THERE WAS A REDUCTION IN THE COMPENSATION RATES OF IT CONTRACTORS.

In reaction to a ‘take it or leave it’ decrease in their salary that is scheduled to be implemented by BNP Paribas beginning in the beginning of July, Contractor Accountants London will either be going through a difficult time or leaving the profession altogether. All of the temporary information technology workers employed by the French bank were notified that they would either have to accept a reduction in their pay or face the termination of their contracts. As a result of the reduction in salary by at least four percent, it is stated that some teams of information technology contractors in Paris, which is the location of the bank’s headquarters, have been “practically wiped out.” During an interview with the ContractorUK website, which was the source of the news, a representative of the BNP said that “external market factors” were the reason for the reduction. It was communicated to the company’s IT contractors via an internal document that said, “Following a due diligence procedure, a decision has been reached to lower expenditure on contractor personnel inside IT.” This effort does not in any way represent the abilities or services that have been delivered to BNP Paribas, and we would like to reassure you of this fact. The reduction in pay rates for IT contractors comes in the wake of news that BNP was fined almost one million pounds by the securities regulator in Hong Kong for failing to register so-called “cross transactions” over a period of ten years because of the failure to report them. As a result of the bank’s violation of American sanctions that prohibit trading with Sudan, Iran, and Cuba, the United States authorities levied a record-breaking punishment of £5.1 billion on the bank in July of last year. On the other hand, the minimum 4 percent number that was used to cut pay rates for IT contractors indicates more of a market alignment than a knock-on impact of those penalties. As a matter of fact, BNP has a history of reducing the compensation of its information technology contractors. This was done during the financial crisis of 2008, and it was also done by a non-negotiable 15 percent in 2011. Some information technology contractors situated in the United Kingdom have said that they are using the most recent statement to convince the bank to consent to flexible working arrangements, despite the fact that there are officially no exemptions in the instance of the most recent announcement. On the other hand, there have been rumors that a significant number of the bank’s existing information technology contractors would just quit their jobs. According to the director of an IT recruitment agency, who spoke to ContractorUK, “Of those IT contractors affected by the [only] reduction [our agency has experienced in the last 12 months], approximately 15 percent chose not to accept it and took on assignments with other organizations.” This was certainly the opinion of the director. Although revenue is not the only factor that drives IT contractors to operate in an open labor market, it is a key contributor. IT contractors are free to operate in this market. In the majority of cases, the implementation of ‘take it or leave’ rate reduction in the middle of a contract would prompt contractor accountants to consult the market and investigate the many alternative possibilities that are accessible.