Contract Changed
How to get the nasty bits of your IT Contract changed.
Part 8 in the series Hitting Agents for Six
Change the Contract
In these circumstances, though, you can learn a lesson about how very much that you hold all the cards. You should, therefore, remember this.
One thing that you should always do is to try to change the contract in your favour.
So, you can see, from the last article, how easily agents will change contracts to get a deal.
Month’s Notice
The clause where they can give you a month’s notice, but you must work out your contract without giving notice has to go every time.
In contract law between clients and employees, notice periods must be reciprocal.
I don’t know what the situation is company to company, but it doesn’t really matter.
Phone the Agent
What I do is to phone up the agent, who is desperate to close the deal and say that the contract is illegal. I say by law notice periods must be reciprocal. So say that you want your contract changed.
I say that there is a clause there (which there always is), which says that English Law governs the contract. Say that under that you cannot sign away your Common Law rights in a contract. You need, therefore, to chamge your contract.
Checked By Lawyers
They will say that all their lawyers check all their contracts and are legal.
I always say that my sister is a barrister in the High Courts, and she informs me that it is illegal. So I need my contract changed.
There’s not much that they can say to that, as they are not legal experts. They will normally say that they will get back to you.
Most agencies do not employ a legal expert on a full time basis, and will incur a fee for any advice.
As you well know, it will also be difficult to get hold of their contract lawyer, and even if they do, they cannot expect him to take it up at short notice.
Hitting Agencies
So, what they will do, and have done in 100% of the cases where I have insisted on it, is to phone up and say that I should cross it out and put my signature across the crossed out lines, sign the main contract and get it back to them.
This is just a one-off for them, and they don’t have to do it for all their contractors.
They will be happy. therefore, to give you a changed contract just to get a signed contract back in their office.
Our next article in the Hitting Agencies for Six series is “Should you take a contract where they want you to turn Permie after 6 months”.
