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Contractors page

Signed in? Ask Lovelio this question inside the app - it answers from this same page.

The Contractors page, its own item on the left menu, shows everyone out on contract right now, and what happens when each contract ends. Anyone who can see placements can see it, with the same team visibility.

List, Timeline and Documents

The page has four views: List, Timeline, Documents and Forecast. It opens on the List, and after that on whichever view you last used.

The List is a plain table, one row per contract: contractor, client, consultant, start date, end date, next contact, charge rate, pay rate, GP a week and status. Click any column heading to sort by it; click it again to flip the order. Blanks (no end date, rates not set) always sort to the bottom. Rates on different periods (an hour, a day, a week) sort by what they come to over a week. Lovelio remembers your sort for next time. Click a row to open the placement; the arrows in the slideout step through the list in the order you see it.

The contract record

Clicking a contractor opens their contract as a file. Across the top: their name (click it for their record; opened from their record, "<- [name]" takes you back instead), the job, the client, the kind of contract and its dates, a short status such as "Ends in 5 weeks" or "Starts 14 Oct", and Email, Log a call and the ... menu (Edit details, Add note, Mark completed and the other statuses, Mark fell off). The arrows step through the list in the order you see it.

Down the left is the contract, one line per step: Placed, Documents, Started, Check-ins, Extension ask, Ends, and Next role under After. Each has a dot: pink means it needs you, amber means you are waiting on someone, green means done, red means something went wrong. A permanent placement shows Placed, Started and Guarantee instead. The file opens on the first step that needs you.

Each step opens with one sentence on where it stands and the one or two things to do about it ("Nobody has asked Priya when she is free" with Check in now and Log a call). Under that sit tabs: the step's own box (the Documents list, the check-in, the extension ask, "What happens on (end date)?", the Next role box), then The contract (every detail, the rates, the workplace and timesheet approvers, the credit split, with Edit to change them), Files, and Timeline, where you can add a note.

What counts as a contractor

A contractor is a contract placement (placement type contract). Every contractor is also a placement, so it shows on Placements too. It shows on this page from the day it is logged: waiting to start, working, and for 30 days after the contract ends, so the people who just finished are easy to find for their next role. Perm placements never show here. A fell-off placement drops off.

Example contractors

An agency that has never logged a contract placement sees five example contractors, marked "Example", so the page shows what it does from day one. Their dates move with today, so they are always out working, and one always ends in the next 8 weeks with no plan. They are not real records: they never show in search, placements, forecasts, reports or reminders, and nothing you pick on one is saved.

Remove one with the X on its row (hover over it) or "Remove this example" in its slideout. "Clear examples" removes them all. Undo brings them back. Removing is for the whole agency. They all disappear by themselves when you create your first real contract placement.

The timeline

The colour key sits at the top of the timeline. Each contract is a bar across the year, from two months back to ten months ahead. The pink line is today, on your own clock (your time zone in Settings, else the agency's): a Sydney agency and a London agency each see their own today, whatever time it is on the server. The same today decides Running or Finished, the check-in count and which contracts can be asked about. The part of a bar before today is solid; the part still to go is faded. A contract with no end date runs off the right edge and says "No end date". The pale amber band covers the next 8 weeks: a contract ending inside it needs a plan.

In the Timeline, group the rows by client or by consultant. Search matches the contractor, client, role or consultant. "Mine" shows only your own contractors. Clicking a row opens the placement.

Bar colours:

  • Blue: running, ends more than 8 weeks away.
  • Amber: ends in the next 8 weeks with no plan yet.
  • Indigo: asked the client.
  • Violet: going perm, with a short tail after the end date.
  • Slate: finishing.
  • Green dashed segment: an extension that has been agreed, drawn from the old end date to the new one.
  • Outlined: starting soon (not started yet).
  • Grey: finished in the last 30 days.

A diamond on a bar marks the day a document stops counting before the contract ends: red for right to work, amber for anything else. Hover it for the document and the date. A chip after the bar names the first document that needs doing ("Visa ends 14 Mar", "Police check missing") and "+2" for the rest.

