atw: Re: agency contracts

Daragh
Years ago, I was stunned to come across an agency that had introduced the
novel idea of penalizing the contractor for the full remaining term of the
contract if they failed to complete the contract.  It was gobsmacking, to
say the least.

Most contractors do fulfull their committments, but what if they are offered
a great opportunity in a permanent role, what kind of person would want to
stand in their way?   There were no "out" clauses either, so, get hit by a
bus, or have a dying relative 3 mths into a 6mth contract, well, too bad,
this agency was going to send you a bill for remaining three months.  (I'm
not making this up folks!)  The company I was working for at the time had
changed their agency panel lineup, and I was offered no choice but to sign
up with this new agency, that is, the company - bless 'em - made the
arrangement for me, and all other contractors, on the assumption that we'd
view it as a mere administrative blip.  Naturally I refused to sign with the
new agency, which meant that my contract could not be renewed.  I didn't
lose one second of sleep over that decision.

As for the "you can't work for them for 12 mths" blah, blah, and all
variations on that theme, of which there are many (many types of contracts
include these limitation of trade clauses, even AWAs, or outsourcing
arrangements, for example) - no, apparently not legally enforceable, yet
organisations and lawyers still insist on such provisions, in full knowledge
that the clauses are invalid.  Bit strange really.

If you're engaged through an agency, the clause is actually there to protect
their commission, based on either more contract work for you or a full time
placement for you, rather than to prevent you from taking up a job offer.
In other words, it's not you they're trying to keep honest, it's the
client.  No big deal, I never worry about it.  Up to you if you want to let
it bother you.   It's a harmless clause, in practice.  Besides, would you
really want to work for an organization that tries to avoid a fairly trivial
commission payment, and knowingly breaches their legal agreement with the
recruitment agency?  If you can't trust them to hire staff honestly, you'd
have to question their organizational ethics and how they treat staff once
they have them signed up.

Regards
Caz


On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 8:09 PM, Daragh Pender <daraghpender@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> Hi - I remember reading somewhere (possibly on this list) that the
> commonly
> included agency clause whereby "you cannot work for this company for the
> next 12 months" is actually illegal and would not hold up if challenged.
>
> Can anyone shed some light on this ?
>
>
>
> Also, I would like to highlight a clause in a contract presented to me
> recently:
>
> "The Consultant must provide <agency> 10 working days notice of the
> Consultant's intention to terminate this agreement.  If the Consultant
> notice to terminate is outside of the agreed period, at the discretion of
> <agency>, the equivalent of 10 days fees will be withheld from the
> Consultant's final invoice payment."
>
> This can't be legal ??
> It staggers me that recruitment agencies have the gall to include such
> rubbish, and it staggers me even more that they can get away with this
> sort
> of mercenary behaviour. Why don't companies (the ones paying the bills)
> realise all they have to do is stick an ad on Seek and banish the money
> changers.
>
> Anyways, it is one to watch for.
>
>
>
>
> /Daragh
>
>
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-- 
Carolyn Hart


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