End Client

Date of enforced rate cut

Amount of reduction (%)

Notes

Accenture (Spain)

Jan 2014

12%

‘In the 8th month of 12 month contract, Accenture send me an email via agent to take the cut or server notice. Reason provided is end-client forcing the cut. Two other contractors in the team didn't receive this cut, most likely targeting only specific individuals. ‘

AMEC

June 2014

10%

‘Amec said the move should be seen as a "positive message" aimed at ensuring the future of the oil and gas industry.’  Yeah, right.

ATOS

Apr 2013

10%

‘10% cut, one week’s notice.  Told to take it or leave it; a non-reply taken as a resignation.  2^nd time it’s happened with them – should have learned – it’s just what they do.  Bloody livid really – I work well over my contracted hours, would never consider doing this to them, despite at times being in a place where my leaving would cost them dearly.  

No one is irreplaceable, but the cost of your leaving way outweighs what they think they are saving.  Never mind the bad feeling it creates and what that costs them in efficiency.  Shall I log on tonight, this weekend and catch up with some mail?  You better believe it, not any more.  Contractors don’t expect much, but this is a step too far – it’s immoral and when the economy improves, we won’t forget.  I may work to rule – that will cost them well over 10%,  or tell them to foxtrot.  So beware Atos will:- 

·         Cut your rate by 10% at least once if you are there for 12 months or more. 

·         Give you enforced leave over Christmas (3 weeks) and Easter (1 week) with virtually no notice – when it’s really expensive to go away and you have no chance to arrange with your partner or their work etc.

BTW – applied mid-contract, April 2013.  Across the board, as all other ones were.’

Bank of America

December 2011

10%

‘"Take the cut or take your 4 weeks notice" was the choice given. It was reversed for our team for a while, but fingers got burned and it came back. I don't know anyone who left as a result, but in any case we were all culled a few months later anyway due to budget restructuring’

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) – again!

September/October 2015

10% and enforced 2 weeks leave within next 8 weeks

2 reports:

‘Global cut for all IT contractors.’

‘and the date of these weeks appears to be being dictated!’

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) – again!

August

Enforced 10 working day leave, non-consecutive, but before 4^th November

Just like they did last year…

Barclays Capital

Feb 2009

10%

Barclays Capital – again!

2-12-11

10%

‘This happened a few years back as well, again just before Christmas … there was also a requirement at BarCap to take an additional 10 working days off before Christmas’

Barclays Capital – again!

July 2012

10 days enforced leave (excuse:  Olympics)

‘There was also a very short notice (knee-jerk) enforced 10 day’s leave for the London Olympics that raised my ire. After months of telling us to be prepared and plan ahead for travel issues they suddenly leaped on the opportunity presented by the Olympics to save money.’

Barclays Capital – again!

Dec 2012

Enforced 10 days ‘break’

Barclays Capital– again!

Mar 2013

10%

'Accept it or this serves as notice of termination' (Some exceptions rumoured)

Barclays Capital – again!

Dec 2013

Enforced 10 days ‘break’

Barclays Capital– again!

Apr 14

10%

'Accept it or this serves as notice of termination' (no exceptions known to date)

Barclays Capital– again! (8^th time)

May 2016

5%

‘Only 3-months extensions are awarded + rate the cut. A significant number of contractors have chosen to leave (even whole teams), more due to the 3-month restriction rather than the 5% cut to be fair.’

Barclays

Mar 2014

10%

‘received a very un-professional email badly worded, spelling mistakes and using several different fonts and size of typeface’

BNP Paribas

July 2015

4%

‘Not as bad as some, and gave a months notice, but I don't like being bullied. Non negotiable eh? OK bye.’

BP

Mar 2009

10%

‘…people were pretty angry and most said they'd walk if BP were to try it again. It really broke the bond of trust between the company and its contractors and my feeling is that it was probably counterproductive overall.’

BP – again!