The figures at the top

  • Out working: contractors working today. Underneath, how many more start soon.
  • GP a week: charge rate minus pay rate for everyone working, on your agency's standard week (see Forecast below). Contracts in different currencies are shown side by side, never converted.
  • Finishing in 8 weeks: contracts ending in the next 8 weeks. Underneath, the GP a week not yet kept - every one of those contracts that is not extended or going perm.
  • No plan yet: contracts ending in the next 8 weeks with nothing recorded.
  • Documents to chase: contractors with a document missing, or one that ends before their contract does.
  • Open jobs that fit: contractors finishing in the next 8 weeks with at least one open contract job that starts once they are free (see Next roles below).

Clicking Finishing in 8 weeks, No plan yet, Documents to chase or Open jobs that fit filters the list or timeline to those contracts; click again to see everyone.

What happens when a contract ends

Open a contractor who has started and click Ends on the left. "What happens on (end date)?" sits under it:

  • Extend: "Extend to (date) at (charge) charge and (pay) pay." Save changes moves the contract's end date and rates. New rates start the day after the old end date; the old rates stay for the weeks they applied. The timeline then shows the extension as a green dashed segment until the old end date passes. Expected GP is recalculated for the new term.
  • Asked the client, Going perm, Finishing: records the plan. Click the same one again to clear it.

A plan answers one end date. If the end date changes (an extension, or a correction), the old plan no longer applies and the contract shows as needing a plan again if it ends within 8 weeks. Every change shows on the placement's timeline.

Changing rates, ending early, converting to perm

Under the plan on a started contract:

  • Change rates: "From (date), charge (x) and pay (y) a day." The old rates are kept for the weeks before that date, the new ones run to the end date, and expected GP adds each stretch up. The placement lists every stretch ("From 1 Oct: charging 950, paying 700 a day"). A date on or before the day the current rates started corrects them instead. A date inside an earlier stretch changes that stretch from the date and keeps every later change. The form fills in the rates in force on the date you pick.
  • End early: "Ends on (date) because (the client ended it early / the contractor left early)." The end date moves, the reason shows on the placement, and any rates set for after the new end date are dropped.
  • Convert to perm: "Goes perm on (date) on a salary of (x), with a conversion fee of (y)." The contract ends the day before, reads "Went perm on (date)", and the conversion fee is added into the contract's expected GP, so every total and forecast counts it. Leave the fee blank to use the client's fee terms on that salary. "Undo the conversion" puts the contract back as it was. A converted contract cannot be extended until the conversion is undone.

A finished, ended early or converted contract is read only here. A contract that fell off reads as finished on the placement and in the API.

When a contractor is available

A contractor is available the day after their contract ends. Logging a contract, moving its end date (an extension, ending early) or marking it started sets the candidate's "Available from" to that day, so search and job matches find the people finishing with your own clients. A later date the candidate gave you (a break between roles) is kept. If the contract falls off or goes perm, the date it set is cleared. Each change shows on the candidate's timeline.

The candidate record says where they are: "On assignment at Acme until 14 Nov 2026", or "Starting at Acme on 3 Oct 2026" before it starts, instead of "Placed".

The same can be said in Slack or Ask Lovelio: "the Marcus contract is going perm". Connected apps and AI agents can read and set it too: the API returns the plan, the state and the old end date of an extension on each contract placement, and PATCH /api/v1/placements/{id} with contract_plan (or the update_placement MCP tool) sets it. The same PATCH takes rates_from with new rates, contract_end_reason with an earlier contract_end_date, and converted_on with conversion_salary and conversion_fee; each contract placement returns its rate_history, end_reason and conversion.

Reminders about contracts ending

A started contract with no plan gets three reminders, sent to the placement's consultant: at 8 weeks before the end date, at 4 weeks, and on the day it ends. Each one lands in the bell and is emailed to the consultant too, and says the facts: "Priya's contract at Acme ends on 14 November. No plan yet." The email is on for every agency from the start; an admin can switch it off in Settings under Email Automations ("Contract end reminders"). It does not depend on "Email notifications to your team". A contract ending on a Saturday or Sunday gets its last reminder on the Friday before. A contract that is already inside 4 weeks when it starts gets only the reminders still ahead of it. Clicking any of them opens the placement on the Contractors page.

Each reminder is sent once per end date. Recording a plan stops them. An extension moves the end date, so the new end date gets its own three reminders if it still has no plan. Reminders arrive from 8am on a weekday on the consultant's own clock (Settings > You > Profile). If the placement has no consultant, or they have left the agency, the reminder goes to the agency's longest-standing admin.

