Permanent position after contracting

contractingIT

Hey,

first time poster, long time lurker.

I am about to take up a contract with a company that I have wanted to work with for quite a while.
It is my first time working as a contractor and I have a question that I am hoping some experienced contractors can answer.
I was hoping that contracting would be a route to a permanent position within this company but there is a clause in the contract I have recieved from the recruitment agency that makes this seem unlikely.
The contract states that after I finish the fixed term contract I cant work for that company for a period of 12 months without paying the recruitment agency a certain sum, unless it is another contract with them.
I understand the fact that the agency would have to put in clauses like that to stop me breaking the fixed term contract with them while it is in effect, but I thought that after the contract was up I would be entitled to work for whoever I wanted as a free agent? including taking up a permanent position with the company who I had just finished the contract?

I am aware that other contractors have been made permanent by this company but I find it difficult to believe that they would pay the sort of money specified in my contract just to hire someone on a permanent basis once a contract has ended.

I would appreciate any experiences other people have had with regard to these sort of clauses.
Are they common?
What sort of sums are normally stated as the fee that the company needs to pay when taking the contractor permanent after the contract has ended? is there a common formula like a certain number of days/weeks pay should be paid to the agency before the employee could be made permanent?
Is ther room for negotiation in these clauses?

Just to clarify, I'm talking about after a contract has ended, not breaking a contract.
The position is in IT if that makes a difference.

Thanks for any info.

smcgiff

contractingIT wrote: »

The contract states that after I finish the fixed term contract I cant work for that company for a period of 12 months without paying the recruitment agency a certain sum, unless it is another contract with them.

Feck - I've never heard type of clause before. Would be surprised if this was enforceable. :mad:

Not sure if it's against forum rules, but it would serve the Recruitment company if you named them.

qwertz

It's a standard clause that gets added to a lot of contracts. If the customer likes you then there is a good chance that they will pay off the agency. If they don't like you then this clause isn't an issue either way.

Sleepy

I wouldn't worry about it. How's the recruitment company to know if you get hired for a permanent position at the end of the contract unless you tell them?

Mrs OBumble

I've never heard of the agency making YOU pay the fee before.

But it's standard for their contracts with companies to include the sort of clause that you mention, and for them to pay agencies off.

So I wouldn't stress about it: if the company wants to hire you as a permie at the end of it, it's up to the company to make things ok with the pimps.

One thing: are you actually going contracting (as in no PAYE, paid monthly up on invoice, you take out your own professional indeminty insurance etc). Or temping (an employee, whose contract has a fixed end date instead of being indefinite duration)? It doesn't matter to the answer here, but is worth being very clear in your mind what your situation is. (IMHO the 2nd situation has all the disadvantages of contracting, but none of the advantages.)