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looking to understand the legal and ethical standpoint here.

We took on a contractor for some work, expecting it to be a month long +/- piece of work.

We started having issues early on (didn't show up one day - had lost bag and devices), and self imposed deadlines weren't being met or even communicated that they wouldn't be met.

He then quit without notice (he was battling a lot at the time - which we were very supportive of). The result of which is we ended up with literally nothing to show for his time here.

The agency is now billing us for the two days. I'm a new employer and want to understand where the legal, ethical and anyone else been in this situation before experiences.

I want to do the right thing, but paying for literally nothing feels off.

Tom
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The legal ramifications depend on the contract - assuming there is one. However, I would concentrate on the relationship you have or wish to establish with the agency.

Since you state you are a new employer, I'm assuming there's no long time bond worth keeping - so you basically just want to pay as little as possible, regardless of what the future relationship with the agency will be.

If the agency wants a long term relationship with you, they should be willing to strike some sort of deal; e.g. you only paying for one day or a few hours.

If the agency is completely short-sighted, you'll probably have to demonstrate a willingness to take this further - claiming their candidate did not have the required qualifications.

Give the agency a few days to respond, as their position might depend on whether the freelancer will accept non-payment - which they might if they feel they perhaps shouldn't have undertaken this role.

In any case - I would withhold pay until an agreement has been made; don't pay in full and argue over a refund you will probably never be able to extract from them.

morsor
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