Contracting and invoicing agencies

[Steedie]

Hey all,

Having a couple of issues with the agency I use for my current contracting role. The contact who I used when I first started left last year and since then we've had to go directly to the director of the company, who a lot of the time responds to emails no problem but recently he's been terrible.

My last contract he sent through two weeks late, after my contract had expired but luckily the client didn't care and let me work anyway, but they could have got funny. And today, for the third time in about six months he has not replied to my timesheet/invoice email and I've been left off this weeks payroll so I won't get paid when I requested and marked on the invoice.

Now luckily I have a nice amount in the business account that I can pay myself anyway, but it's not the point. If I wasn't in that position, it could mean not being able to pay my mortgage. I get that he's the director of the company so probably has a lot on, but if that's the case he should be giving this work out to someone else in the company who can manage.

Is there anything I can do in this situation? Unfortunately the client uses this agency so I can't just ditch him, unless I can go for a breach of contract route

Thanks

 

[FishThrower]

Hey all,

Having a couple of issues with the agency I use for my current contracting role. The contact who I used when I first started left last year and since then we've had to go directly to the director of the company, who a lot of the time responds to emails no problem but recently he's been terrible.

My last contract he sent through two weeks late, after my contract had expired but luckily the client didn't care and let me work anyway, but they could have got funny. And today, for the third time in about six months he has not replied to my timesheet/invoice email and I've been left off this weeks payroll so I won't get paid when I requested and marked on the invoice.

Now luckily I have a nice amount in the business account that I can pay myself anyway, but it's not the point. If I wasn't in that position, it could mean not being able to pay my mortgage. I get that he's the director of the company so probably has a lot on, but if that's the case he should be giving this work out to someone else in the company who can manage.

Is there anything I can do in this situation? Unfortunately the client uses this agency so I can't just ditch him, unless I can go for a breach of contract route

Thanks

Never ever work without a contract.... for your benefit than theres, him being busy isn't your problem when you need to get invoices paid.

is your contract with the agency? or with the end client? if so, you should be chasing the agency if the end client has signed off your time sheets

 

[Steedie]

Yeah the contract is with the agency.

Normally I wouldn't work without a contract but in this case I didn't have a choice unless I wanted to not work and not get paid.

I'll continue chasing, called and email three times today but no response Wish there was something I could do. Manager has already said he's happy to hire me direct instead of through the agency if I can get out of their contract but it mentions a 6 month period after a contract before I can return to the client through another agency or direct

 

[peterwalkley]

What does the contract with the agency say about payment terms and timescales ? If they are not holding up their side, then you have the breach of contract argument and so the 6 month gap where you can't go back also become invalid, but consult a lawyer obviously.

Going direct isn't without problems. You have a whole world of pain when the customer is slow paying their invoices. The agency is often a useful buffer in these cases.