QUESTION
Is it the contractors right not pay the subcontractor until they themselves have been paid?
Asked on Jun 27th, 2013 on Business Law - Hawaii
More details to this question:
I am a video editor. I was asked to "fill in" for a camera guy who had been pulled away for another job. He asked me to edit a video he had been editing with a client. I took on the job with the clear understanding in my mind that I was being contracted by the CG, NOT the client (the client did NOT hire me to be apart of the project). Over the course of 3 weeks, I spoke with the client and the CG regarding the progress of the video. When the CG returned, he tells me that he's paying for this project out of pocket. I suggest to him that it would be better for him if he were to reassume responsibility of the project. After the project had been returned to the CG, I sent a bill to the CG. When I tried to follow up on the payment after a month, he tells me he's awaiting payment from the client and he'll check back as soon as he collects from them. With no written subcontractor contract, is the CG within his legal right to withhold payment from me, contingent on his payment from the client?
1 ANSWER
It depends on what your contract provided. You say that you agreed to work for the contractor with no mention of having to wait for him to be paid by the client. If so, the contractor must pay you, regardless of whether he has been paid. However, he may claim that your agreement was either to work for the client (in which case the client would be liable, not the contractor; the fact that you spoke directly with the contractor is not conclusive - if an executive at IBM hires you to do work for IBM, it is your employer, not him, and he has no liability for your wages) or that you would not get paid until the contractor had been. In the absence of any documentation, the case may depend on who the judge or jury believes. One piece of evidence which may be relevant (probably not conclusive, but relevant) is the terms of the contractor's (or client's) agreement with the editor you replaced. Since you were filling in, it seems likely that you would be hired on the same terms.
Answered on Jun 27th, 2013 at 10:44 AM