Terminated by my Client
This was sent to us by a reader who said he was ‘terminated by my client’ asking for our advice.
See what you think.
Request for Advice from Dr McLaughlin‘s IT Surgery
My name is James (name changed), I am a contractor working under an umbrella company.
I need to seek some advice about a recent contract that suddenly ended for me just after 3 days.
I got a 3 month contract through a recruiter working at a well known recruitment agency.
They wanted me to start the next day so I printed off the agreement between me and the agency which is clearly outlining the duration of the contract, the pay rate and the agency’s client for whom I worked for.
I signed it and sent it back to the recruiter straight away so I could work at their client’s place of work the next day.
IT Contract Terminated by My Client
But on my 4th day the training was going well, other colleague’s were praising my success, the client manager took me into the office and I thought I was going to get praised but instead the client terminated my contract for no major reason.
Now the agency has said that the client is refusing to pay me as well, so the agency cannot pay me for the days I worked there.
This whole ordeal has left me very distraught I have not applied for another job since.
I wish to seek legal advice of my situation after I was terminated by my client.
Dr McLaughlin‘s Reply
Unless they can prove gross misconduct or that you broke the terms of the contract then the agency has to pay you for the days you worked.
Your agreement is with the agency and not the client so the agency has to pay up whether they are paid or not.
It would be up to them to take action against the client to recover their money.
Agency Workers Regulations
Nowadays, with the Agency Workers Regulations now in force, you don‘t have to get a signed timesheet to invoice the agency.
There‘s always the possibility that the agency will bill the client but tell you they haven‘t paid.
As regards any pay for a notice period, it all depends on the terms of your contract and if there was any notice period.
If there was no notice period then they are legally able to get rid of you without notice. However, if there is a notice period then they have to pay up on that.
Invoice The Agency
The first thing you should do is to invoice the agency for the four days plus any notice period.
They haven‘t broken any laws yet as you haven‘t invoiced them and they are not late in payment.
They‘re probably hoping that you just quietly go away.
Small Claims Court
Once they have broken the terms of the contract by not paying within the time stated in the contract then you can threaten to sue them or take them to the Small Claims Court which would be very bad publicity for them.
What I would do, as soon as they are in breach of the contract is to send a solicitor‘s letter stating that you intend to pursue a claim against them.
The solicitor‘s letter shouldn‘t cost too much, probably less than £100.
Make sure it goes to the head of the company.
This agent that you are dealing with may be just doing it off his own back.
The owners of the company may not want this trouble for so little money.
By the Book
Make sure you do everything by the book and in the correct order though.
And cheer up, you are in the right, not in the wrong.
It is the client and agency who are messing you around.
Did you have a notice period in your contract?
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