New Agency Dirty Trick
This article, about a new agency dirty trick, was posted as comments after one of our articles by a reader.
An IT Contractor Reader‘s Comments
While we’re on the subject, I came across a new – to me at least – dirty trick as related by the victim (i.e. the contractor).
She discovered that although she was getting a market-rate of £100 per hour for the job, she had to work hard for it, and the agent was in fact charging her out at £250.
So she quit, righteously miffed.
Sharp Practice by Agency and Manager
The agent and the manager were pulling a sharp one.
The manager had negotiated budget to hire two contractors, but he knew that as head-counts they would only appear nominally in HR records and would not be cross-checked to his budget.
So he figured he’d use the whole budget, hire one freelancer for the usual rate, dump the work of two people on her, and the agent would bung him his ‘fair share’ of the hundred and fifty quid margin.
ITContractor.com Comment
Wow!
I can see how that could be done as his budget was for two contractors but they didn‘t but the ‘bill‘ wasn‘t itemised as it was a contractor budget and the total, which should have been for two contractors, was just accepted as the work was done.
She was getting a pretty good rate at £700 a day or £3,500 a week.
Actual Charge Out Rate by Agency
However, she was actually being charged out at £1,750 a day or £8,750 a week.
So, the agency and the manager were making £5,250 a week.
If you took that over a 6 month contract that would be a tidy sum.
This is a new agency dirty trick on me.
And agencies say we give them a bad reputation unfairly.
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