Blacklisted/Blackballed/Defamation What to do next?

[boredfromsurrey]

My post was response to this:

" Be honest: when you've needed to add a person to your team and some permie is in the frame only for the client to say "Look - just get a contractor", don't you want to go down the pub and celebrate?

Every time?"

And the answer is 'No' because companies largely pick resources (whether permie or contractor) based on what works for them financially and not really with much consideration for anything else. Multinationals today pay less corporation tax than they did before the financial crisis.

I didn't say 'majority of contractors' because clearly not everyone posts here so that wouldn't apply. I referred to reading some threads and it's true, some people seem to take pride in being treated badly because they think "it's business".

It's business if you allow it and the reason why the workplace is more civil nowdays is because permanent staff have been fighting employers pretty hard. Contractors benefit from this.

Abusive relationships are often not violent but it takes two to tango: one person who takes advantage and the other who tolerates the "difficult guy".

I'm sorry if this offends you but not everyone views contractors as heroes, everyone is just resource and with the average wage in the UK at around £25-£26K, pretty poorly paid resource too.

I cannot speak for PermieToContractorAndBack about abuse but whether contractor or permanent we are still in the workplace and workplace abuse does take place. Even when we work from home we are still in the workplace our contracts might be a business arrangement but working with other people.

My personal opinion is that the contract market has changed significantly since say about 2010 and now with each year bringing further role outs of IR35 what used to be a "contractor" will change. Not sure where we will be in a few years time but I have seen more and more contractors turning to permanent work if they are lucky enough to get it. Obviously some do not want to do this and should not have to do this, so I hope the organisations involved in this change can get it right. What happened to creating a more flexible workforce?

[PerfectStorm]

Some of the stuff you've said about 'incidents' happening leads me to believe that you might be on the cusp of developing some sort of mental issues - no worries as everyone has them, but go to the doctors and get that cleared up and you should find that the other things start falling into place again

[WTFH]

I asked the question about what data was shared, but since you don’t want to tell us, let me explain why I asked.
An agent (or client) who doesn’t know you may well ask others (not just your referees) if they know you. I’ve been on client sites before where a few CVs are set in front of me and I’m asked if I know or have worked with any of the people before. The clients do it because if I’m already on site and they appreciate my work and respect my opinion, then if I see someone that I know and am happy to work with, then that may be what swings it for a particular contractor.
One of the best references you can get is from another contractor.

[SueEllen]

A number of companies were involved in rate cutting and they are listed somewhere (cannot remember where). I believe what you say might be true. My experiences in my last few contracts a lot of IR35 bullying, a lot of talk about rates (hate that), A lot of references to permies vs contractors (hate that too) How can one provide a professional service when all of that sh** is going on.

Easy.

Ignore them and tell them you aren't interested in talking about it.

[SueEllen]

Funny but actually some agencies still contact me but not like they did before

If you have niche skills then not many agents will be dealing with roles in your skillset.

A couple of contractors I know only have a handful of agents who deal with roles in their skillset due to how niche their skills are. This means if they are on the bench and those agents don't have roles for them they don't get any phone calls.

[northernladuk]

IMO this thread has run its useful course. Too many different issues to help the OP. I'd say move this one to general or lock and the OP can start other threads about individual issues already mentioned as they aren't connected. Too much going on to be able to help any more.

[washed up contractor]

There is no known blacklisting in the IT world. Recruitment agents would place The Devil or Margaret Thatcher if they could get commission out of it.

Go back to the contract that employed you until 2012 and network the people who hired you - they know and understand you and know your skills.

Other than that it's either your CV or your interviewing skills that's the problem. Time to look inward, my friend...

Yeah they said this in the construction work. Of course there is a contractor blacklist. If your cv is strong and you dont get put forward for jobs in years, the person is clearly being blacklisted.

I also think its utter bollocks to think an agent will place anyone for commision. They do not. They place the best one for themselves.

As for the OP, realistically he hasnt got a cat in hell's chance unless he can get someone within the recruitment industry to cough up some evidence to support him.

Wish you good luck fella.

[northernladyuk]

It is unlikely that the conspiracy against you is global in nature, so try applying for contract work outside of the UK, even if you do not want to work overseas. If your CV is good, you should get plenty of interest.

It is more likely that you have too big a contracting gap on your CV.

[MrButton]

A wind up thread from a regular?

[northernladyuk]

A wind up thread from a regular?

I hope so.