Feb 2015

15%

‘15% pay cut for all contractors, affecting whole business in next few weeks’

BT

12-9-01

10%

Many organisations got onto this "cost saving" bandwagon on what became known as a "good day to bury bad news". After reluctantly accepting the 10% rate cut (on what was an already low rate), I subsequently had my contract terminated (with immediate effect) whilst on October half-term holiday break!! This came completely "out-of-the-blue".  In 25 years of contracting, BT still easily remain the worst client for whom I have ever worked. 

‘I also suffered the 10% cut from BT in Oct 2001, but you have that one already’

CapGemini

Jan 2013

5%

‘They are enforcing a 5% contract rate cut across the board as well as an obligatory two week break over the Christmas period.  This is also using the take it or leave it approach.’

Commerzbank

Feb 2012

10%

‘Informed on 27th Feb 2012, had to accept by 1st March 5pm. Applied from 12th March 2012.  I said no. So they terminated me on 31st May 2012 (not the 31st March they had originally threatened!). Contract only ran till 31st (sic) June so really made no difference.’

Communisis

Dec 2014

3 weeks enforced leave

Credit Suisse

Dec 2015

Enforced leave

21-12-15 to 1-1-16 (assume effectively 4-1-16)

Credit Suisse

Feb 2016

10%

A significant number of contractors have chosen to leave rather than take the enforced haircut

DeutscheBank

Jan 2002

10%

‘Some of us stayed for a couple of months and then left’

DeutscheBank – again!

October 2014

15 days mandatory leave

Announced on the 27^th of October – 15 day mandatory leave.  Leave taken before the 22^nd does not count to this total. Public holidays do not count to the total. Two months to take 15 days off. The full 15 days must be taken before the 31^st of December = 19 days unbillable days in two months. All completely at the discretion of you line manager. Line manager wants me to not take more than two days off at a time, the reason for this is he can’t afford for me to be off.

EADS

June 2009

10%

‘EADS in Newport cut all contractor rates by 10% in June 2009.  To be fair there was also a round of permie redundancies in 2009.  Some people claimed to have resisted and didn’t suffer the cut, whilst a few others left, thought whether they walked or pushed I don’t know.’

Exxonmobil

July 2020

10%

Notified by agency 30/06/2020 that this is a global cut and if not willing to accept by 15^th July 2020 then my contract ends on that date.  What happened to the 4 week termination notice as per contract agreement? Additional facts: No rate increase in over 2 years. Railroaded into umbrella days before the IR35 rule was delayed 12 months (pay cut right there) and now they want another 10%?   

BUT ‘the 10% rate cut decision was reversed the following day.  They said the reason for the reversal was due to the cut affecting US contractors and not the UK for the moment.  No apologies or any other reason given for inferring these cuts with 2 weeks notice 24 hours earlier. ‘

Friends Life

17-9-12

7%

Goldman Sachs

Oct 2008

15%

‘after 3.5 years service they refused to post me my desk contents. I was not allowed onsite and I was too ill to go into town to collect them.’

Goldman Sachs – Again!

1-1-12

15%

‘I declined the new terms  and being terminated as a result.’

‘I can confirm that 15% was the cut I had to take and was the rate all the other contractors I know there had to take.’

HP

March 2012

‘I’ve just finished working for HP at the SPVA.  We were given a weeks notice that HP wanted to cut our rates by 5% which effected about 12 people at SPVA and about 160 contractors at Rolls Royce.   Due to the situation at SPVA (HP losing the contract to CSC) my programme director managed to cancel the rate cut for us but the contractors at Rolls Royce weren't so lucky.’

HSBC

19-12-11

10%

‘2 weeks to accept!’

HSBC

Dec 11

10%

‘Take it or leave'.. managed to claw 5% back upon renewal in Feb-12

HSBC – again!

Jul 14

10%

Informed 1st July 2014, Effective 1st August 2014 -

Renewed Mid March til Mid September 2014. Even my line manager wasn't aware that the cuts were coming.

HSBC – yet again!!!

June 2015

Enforced time off

8 days enforced unpaid leave, additional to the 25 already present in the contract (on an annual basis)

5 days to be taken over Christmas period, 3 to be taken at any time before end 2015

IBM GTS

Oct 2012

10%

JP Morgan

Around end 2001

5-10%

JP Morgan – again!

