with this agency:

Lexstra plc
http://www.lexstra.co.uk/

Are their contracts fair? Do they pay on time? Do they hustle for references or personal information? Do they play any particular/unusual tricks I should be aware of?

Any information much appreciated.

Thanks

[thunderlizard]

Did a contract with them a good while ago and they were a decent crowd. Paid on time, and the contract terms were amongst the best I've seen (no fetters around choice of location or personnel). Oddest thing about them was the unusual format of their bi-monthly timesheet. Yes they try and get contacts out of you, but most of it's pretty open and rather less shiftier than the rest of their ilk.

[HankWangford]

Did a contract with them a good while ago and they were a decent crowd. Paid on time, and the contract terms were amongst the best I've seen (no fetters around choice of location or personnel). Oddest thing about them was the unusual format of their bi-monthly timesheet. Yes they try and get contacts out of you, but most of it's pretty open and rather less shiftier than the rest of their ilk.

love the websh1te. someone forgot to check ispostback before populating ddl's

[pippo]

Oddest thing about them was the unusual format of their bi-monthly timesheet.

Unless they changed their payment cycle since you worked with them, I'm confused about the bi-monthly timesheet thing you mentioned. How often did you invoice them and how often did they pay you then?
Because on their website they are saying "We pay twice a calendar month.". But it's not clear to me if this means:

A) 2 invoices per month (1 invoice every 2 weeks) with 2 corresponding payments; or
B) 1 invoice per month with 1 corresponding payment.

I always prefer to be paid weekly as it minimizes the risk of non-payment but I do not know if this could be an option with Lexstra.

[thunderlizard]

It's a good few years since I last billed them, but if that's what their website says then it looks like they've still got the same arrangements.

It's your option (A). (B would be a rather strange definition of 'twice'). I think their reasoning is that it's a good compromise between fitting into clients' monthly payment runs and paying the contractor frequently. It worked fine for me.

They might be able to fit in with your weekly billing preference if you really need it. But from my experience (in general, not Lexstra specifically) is that if you try and muck about with somebody's standardised payment schedule you're more prone to erratic payments, not less. For the sake of 1 week v 2(ish) weeks at a time I wouldn't bother.

[pippo]

Thanks thunderlizard, I'm clear on their payment cycle now.

Tend to agree with you on the idea that in general it's better not to try and muck about with an agency standardised payment schedule.