Is this legal? Agency is banning me from taking private piano pupils

Biska

Hi All, I hope someone can help me as I am going into debt. I am a piano teacher and freelance live musician, obviously there is no live work so I am not earning enough.  I am self employed. I get students through an agency who take 20% of my earnings. The agent insists that I must ALSO pay 20% of earnings for any private pupils I find outside the agency. I had to sign a contract to this effect. He has access to my agency teaching diary so can see if I block out times for private pupils. I don't do it but I desperately need the work. Can I legally take my own private pupils and NOT pay him a commission?  I am totally self employed, I get nothing from the agency in terms of a retainer, just teaching fees that my "agency students" pay me and I send the agent his commission very month. Any employment lawyers out there who know if this contract is fair and legal?  Thanks in advance. Stay safe everyone. 

JReacher1

You did sign the contract to give them 20%. 

For me the way round this is to just not put any private pupils through your teaching diary. 

Biska

Thanks for taking time to answer, yes I know, I was naive, but I am wondering if that sort of contract is actually legal?   

Undervalued

Biska said:

Thanks for taking time to answer, yes I know, I was naive, but I am wondering if that sort of contract is actually legal?   

If it is correctly worded then yes!

Similarly, if you put your house on the market with an estate agent you are normally obliged to pay them their commission even if you claim the buyer approached your direct. Otherwise it is very difficult to police and obviously open to abuse.

Smodlet

I don't really understand how you can teach pupils in person at this time and still observe the lock-down rules although I suppose it could be possible if your music room is large enough.  If you are offering lessons via Skype/whatever obviously, that is fine.

Have you read the fine print of this contract your agent has with you?  It sounds like the kind of BS estate agents impose on their clients, where they get commission even if you find a buyer for your house independently.  Good luck, OP; that is all I can offer, sorry.  As for whether the contract is legal, they tend to be if you signed them.  You could try the Citizens' Advice Bureau's website; I am sure there must be others.

Brynsam

Biska said:

Hi All, I hope someone can help me as I am going into debt. I am a piano teacher and freelance live musician, obviously there is no live work so I am not earning enough.  I am self employed. I get students through an agency who take 20% of my earnings. The agent insists that I must ALSO pay 20% of earnings for any private pupils I find outside the agency. I had to sign a contract to this effect. He has access to my agency teaching diary so can see if I block out times for private pupils. I don't do it but I desperately need the work. Can I legally take my own private pupils and NOT pay him a commission?  I am totally self employed, I get nothing from the agency in terms of a retainer, just teaching fees that my "agency students" pay me and I send the agent his commission very month. Any employment lawyers out there who know if this contract is fair and legal?  Thanks in advance. Stay safe everyone. 

No, you didn't 'have' to sign a contract to this effect; you agreed to do so. The agent will have had any number of instances of people claiming they 'found' their own pupils, often by dint of just waiting for a few months after the introduction is made and then starting the lessons.

Without seeing the whole contract it's impossible to comment, but if you weren't sure it was legal, why did you sign it? If you are an MU member they would check it free for you: https://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/Home/Advice/Your-Career/Legal/Contracts

Depending on how reliant you are on the agency for introductions, you could always serve notice of cancellation of the contract (beware any residual fees payable where pupils continue with you after the contract terminates - there is likely to be a clause covering that) and either renegotiate it, or go to another agent.

Biska

I teach online now, so not breaking any rules on lock down. Thanks for answers so far. 

General_Grant

So the statement in the heading of the thread "Agency is banning me from taking private piano pupils" is not true.  They are not banning you, they are simply due a fee if you teach one.

Biska

General_Grant said:

So the statement in the heading of the thread "Agency is banning me from taking private piano pupils" is not true.  They are not banning you, they are simply due a fee if you teach one.

Very true, I am poor at writing headlines too as you point out!  But it worked in that I am getting very some helpful replies for which I am very grateful.  

Owain_Moneysaver

Does the agency contract cover both in-person and online tuition? Does it cover all online tuition or just one-to-one? Because if they haven't worded it carefully you might find that, eg, making video lessons not aimed at one-to-one isn't covered. 
As a business-to-business (not employment or consumer) contract there is an assumption that you'll have read and understood it before signing. 

dacouch

Owain_Moneysaver said:

Does the agency contract cover both in-person and online tuition? Does it cover all online tuition or just one-to-one? Because if they haven't worded it carefully you might find that, eg, making video lessons not aimed at one-to-one isn't covered. 
As a business-to-business (not employment or consumer) contract there is an assumption that you'll have read and understood it before signing. 

A very good point.
It's how Jeremy Clarkson etc got out of their BBC contract as it was worded for terrestial and sat tv, they had not included internet streaming on their list of new contracts they could not join if they left the BBC