Self employed and work 1 day and they want 6 months notice!

Annie161

Hello
I am a self employed health professional and in Nov 2022 took on a 1 day sometimes 1.5 day in a clinic used by multiple practitioners. On the contract I queried that he had asked for 6 months notice and thought this was unusual but signed it under question which he stated it was ‘for continuation ogpf practice and clinic reputation’. I’ve pay £125 a day for room and they book the clients. I have had problems with reception as he said that was included but for months she disappears at midday and didn’t come back leaving me to rebook clients and not get messages if people cancelled etc.
In dec 2022 I moved 50 miles away…it had been on the cards and I needed to reduce mortgage etc. I have carried on but with the train strikes bad weather and I also have a medical condition which is causing chronic fatigue and pain I am unable to do it as it’s now a 12 hour day. He knew about my health etc and now I cannot carry on for much longer have told him I will have to give it up. He is saying unless they find someone to replace me I will have to work the 6 months! 

This just seems ridiculous? Does he have any power to do this? If it’s his loss of income then it’s about £600/£700 a month he gets off me in rent. I have disputed lack of reception with him a few times and now there is another guy working every Tuesday with me she is there all day which has only been the last few weeks.

I can’t afford to pay him this for rent and what if I can’t work due to health? Where do I stand? Does anybody have any advice or been in a similar position?

Bobbobbobingalong

I suspect your first course of action ought to be seeing a solicitor who can advise properly on the contractual terms - his obligations, as well as yours.

DullGreyGuy

This is a business to business contract and therefore your rights are 99% what you agreed to in the contract as businseses are not considered to need a nanny state intervention with statutory rights. As a business person you should have had contingency plans for ill health etc.

Clearly your time to challenge the 6 month notice to end the lease on the room was at the point of sign up, having now signed the contract its too late to complain its too long. 

As to the receptionist, what does the contract state about this service? If it was important to you and its not in the contract why didnt you get it added? If it does state they will then two breaches of contract dont invalidate the contract but does give you more grounds for negotiation. 

If reading contracts isnt your thing then you may want to get a lawyer to review it for you, though again this would have best been done before entering into the contract, but it may be better later than never however the outcome may just add £500 of lawyer fees ontop of the £4,000 for room rental

Ultimately business are run by people and whilst you may have no statutory or contractual rights that doesnt mean a person representing the other company wont show compassion and give goodwill, you just need to appreciate that you are asking for charity not enforcing your rights.

Marcon

Annie161 said:

This just seems ridiculous? Does he have any power to do this? If it’s his loss of income then it’s about £600/£700 a month he gets off me in rent. I have disputed lack of reception with him a few times and now there is another guy working every Tuesday with me she is there all day which has only been the last few weeks.

I can’t afford to pay him this for rent and what if I can’t work due to health? Where do I stand? Does anybody have any advice or been in a similar position?

You certainly need to establish exactly what your contract says. Can you assign it to someone else who'd like to use the room and provide similar services?

If you breach the contract by ceasing to work on the basis agreed (which I assume, given that you are self employed, is basically a contract for room rental and possibly additional services such as reception, dealing with bookings etc), then you are responsible for any losses which flow from that breach - BUT the wronged party is under a duty to mitigate their losses. That means they need to look for someone else to rent the room and make good the rental they would otherwise lose as a result of the breach. Nothing to stop you helping in the 'search' process, although you need to ensure that anyone you try to sign up is going to be acceptable to the clinic both professionally and in terms of financial soundness. 

If you can't work and the space can't be relet, then I'm afraid you are on the hook for the rental during the whole six month period.

DullGreyGuy

Marcon said:

the wronged party is under a duty to mitigate their losses. That means they need to look for someone else to rent the room and make good the rental they would otherwise lose as a result of the breach. Nothing to stop you helping in the 'search' process, although you need to ensure that anyone you try to sign up is going to be acceptable to the clinic both professionally and in terms of financial soundness. 

Though this naturally means you can end up having to pay more than the £4,000 rental if they are unsuccessful at finding anyone else and incur fees advertising it, vetting applicants etc. 

Sometimes these things are better negotiated for an early settlement than allowing it to go through the whole process and ending up with a roll of the dice on if its a higher or lower number you have to pay.

Undervalued

Marcon said:

Annie161 said:

This just seems ridiculous? Does he have any power to do this? If it’s his loss of income then it’s about £600/£700 a month he gets off me in rent. I have disputed lack of reception with him a few times and now there is another guy working every Tuesday with me she is there all day which has only been the last few weeks.

I can’t afford to pay him this for rent and what if I can’t work due to health? Where do I stand? Does anybody have any advice or been in a similar position?

You certainly need to establish exactly what your contract says. Can you assign it to someone else who'd like to use the room and provide similar services?

If you breach the contract by ceasing to work on the basis agreed (which I assume, given that you are self employed, is basically a contract for room rental and possibly additional services such as reception, dealing with bookings etc), then you are responsible for any losses which flow from that breach - BUT the wronged party is under a duty to mitigate their losses. That means they need to look for someone else to rent the room and make good the rental they would otherwise lose as a result of the breach. Nothing to stop you helping in the 'search' process, although you need to ensure that anyone you try to sign up is going to be acceptable to the clinic both professionally and in terms of financial soundness. 

If you can't work and the space can't be relet, then I'm afraid you are on the hook for the rental during the whole six month period.

They are but they can charge their reasonable costs in doing so.

Generally (and particularly for this type of use) the landlord will have a right to vet the suitability of any alternative tenant. Whilst they can't unreasonably refuse somebody who is clearly suitable, there are always grey areas if they have a mind to be difficult. 

I am afraid their is a lesson to be learnt here for future business dealings.

TBagpuss

As above, if you have a contract for the office requiring 6 months notice then it is probable that you will have to pay.
You need to read the contract carefully to see whether you also have any obligation to be present / provide appointments . pr whether you just have to pay the daily rate. 

The issues with them not providing the appropriate reception cover would be separate - that might put them in breach of their obligations under the contract - read it and see what they were contracting to provide, but I would expect that your remedy would be seek damages for lost work (if appointments were not getting made) rather than entitling you to end the contract early. 

It sounds as though you queried the length of notice but then went on to sign, so you were aware of the obligations. Ill health on your part is unlikely to entitle you to break the agreement early unless there is anything in the contract allowing that.

If you fail to pay / attend then it's likely he would be able to sue you, although he would have a duty to mitigate his losses - if you could find someone open to taking on the role then you could propose hat and it would make him harder for him to argue against it