Contracts
Well, these past couple of weeks I’ve had some contract terms to negotiate and it’s a long old process. The problem lies, as it always does, with liability.
Now, companies have their contracts drawn up by solicitors for a reason - but why do they always have to be so problematic? I’ve been presented, recently, with a contract that holds me liable for anything and everything the employer/contractor could wish to make a fuss about - and I think that’s an unacceptable ground for employers/contractors to try and get away with in the first place. Hiring people has always been a liability, and it always will be - but it’s part of the risk you take to get a job done. Unfortunately, that form of dealing seems to have changed a lot from what one may refer to as ‘the good old days’ of contracts and employment.
I’m not in a situation where I can afford (with my company’s income), to pay for liabilities insurance - and so anything that holds me liable for something outside of my control is strictly not possible for me. Trying to get me to sign a piece of paper that is signing away my support, my savings, my property and my very livelihood to someone’s word that “we’ll never do anything about it” is just not holding water with me.
The same sort of situation occurred with some accommodation I was supposed to be moving into last year (that fell through) - the landlord was planning on even holding the tenants liable for damage he caused to his and their property whilst in the house (which he was also allowed to do at any time of day or night, without warning).
How on earth do people get away with this kind of stuff? Or, rather, why do so many people not even bother to read contract terms thoroughly before legally agreeing to them? How about you? Have you had any awkward contracts to work through?
Just stumbled across this by accident, James! Wild Facebook clicking, et al!
Ugh, exemption clauses can be a bit of a nightmare for the careless contractor, but that being said, there are some serious common law and statutory controls on how far another party can limit their liability if they don’t draw proper attention to what they’re trying to do. This can extend to business as well as consumers… so what exactly are they trying to wangle their way out of?
And that being said, I’m not sure I agree the “good old days” of contracting ever existed! People have been trying to sneak dirty terms into agreements and do each other out of money since the dawn of contract law!
January 29th, 2008 at 18:05Hey, good to see you find your way here
I would agree with you on the majority of the point - there never really are “good old days” for anything if you look back far enough - but it just sometimes seems like there was a time when people thought about something other than themselves.
As a student with no regular income, I cannot afford to purchase liability insurance to exempt myself from any problems - and I think it foolish to ‘trust’ that they won’t exploit the clause. If it’s there, and they have a problem, they’ll exploit it - as it means profit.