A Worrying Turn of Events

[zonino]

IT is not enough to say on your po terms and conditions apply.

 

I think it might be actually, can't remember the relevant case off the top of my head, its been a long day, I'll try and dig it out when I get a chance

[JDP]

At the end of the day, and let me be frank here, its irrelevant what the 'law' says, its the people in the company who interpret your invoice and decide when they want to pay you. Granted there is a law or regulation for most things, but its completely irrelevant, its like the H&S regs here, I can promise you that the 2M 'rule' goes out of the window in a lot of the environments I work in - mostly because the fall restraint on harnesses are a lot longer than that - and your gonna hit the floor anyway, but thats something completely different. My point is that the law may say something or another about X, Y or Z, but you can bet your bottom dollar that the person you send your invoice to isn't going to know that, or even have heard of it.

 

My invoice says TERMS - 30 DAYS on the bottom of it, simple as. Its in big bold writing and they can't miss it. If an invoice is not paid within 30 days, I will chase it up, politely, sometimes people just forget. Once they have acknowledged and said they will sort it, I will chase if I have nothing in 7 days.. After that chase and depending on actions/excuses etc I decide what my next actions are.

 

To be honest, if I work for a new company, I assume 30 days is standard. I don't see the point in agreeing payment terms when its written on my invoice, and generally speaking, theres more important things to worry about on a job - like what I am expected to, what the job is, where it is, times etc etc

 

30 Days is pretty standard, in my opinion, and therefore, I personally think above any law, common sense will be the thing that sorts it out. I know freelancers who put 14 days on their invoices, and get shirty when not paid in that amount of time - and wrongly so... I think 30 days is acceptable to pay people in, and I think its acceptable to ask 30 days to be paid in... Some people pay in less than 30 days, and fair play to them - thats a good thing to do, if you can afford to.

 

 

IT is not enough to say on your po terms and conditions apply.

 

I think it might be actually, can't remember the relevant case off the top of my head, its been a long day, I'll try and dig it out when I get a chance

[Guest lightnix]

The problem with T&C's, is that the employers have traditionally been just as hostile towards them, as they have to late payment charges - if not moreso.

 

I wrote a draft set of T&C's, back in the early 90s (way before it became a big issue) and showed them to a few clients and other freelancers, to gauge the feedback. It was universally negative, with comments ranging from...

 

"There's nothing unreasonable there, but how are you going to get any work if you seriously start trying to lay them on people?"

 

...to...

 

"We are NOT going to be dictated to by the crew. Now put them away and NEVER mention them again, if you want to stay on our crew list".

 

;)

[stringman]

IT is not enough to say on your po terms and conditions apply.

 

I think it might be actually, can't remember the relevant case off the top of my head, its been a long day, I'll try and dig it out when I get a chance

 

 

When I had to take someone to court for non payment. he sited me breaking his t&C as the reason.

my solicitor stated ( and the judge agreed) that as ther were no signed (by both parties) copies of the T&C's they didnt count for didly