Oct 2002

5-10%

‘I left since the timescales on their side breached my contract’

JP Morgan – again!

Nov 2008

15%

‘I accepted it as it took place 3 months before contract end. Interestingly, my rate was restored on contract extension’

JP Morgan – again!

1-1-12

10%

‘…in early December we were all told that our rates were to be cut by 10% as of Jan 1st 2012. 'Take it or leave it.'  They timed it knowing that, economic climate aside, we would not be able to find new work for some time, due to the time of year… Obviously I am looking for a new role and have no loyalty to my client. I am on a day rate and regularly worked more than my 8 hours before. My 10 hours a week unpaid overtime stopped when I was given the ultimatum. I no longer work late to finish something off. I will not implement anything that I am not contractually obliged to implement, it isn't in my contract to improve their business. They are no longer paying for my ideas. They took 10% off me, but they get more than a 10% loss of morale. 

The insult is that these companies announce massive profits. JPMC announced profits just prior…’

KPMG

October 2016

Enforced leave

Last working day Friday 16^th December 2016

Return back Tuesday 3^rd January 2017.

Applies to Associates (permies), Contractors and Temps

KPMG – again!

November 2017

Enforced leave

Last working day Friday 15^th December 2017

Return back Monday 8^th January 2018

Applies to Associates (permies), Contractors and Temps

Similar to last year except it’s an extra week!

Lloyds Banking Group (LloydsTSB and HBoS)

1-1-12

10%

‘together with an enforced two week break from 19th December to 3rd January’

Morgan Stanley

February 2016

10%

They "offered" a 10% rate cut to us contractors …

Morrisons Supermarkets

2012

10%

‘I was contracted to Morrisons Supermarkets in Bradford in 2012 and 4 months into a 6 month contract was told I was to take a 10% pay cut (circa £1200pm).

I was told on the Monday and had to advise my agency if I was accepting the cut by Friday the same week.

I declined the rate cut and left along with 40% of my fellow contractors.

One fellow contractor, a PM had just negotiated his extension 3 weeks earlier and extended for a 12 month contract and agreed a 5% cut at negotiation, he too saw another 10% cut applied meaning a 15% cut to his contract.  He declined the cut and handed over 12 projects still to complete.’

Nationwide BS

January 2012

10%

‘Nationwide Building Society are implementing a forced 10% rate cut  … I have only been given 5 days to accept’

Nationwide BS

January 2012

10%

‘Nationwide Building Society extended the contract to end July 2012, then two weeks later sent a rate cut email, applicable to all contracts. To cap it all, I had just turned down a higher paid contract in order to honor the contract with NBS and complete the work on the Programme. Emails for the last two quarters have reported growth in NBS profit!!  The contract rate was already £xx less per day than the NBS standard rate for the role’

Nationwide BS

January 2012

10%

I am at Nationwide Building Society and have just **very** reluctantly accepted the 10% rate reduction (after 5 days notice as described already).

ONS

March 2014

6%

Or more, to those trading a greater cut for a longer notice period!  Turkeys … voting … xmas?  Thanks to Simon Moore of Moore News Ltd, on behalf of Contractor UK, for drawing this to my attention.

Ordnance Survey via Lorien

21-12-12

10%

‘Imposed without any previous communication from OS or Lorien. Given less than 2 days to accept. Contract has no provision for variation of rate … told that all discussion must occur with Lorien.’

Ordnance Survey

21-12-12

10%

‘New man showing off his biz skillz - by causing the loss of the four most important staff on two of the four most important projects. ‘

Pulselive

November 2016

6.25%

‘I see that you are maintaining your contract-breakers page.

I thought you may wish to add Pulselive Limited (client, subsidiary of Sony) via Premier Group (agency) to your list.

A rate reduction of 6.25% was required only 11 days into a six month contract.

Premier blocked acceptance of timesheets for time already worked through their online tool until the new terms were accepted.

I collected my money and left three weeks later.’

RBS

March 2009

10%

‘across the board’

RBS – again!

September 2011

10%

Understood to be on all staff engaged through Hays (hearsay only at present – can anyone confirm please?)