Contractor documents

Lovelio keeps the documents you have checked for each contractor: right to work, a police check, a licence, insurance. A document lives on the person and counts in one country, so their next contract there re-uses it. Saving the same kind again replaces it.

What a contract needs is worked out, never set up. Everyone needs the right to work where the job is. In Australia, a contractor paid on an ABN also needs their own public liability insurance, and anything the job lists as essential (a forklift licence, a White Card, a Working with Children Check, AHPRA registration, a police check) is asked for too. A country Lovelio has no rules for yet gets the basics: right to work plus the job's own certificates. An Australian police check counts as current for 12 months from its date.

A document that ends before the contract does is flagged. "Not needed for this contract" drops one document from one contract only; every other contract still asks for it. Starting a contract is never blocked by missing documents.

Documents, next to List and Timeline, switches the page to the Documents view: one row per contractor with what needs doing and by when (see the contractor documents card). Record them in the Documents box on the contract placement, or say it in Ask Lovelio: "Priya's police check is dated 3 March 2026" or "the Marcus contract does not need a White Card". Ask Lovelio also answers "what documents does Priya's contract need?".

When a document a running contract needs stops counting before the contract ends, the consultant gets a reminder in the bell and by email, from 8 weeks before the document ends: "Priya's police check ends on 14 November, before the contract at Acme does." It follows the same rules as contract end reminders (the same Email Automations switch, 8am on a weekday, the longest-standing admin when there is no consultant) and is sent once per document end date; recording a renewed document with a new date re-arms it. Nothing is sent to the contractor: use "Ask Priya for it" when you want to chase.

Next roles

Every Monday morning Lovelio checks each contractor whose contract ends in the next 8 weeks against the agency's open contract jobs. A job fits when:

  • it is open, is a contract job, and still has openings left (placements that did not fall off count against its openings);
  • it starts on or after the day the contractor is free (the day after their contract ends, or their own later Available from), or it has no start date yet;
  • the contractor meets everything the job says is essential, checked by the same search that finds candidates for a job;
  • the contractor is not already on it, not placed somewhere else, and not marked do not approach.

A contract going perm is skipped. So is the job the contractor is already on.

When a check finds a job that contractor has not been matched to before, the placement's consultant gets one notification in the bell: "Priya finishes at Acme on 14 Nov. 2 open contract jobs start after that." Clicking it opens the placement on this page. The same jobs found again next week do not notify again; a new one does. If the placement has no consultant, or they have left, it goes to the agency's longest-standing admin.

On the timeline, a teal chip next to the contractor's name says how many jobs fit ("2 jobs"); hover it for the sentence. The Open jobs that fit figure counts them. Lovelio only states the facts; which job to put them forward for is your call.

The Next role box

Open a started contract ending in the next 8 weeks and click Next role on the left. The Next role box lists each job that fits, with its start date, and links to the job. It re-checks the jobs every time it opens, so a job that has closed, filled, or that the contractor is already on drops off, and a job that now starts before they are free drops off too. With nothing that fits it says so: "No open contract jobs fit yet. Lovelio checks every Monday."

Asking if they are free

"Ask Priya if they are free from 17 Nov" writes a short email for you: their contract at the client they work at now, the day it finishes, and the date to ask about (the first working day after the contract ends, or their own later date). It never names another client. You can change every word. Send emails it from you, and Cancel throws it away. Nothing is ever sent without you pressing Send. The box then says "Asked on 26 Sep if Priya is free from 17 Nov. No reply yet."

The same draft can be asked for in Slack or Ask Lovelio ("ask Priya if she is free from November"), and connected apps and AI agents reach it through the draft_availability_check action and send it with send_placement_email (recipient candidate, ask availability, free_from).

Their reply

When the contractor replies, by email to the thread or into a connected mailbox, within three weeks of the ask, Lovelio reads the reply once for the date they give ("from the 24th", "not until January", or a plain "yes" to the date asked). A date between today and a year out becomes their Available from, the candidate timeline shows "Priya replied: free from 24 Nov", and the Next role box shows "Replied on 28 Sep: free from 24 Nov." A reply with no date changes nothing. Their Available from then decides which jobs fit on the next check.

