Am I in breach of contract?

Q. My company provide design engineering services to a large automotive supplier company. The new manager, previously a person providing the same service to the same company is insisting on me working 0830-1700 Mon-Thu and 0830-1300 Fri. Plus, no further working from ‘home’ which I had been doing for over a year.
 I travel on behalf of this company to meet their customers in the UK and overseas and represent them with authority to make decisions. I feel I am being treated like a permanent employee now? What are my rights?

A. Prior to commencing work you would have had a contract to sign. This sets out all the main terms and condition and will determine the relationship between the parties.

Therefore, this will need to be considered carefully to see whether there is any clause relation to place of work and hours etc. If there is then there is a possibility that you could be viewed as an employee and by refusing you could be in breach of contract.

If there is no clause then you could raise this with the manager for they could be in breach of contract.

Most contracts will have a clause stating they can vary the terms and conditions – again this is another one to look out for. You will need to agree to any change of any main terms and conditions.

Before working for any organisation it is important that you read the contract and seek legal advice to not only protect you from any breach but also where there are onerous terms and whether you fall in or outside IR35.

Thus answer is provided by Vantage Legal Protect.

1 Comment

  • Andy says:

    You’re independent; nobody is going to look out for you except you.

    Take a look at all the restrictions that are being placed on you, then weigh them up against remuneration, kudos of working with this company, difficulty of finding more work elsewhere and then decide if it’s worth putting up with the restrictions. If it’s not, leave them.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Very pleasant. Excellent price for what I needed. I will be a returning customer.

Rhino Review

Mr Paul D

Great staff. Customer focused and a team who recognise and understand their customers 100%.

Rhino Review

Vijay S

Fantastic accountants who helped me submit my last 2 years personal tax returns! I really rate this company!!!

QAccounting Review

Natalie

Fantastic service.

Rhino Review

Marco G

Been with QAccounting for several months now, very good service, very personal and the best prices I have seen.

QAccounting Review

Muhammed A

I switched over to QAccounting a few months ago and haven't looked back. I get to speak to my own client manager and accountant, the prices were the best I had seen, and I paid exactly what it said online (no extra costs). Very happy with QA.

QAccounting Review

Jeremy H