Using client email address?

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Forgive me if this has come up in detail before, my search results proved elusive (apart from a small article on CUK).

I've had a potential enquiry come in from a client, a design agency, who are looking to establish an ongoing relationship with a freelancer/contractor to assist with backend development for their clients (maintenance of existing work) as they have nobody in-house.

So far so good. They've even taken the time to read my website and understand my approach and I don't have any doubts that generally, this would be well outside IR35 (it would be my normal PCG IR35 friendly contract, I would be working from my own offices and I see no issues over direction and control - MOO would be covered too as I'd ensure I don't have to take on work if I don't want to).

However, one thing they mentioned in their original email did concern me. They would want to set me up with a company email address and insist that all communication from me to one of their clients/suppliers was made in their name.

Now, my gut feeling is that if I'm pretty safe from IR35 as far as everything else goes, this shouldn't make a lot of difference. Its a small amount of control, but only over one specific thing and I suspect because they have genuine business reasons for not wanting their clients to know they are using a third-party resource.

If things were borderline with regards to IR35 then I imagine this would be a bigger deal but as I don't feel they are, is this nothing to worry about? Is it worth trying to negotiate this?

[Clare@InTouch]

I wouldn't have an issue with it at all. They are not controlling the method of work, they are simply wanting your outward appearance to represent the company.

Continue using your own business email address for other things, and just use the client email address when you're doing client work.

[MyUserName]

I would not worry. To me this is an example of company procedures being applied (like H&S, Security etc.).

[GazCol]

Forgive me if this has come up in detail before, my search results proved elusive (apart from a small article on CUK).

I've had a potential enquiry come in from a client, a design agency, who are looking to establish an ongoing relationship with a freelancer/contractor to assist with backend development for their clients (maintenance of existing work) as they have nobody in-house.

So far so good. They've even taken the time to read my website and understand my approach and I don't have any doubts that generally, this would be well outside IR35 (it would be my normal PCG IR35 friendly contract, I would be working from my own offices and I see no issues over direction and control - MOO would be covered too as I'd ensure I don't have to take on work if I don't want to).

However, one thing they mentioned in their original email did concern me. They would want to set me up with a company email address and insist that all communication from me to one of their clients/suppliers was made in their name.

Now, my gut feeling is that if I'm pretty safe from IR35 as far as everything else goes, this shouldn't make a lot of difference. Its a small amount of control, but only over one specific thing and I suspect because they have genuine business reasons for not wanting their clients to know they are using a third-party resource.

If things were borderline with regards to IR35 then I imagine this would be a bigger deal but as I don't feel they are, is this nothing to worry about? Is it worth trying to negotiate this?

I can’t imagine it’s that much of an issue, I’ve worked with organisations that have insisted consultants and auditors from Deloittes, KPMG, BCG and the like use email addresses associated with their business when discussing matters with any of their staff, clients or suppliers by email. Would they not set your signature to show you’re a consultant/contractor?

Is their reasoning not to monitor, or have access to at least, audit trails of conversations if anything were to happen to you?

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I can’t imagine it’s that much of an issue, I’ve worked with organisations that have insisted consultants and auditors from Deloittes, KPMG, BCG and the like use email addresses associated with their business when discussing matters with any of their staff, clients or suppliers by email. Would they not set your signature to show you’re a consultant/contractor?

I'm not sure. I've asked them if this is essential for them in my initial response; if it is then I will have to insist that it makes clear that I'm not one of their employees. That would probably be enough I guess.

Is their reasoning not to monitor, or have access to at least, audit trails of conversations if anything were to happen to you?

Not sure of their reasoning; there are other ways of keeping audit trails though, such as a group address that all communication is CC'd to (this is how it's worked at a previous client, although previous client was also happy for me to communicate directly with their end clients and it was always clear that I was a contractor).

I can only second-guess at their intentions but I would imagine its to protect their business and make sure their clients don't come and try and engage me directly.

[GillsMan]

I agree with the others (and the OP) that this won't be a deciding factor in IR35. OP seems to be absolutely sorted with regards to IR35, and he's not especially concerned about it from that perspective, so I think it's be fine.

Personally, I haven't used a client email address for a couple of years. Barclays set one up for me, but I never once logged into it. All comms were with and to my LtdCo email address. BP use only my LtdCo email address as well, as did Philips. So these large organisations were fine with it, so I'd definitely be happy insisting on using only my email address.

The main point I say to clients is it's a massive PITA. If they use my LtdCo email address, they can guarantee quick responses, since my email is synced to my PC and laptop via Outlook, and is on my iPad and iPhone, so I can always respond straight away. If I have to log in to something different to access @ClientCo.com emails, then I can't guarantee a quick response. This has always been met favourably by clients to date.

I don't think OP needs to further stipulate that it needs to be made clear that he's not an employee. I've seen others say that they want "[Contractor]" added to their name in the global address book, but that seems overkill to me. Last time I had a clientco email, I was happy that they can set it up how they want. If everything else is IR35 friendly, and you don't mind using their email address for any other reason, then I think it's fine.

[DirtyDog]

Many consultancies rely on this, for a couple of reasons.

1) They don't want it to be obvious at first glance that they don't have the skills in-house.

2) They want to be able to retain "ownership" of any emails, and be able to check back through any logs to see what was said by you. If it's on your own email system, they can't easily do that.

I wouldn't worry about it, to be honest.

[vwdan]

Many consultancies rely on this, for a couple of reasons.

1) They don't want it to be obvious at first glance that they don't have the skills in-house.

2) They want to be able to retain "ownership" of any emails, and be able to check back through any logs to see what was said by you. If it's on your own email system, they can't easily do that.

I wouldn't worry about it, to be honest.

I am (Until the end of tomorrow, yay) a permanent consultant and I've even got other companies t-shirts and hi-vis (I sometimes have to go to building sites) jackets because sometimes our 3rd Party partners (Who may have the contract with the end client) want a unified presence.

[jmo21]

I'm not sure. I've asked them if this is essential for them in my initial response; if it is then I will have to insist that it makes clear that I'm not one of their employees. That would probably be enough I guess.

As others have said, using a client co email account is NOT an indicator of employment.

I think you're being overly cautious on this one.

[Qdos Contractor]

Having a client co email address certainly isn't a problem. Just ensure you don't have a 'job title' under your name or anything.