Late cancellation fee

Ioannis

Hi everyone, a friend of mine is self- employed and is working in the fashion industry. She does pattern-cutting, sample making etc.
The issue is that she gets booked by various fashion companies and if she is booked by "A" company, apparently she is unable to go to work for "B" company on that particular day.
It happened that a few weeks ago she got a call from company "A" asking her not to come that particular day( that's 30mins before she has to be there), so she wrote them an email saying that in future should they fail to notify her about the cancellation later than 48 hours, a cancellation fee(half of what she could have earned on the day) would be applied. But they still cancelled her a few times 30mins-1 hour before she had to arrive to work.
So eventually she sent them an invoice for the days worked and days she was cancelled. But they are refusing to pay her the cancellation fee.
Who is right in this situation, because i feel it's unfair on my friend, she warned them beforehand, by email, and she could have worked somewhere else on those days if she wasn't cancelled. Any opinions? Thanks!

KiKi

I assume she has a contract with them?

She can't enforce a cancellation fee if it's not something agreed (sending an email to 'warn' them is not an agreement).

It may not be fair, but if she hasn't set up a contract specifying a fee schedule, then she hasn't got recourse to complain or take action, I'm afraid. She needs to get a contract / fee schedule agreed / in place ASAP.

KiKi

Evilm

If its not already in the contract, as Kiki says above, then they can refuse to pay it.

Is she considered self employed or a casual worker? If Self employed then she needs to write up a set of T&C's and get the two clients to sign it/acknowledge it.

If Casual worker then she needs to see if they will rewrite the employment contract (or add a rider/amendment form to it) to include that term.

Beware the client/employer might decide to not use her services anymore if she insists on this and that is a risk she needs to decide if she wants to take.

Ioannis

Thanks for your responses,
Yes, she is self- employed and was doing temporary work for them, she didn't have a written agreement with them and didn't get a response from them saying "yes, we agree to pay a cancellation fee".
In this case, for future reference, what would you personally do if the company just cancels you on the day half an hour before you are supposed to be there? Or would you discuss and make them sign the contract of your services in the very beginning even if it's temporary work for a few weeks? So that just she doesn't commit the same mistake... Thanks
P.S. What does fee schedule mean?

KiKi

Ioannis wrote: »

In this case, for future reference, what would you personally do if the company just cancels you on the day half an hour before you are supposed to be there? Or would you discuss and make them sign the contract of your services in the very beginning even if it's temporary work for a few weeks? So that just she doesn't commit the same mistake... Thanks
P.S. What does fee schedule mean?

I am self-employed (as well as employed) and I wouldn't work for a company without a contract and fee schedule! She needs to put one in place. They have her over a barrel otherwise.

A fee schedule is a simply a schedule of fees. Eg:

Day rate:
Hourly rate:
Overtime (if work goes beyond specified time):
Out of hours work:
Cancellation fee (applied if cancelled within 24 hours):

That sort of thing. It could have anything in it which incurs a fee. She could have a graded cancellation fee schedule, so 100% of full day rate for cancellation within 24 hours, 50% for cancellation within 48 hours, 25% ..... etc.

And yes, even for temporary work. Just to clarify (and I know this is probably not what you meant, but just for clarity) but it's not a case of making them sign her T&Cs, but negotiating them. Some organisations will have standard T&Cs that they won't budge from. If they have nothing, then she can offer hers, but they may want to negotiate. But to be SE without a contract is asking for trouble, as when things go wrong, it's almost always the contractor who loses out.

HTH
KiKi

kelfen

She needs to send them a new contract (by post, recorded/special) so she has proof of postage stating he terms already given, and the addition of a cancellation fee.

I'm s/e too, and when I added new contract clauses I had each of my places sign a new contract, I have a copy and so do they, and I explain the clauses in person to clarify