‘this did not happen to RBS Insurance contractors engaged through JM People, Spring, or Lorien’

RBS

Sep 2011

5-10%

RBS – again!

March 2014

10%

‘They suddenly announced they will cut my rate by 10% and if I don’t accept it, they will immediately give me notice.’

RBS – again!

Apr 2014

10%

RBS imposes an unilateral 10% rate cut starting from 19th May 2014. What hurts is I took this contract at a reduced rate in the first place on the pretext that it was a one year assignment. Now after 3 months this rate cut is imposed. I will stick around until I find a new contract, which I have already started looking for.

RBS – again!

Apr 2014

10%

‘RBS sent this out the day before the Easter holiday - so not only bully boy tactics but giving limited time to consider and action the request.  Most people I spoke to are accepting however getting out at the earliest opportunity.  So much for them wanting to have the correct skilled staff working on updating their 'mess' of IT systems.  No wonder they live with IT systems that have been neglected for decades.  RBS don't care about real people........’

17^th April 2014:  Dear []

We write to announce the group wide implementation of a 10% rate reduction by RBS, applicable to contractors engaged by [], for the provision of services to RBS.  We would like to assure you that this initiative bears no reflection on the skills or the services that have been provided to RBS.  RBS continues to acknowledge the good and important work done by contractors.  This correspondence provides the details of your personal change of contract terms. 

Your pay rate will be reduced by 10% effective from 28/04/2014. This will be a permanent reduction in rate for 2014, as rate increases will not be considered.  The reduction will be applied to your new assignment in the [] Portal. This will be made available for you by COB on Friday 18^th of April 2014.…By continuing with your assignment post the notice period detailed in this letter you will be deemed to have contracted under the new terms.  If you do not wish to accept the rate reduction detailed above, please email “NON ACCEPTANCE” … by no later than 10am on Thursday 24^th April.  On receipt of a NON ACCEPTANCE email, RBS will be informed and given the opportunity to review your rationale.  The default position, however, is that in this instance your contract termination will be processed, with effect from 25/04/2014.

Schroders

October 2015

Enforced 10 days 'break'

No prior warning, no prior notice to line managers, just 'services not required between 21st December to 31st December inclusive'.

When will these companies learn that contracting is a two-way street?

Shell

June 2009

12%

‘I told them to shove it and they buckled’

Shell – sgain!

Mar 2015

15%

‘Shell globally is imposing a 15% rate cut to all contractors. We have 2 days to accept or our contract is up at the end of the month (March 2015). Little does the CEO know that when I leave they will need to pay $100,000 a day to get power up and running for the drilling rig. Only I have the answers to make this happen, as their engineering company has 15+ issues with the permanent power line. It should be interesting to see what happens.’

Sofgen SA

May 2016

Replaced

‘‘You can add Sofgen SA to your hall of shame of contract breakers…

After 3 weeks on the job, they want to renegotiate the contract.

Daily rate was xxx euros plus expenses. They want me to quote a lower rate…after 3 months  they said, due to my high rate,) they replaced me with an internal, giving only 5 days notice and not respecting the contract that they had signed.’’

Statestreet Bank

April 2018

30%(!)

‘Reduction requested midway through 5 month contract…contractor refused and was terminated a day later’

TfL

July 2009

10%

‘I declined and walked, as did the rest of the team’

UBS

2008

10%

‘I decided to stay as it was the middle of the global financial crisis, so wasn't wise to be out of contract!’

UBS – again!

Aug 2011

10%

‘I decided to terminate’

UBS – again!

Dec 2014

10%

‘ubs has implemented a rate cut -10% for all direct contractors effective dec 1st 2014’

Wm Morrison

Nov 2012

10%

‘Wm Morrison enforced an across the board rate cut of 10% in November 2012, resulting in my company parting company with themselves (as indeed did a few others).’

Wood Group PLN

June 2014

10%

Vodafone

July 2019

Enforced 20 days break

‘…late last month, Vodafone sent a communication to all contractors requiring them to take 20 working days of leave between 1st July 2019 and 30th September 2019. This represents a 4-week imposed pay cut not included in contracts.. This is in addition to a 2-week imposed break in Christmas.’