Who is free for a contract job

A contract job with a start date has a Free by tab in Find candidates ("Free by 16 Nov"), first before Your database, Web and LinkedIn. The job's Job tab has a Who is free card that opens it, and so does "See who is free by 16 Nov" on the screen you see right after posting a new contract job. A contract job with no start date has no Free by tab: add a start date and it appears.

The tab lists everyone who meets the job's requirements and is free by its start date, best first. It is the same search as Your database with the start date made a must: a person is listed when their free date is on or before the start, or when their notice period gets them there by then. Someone with neither, or a free date after the start, is not listed. It shows the best 25 and says how many more there are. Add to job puts someone on the job, the same as from Your database.

How fresh a free date is

Every free date shows who stands behind it and when, on the Free by tab and in Preferences on the candidate's record:

  • "Free from 16 Nov, Priya confirmed 3 days ago": the candidate replied to an ask with that date.
  • "Free from 16 Nov, Sam confirmed yesterday": a consultant typed it on the record, in Ask Lovelio, or through the API.
  • "Free from 16 Nov, from their contract end date": set from the contract they are on now.
  • "Free from 16 Nov, not confirmed": it came from an import or an older record, and no one has confirmed it.
  • "Notice 2 weeks, no free date yet": listed on their notice period alone; ask them for a date.
  • "Available immediately, not confirmed": their notice period says immediate, and no one has confirmed a date.

The dot is green when a person confirmed it in the last 7 days, amber otherwise.

Asking everyone at once

"Ask the 6 not confirmed this week" on the Free by tab writes one short ask per person on the list Lovelio can reach and whose free date no one confirmed in the last 7 days: on WhatsApp for someone who agreed to it (where your agency has WhatsApp switched on, see the WhatsApp card), otherwise by email. The email asks if they are free from the job's start date and never names the client. Read before you send: untick anyone, open any email to change every word, then Send, or Cancel to throw them all away. A WhatsApp ask shows the message exactly as they will read it; its words are fixed, and "Send by email instead" switches it to email. Nothing is ever sent without you pressing Send. Each email goes from you, and the row says "Asked today".

A reply with a date within three weeks sets their free date the same way as a Next role ask, marked as the candidate's own confirmation. Ask Lovelio can list who is free ("who is free for the Acme forklift job?") and draft the asks; you review and send them on the Free by tab. Connected apps and AI agents read the list at GET /v1/jobs/{id}/free-candidates (find_free_for_job over MCP), draft and send with draft_job_availability_asks and send_availability_asks, and candidates carry availability_source and availability_confirmed_at in the API.

Contractors to check in with

The Contractors page and home show a line like "14 contractors to check in with". Two kinds of contractor are on it:

  • Finishing soon: their contract ends in the next 8 weeks and no one has confirmed when they are free since those 8 weeks began. The line reads "Finishes 13 Nov, no free date confirmed". A contract planned to go perm, or a contractor already placed in their next role, is left off.
  • Quiet: you have not heard from them in 30 days. A reply by email or WhatsApp, a logged call or a free date they confirmed all count as hearing from them. The line reads "Last heard from 6 weeks ago". A contractor with a next contact date still to come is never quiet: you already have a day to talk to them.

Anyone you asked in the last three weeks who has not replied yet stays off the list, so no one gets asked twice. Anyone marked do not approach is never on it. Click the line to see who is on it and why; click a name to open their contract.

"Draft 11 check-ins" writes one short ask for each contractor Lovelio can reach: on WhatsApp for someone who agreed to it (where your agency has WhatsApp switched on, see the WhatsApp card), otherwise by email. Finishing contractors are asked if they are free from the day after their contract ends; quiet ones are asked how the contract is going and whether the end date still stands. Read before you send: untick anyone, open any email to change every word, then Send, or Cancel. Nothing is ever sent without you pressing Send, and each email goes from you. Contractors with no email stay on the list with "No email, give them a call" until you log a call.

On home, "Draft check-ins" opens the Contractors page with the emails already being written. A reply with a date sets when they are free, marked as their own confirmation, and they drop off the list. Ask Lovelio and Slack can list them ("who should I check in with this week?") and draft the emails; you send them from the Contractors page. Connected apps and AI agents read the list at GET /v1/placements/check-ins (list_contractor_check_ins over MCP), draft with draft_contractor_check_ins and send with send_availability_asks, passing each placement_id.

