How Much Power Do We Have Over Contracts / recommendations

[jmcgrn]

Hey All,

I've been traveling for over 2 years so far and has been a great experience. Just the other day though I had a slightly negative experience which got me thinking.

I had just signed my 3rd extension at my current hospital. The next day, my recruiter calls me up and tells me that the Hospital had actually decreased my rate after my first extension but that the company had been "eating the costs" but they could no longer afford to do so for multiple nurses. So for the extension which I had just signed they were sending me a new contract with a decreased rate.

I decided it wasn't worth putting up a fuss as the rate decrease wasn't major, and was taking into consideration having had no issues with this agency in the past. However, reviewing things made me realize that for each contract I have signed, I never get a copy back with any signature from someone at the agency.

Which made me request that moving forward each contract I sign must be returned to me with a signature from them. I did this because I thought of it as without their signature, I am being held liable to this contract by them but I cannot hold them liable in turn.

Thinking along these lines, Does anyone have experience with being allowed to actually make revisions to clauses within their travel contract and or adding clauses of your own? What would you recommend for things such as this for ways in which that I, and we as a group can protect ourselves in future contracts?

Interested to hear peoples thoughts on this.

- John

[NedRN]

Just briefly, the signatures on a contract are implied once you have freely started to perform (work) on the contract. You have a copy signed by you. If they change the terms after you have started work, it won't hold water in a civil case and you will be able to collect damages. If you had not started this last extension, and acknowledged in any way that you received a revised extension (which would include an email sent to you), then your acquiescence to the change in terms would be implied by starting to perform on the extension.

Your agency made a bad move. They are not losing money on you, quite the opposite in fact. If you had not agreed to two extensions, another agency's traveler may have won them instead, leaving your agency with zero profits. To be sure, they may not be getting the gross margin percentage they expect, but they are making a very decent profit on your services. I'd switch agencies, and tell your recruiter why.

Agencies get around $5,000 per traveler per 13 week assignment in gross profits which is all the money they do not pay directly to you or in behalf of you (things like social security, workers comp, and unemployment). That's $20,000 a year for the agency for your work, of which around $2,000 to $3,000 is paid to the recruiter as a commission on your work. Your recruiter will be very unhappy with his agency losing him a valuable and profitable traveler relationship and may leave himself (or herself).