Start Date being postponed after signing the contract

[MikeKshatri]

Hello All,

I am moving from Permanent Role to a Contract in UK. Based on the offer/start date on a signed contract i have resigned my Permanent Job. First the client postponed my start date for 2 weeks from the start date 19th May 2014 to 2nd June 2014. Today agency called me again and said now its being postponed further to 9th June. I am out of Job now since 19th May for next 15 days. Client might turn up and further postpone it.

Based on the signed contract what can i do legally, otherwise whats the point of signing a document which can be altered as client wishes to.

Kindly advise.
Regards
Mike

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

As a rule, if a client doesn't require you on a certain day, then you aren't required and you don't get paid. Turning up and getting paid when there's nothing for you to do is what employees do.

But you haven't given enough information to say for certain; are you operating through an umbrella, your own Ltd? Have you had your contract reviewed from an IR35 POV? What is the exact nature of your contract?

[MikeKshatri]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I am IT contractor and it does not fall under IR35. I have registered my own limited company last month and signed this contract.

Regards,

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I am IT contractor and it does not fall under IR35. I have registered my own limited company last month and signed this contract.

Regards,

If you're happy that your contract is not caught by IR35, then it should contain an appropriate clause that indicates that the client is not obliged to provide you with work. So in short, there isn't much you can do.

[MikeKshatri]

If you're happy that your contract is not caught by IR35, then it should contain an appropriate clause that indicates that the client is not obliged to provide you with work. So in short, there isn't much you can do.

Meaning this contract has no value in itself to contain the start and end date...One month notice etc..

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Meaning this contract has no value in itself to contain the start and end date...One month notice etc..

Pretty much. All good pointers towards being outside IR35 though (MOO).

Actually, the effectiveness of notice periods, certainly from the client to YourCo is open for debate. My view is that they aren't that effective as they could give you notice and then tell you not to turn up during the notice period. OTOH, you might find that clients are willing to honour the notice period anyway so long as there is work for you to do.

If the project your contracted to work on finished early for whatever reason (didn't take long as expected or the project was terminated), what would you expect to happen?

[TheFaQQer]

I am moving from Permanent Role to a Contract in UK. Based on the offer/start date on a signed contract i have resigned my Permanent Job. First the client postponed my start date for 2 weeks from the start date 19th May 2014 to 2nd June 2014. Today agency called me again and said now its being postponed further to 9th June. I am out of Job now since 19th May for next 15 days. Client might turn up and further postpone it.

Or the client might cancel it completely.
Or the client might suddenly expect you to start tomorrow.

That's the nature of the beast, unfortunately.

Based on the signed contract what can i do legally

That all depends on what is in the contract. If there is a clause which says that you get paid regardless (which is not a good thing with respect to IR35), then you should invoice for the time. If there is a clause in there which dictates the penalty for a late start, then you should follow that. If there is a clause giving you the right to terminate the contract, then you could do that and find another client.

If there are any other clauses which relate to the situation you find yourself in, then follow those.

otherwise whats the point of signing a document which can be altered as client wishes to.

Legally, the client hasn't changed the contract at all - assuming that you have an IR35 friendly contract (ie. one which states that you will only be paid for the work that you do), then the contract hasn't changed at all. You will be paid for the work that you do under the contract.

It's frustrating, but if you are fretting over a delay of 15 days, you really might want to consider your chosen career path carefully.

[TheFaQQer]

Meaning this contract has no value in itself to contain the start and end date...One month notice etc..

The notice period has value - even more so if you word it properly, so that instead of being just a notice period it reflects a penalty for early termination rather than relying on you working to be paid.

I'm going to guess that you haven't got the clause worded like that, though.

[stek]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I am IT contractor and it does not fall under IR35. I have registered my own limited company last month and signed this contract.

Regards,

Are you assuming that or have you had the contracted checked by a specialist such as QDOS or Bauer and Cottrill?

[BlasterBates]

If they've postponed twice, look for another contract, there is a good chance they'll cancel altogether.

It would be no problem getting out of a contract that's been postponed twice.