Agency Payments - Weekly or Monthly?

[The SMG]

I'm sniffing around a few potential gigs at the moment but one thing that's putting me off making a firm decision is the frequency of agency payments. Granted I've been off the market for a while as my current contract has lasted much longer than I expected but when the h3ll did agencies start paying 28 days???!!!

I've been paid on a weekly basis more or less for the last 5 years so why should that change now? I appreciate that agencies need to manage their cash flow in the current climate but most upper contracts (if you ever read them) explicitly state that the client must pay the agency within 14 days. Also, apart from 'putting the deal together', agencies taking c 20% margin (and upwards) have already factored the cash flow risk into their margins. So why should they be tinkering with the frequency of my payments?

Am I being a little sensitive or is this the norm?

[Bel]

Originally Posted by The SMG

I'm sniffing around a few potential gigs at the moment but one thing that's putting me off making a firm decision is the frequency of agency payments. Granted I've been off the market for a while as my current contract has lasted much longer than I expected but when the h3ll did agencies start paying 28 days???!!!

I've been paid on a weekly basis more or less for the last 5 years so why should that change now? I appreciate that agencies need to manage their cash flow in the current climate but most upper contracts (if you ever read them) explicitly state that the client must pay the agency within 14 days. Also, apart from 'putting the deal together', agencies taking c 20% margin (and upwards) have already factored the cash flow risk into their margins. So why should they be tinkering with the frequency of my payments?

Am I being a little sensitive or is this the norm?

Sadly, this does seem to be the norm in some fields, perhaps not so in other fields. You are right to be sensitive about it too, particularly if the recruiter doesn't pay or goes under because it increases your risks.

I think you can now buy insurance that protects you against the risk of a recruiter not paying.

[Howzat]

i've worked direct in the past and been paid as much as 42 days after sending through the invoice. The start of the contract is a killer but it's nice that you still get paid almost 2 months after finishing an assignment. I agree that the agency should be factoring any cash flow / bad debts into their margins but I also think that 28 day payment terms are quite common nowadays. Cheer up SMG, just think about that big fat payment at the end of the month...

[curleyted]

Weekly, I abhor monthly but if they insist what can you do? I ALWAYS ask an agency when I start to do business with them. Too many people only find out once they're on the client site....

Permie mindset I suppose.

[Azeey]

One could argue that monthly is the same as most employees in the UK. But then of course I'm not an employee.....

[Pistachio]

If it helps, the agency sometimes won't be paid for months after you get paid.....

No, it didn't make me sympathetic either.

[CliveP]

Originally Posted by Pistachio

If it helps, the agency sometimes won't be paid for months after you get paid.....

No, it didn't make me sympathetic either.

Strangely enough nor me. If the agency doesn't get paid on time then that's their responsibility to chase it with the end client. If the agency don't pay me because they haven't received funds from the client, then I’ll be phoning my lawyer .