Contracts ending with no plan

From 8 weeks before a contract ends, while it has no plan, the Contractors page shows a line like "3 contracts ending with no plan". Click it to see which ("Finishes 13 Nov, no plan yet"); click a name to open the contract.

"Draft 5 asks" writes two short emails per contract: one to the client contact ("Keep Priya past 13 Nov?") and one to the contractor ("Want to stay on past 13 Nov?"), on WhatsApp if they agreed to it. The client contact is the job's contact, else the client's main contact. A side with no email, a contractor marked do not approach, or a contractor already asked something in the last three weeks is left out. Read before you send: untick either, open any email to change every word, then Send, or Cancel. Nothing is ever sent without you pressing Send, and each email goes from you. The contract has the same ask for one contract: "Ask Sarah and Priya" under Extension ask on the left.

Sending the client's email sets the plan to Asked the client, so the no-plan reminders stop and the contract leaves the list. When they reply, by email to the thread or into a connected mailbox, within three weeks, Lovelio reads the answer once and notes it on the contract ("Sarah replied: keep Priya to 13 Feb"):

  • The client wants to extend: the plan stays Asked the client and the contract shows "Extend to 13 Feb" with the date filled in. You press it, check the rates, and save.
  • The client wants to take them on perm: the plan becomes Going perm.
  • The client says they finish as planned: the plan becomes Finishing.
  • The contractor is ready to finish: the plan becomes Finishing and the day after the contract, or the day they name, becomes their free date.
  • The contractor is happy to stay: nothing changes; the client decides.

An answer only sets a plan while the contract still ends on the day asked about and no one has picked another plan. An extension moves the end date, so the new end date can be asked about again in its own last 8 weeks. The no-plan reminders still run beside all of this. Ask Lovelio and Slack can list these contracts ("which contracts end with no plan?") and draft the emails; you send them from the Contractors page. Connected apps and AI agents read the list at GET /v1/placements/extension-asks (list_extension_asks over MCP), draft with draft_extension_asks and send with send_extension_asks, passing each placement_id and to (client or contractor).

Forecast

The Forecast view answers "what GP do our contractors make over the next 13 weeks?" for the whole agency, each team and each consultant. The consultant and team filters at the top narrow it like every other view; a team includes the teams inside it.

  • GP next 13 weeks (the run-off): charge rate minus pay rate for every contract running or starting, week by week from this week, stopping at each contract's end date. It assumes nobody extends; an extension moves the end date and the run-off grows.
  • GP this week and Working this week: this week's slice of the same figure.
  • Ending in 13 weeks: contracts whose end date falls inside the window.
  • GP by week: thirteen bars, this week in pink. A dot under a week means a public holiday falls in it.
  • By team and By consultant: the same figures for each team (a parent team adds up its sub-teams) and each consultant, busiest first. Contracts whose consultant has no team show as No team.
  • Document issues: contractors with a document missing, expired, running out before the contract ends or waiting to be checked. Click the number to open the Documents view for that team or consultant.

Money in different currencies is shown side by side, never converted. A contract with no rates or no start date is counted but left out of the money, and the page says how many.

The standard week

Hourly and daily rates turn into a week on your agency's standard week: 38 hours in Australia, 37.5 in the UK, 39 in Ireland, 40 in New Zealand, the US and Canada, and 40 anywhere else. A daily rate counts 5 days a week; a weekly rate is the week. An admin can change it in Settings > Company > Profile (Standard week); leave it blank to follow your country. The same week sets GP a week on the List and the expected GP saved on a contract placement, which is the figure quotas count. Changing it moves the Forecast and GP a week straight away; expected GP already saved on a placement stays until its rates change.

Public holidays

The run-off takes public holidays off hourly and daily contractors, using the calendar where each contractor works: Australia by state, the UK by nation (England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland), New Zealand with regional anniversary days, Ireland and the US. A contractor on a weekly rate is paid through public holidays, so nothing comes off. The Forecast lists the holidays in the 13 weeks for each place your contractors work. For a country Lovelio has no calendar for yet, it says so and takes no days off. GP a week on the List is a plain standard week, without holidays.

Asking and connecting

Ask Lovelio and Slack answer "what GP do our contractors make over the next 13 weeks, by team?" (get_contractor_report). In Ask Lovelio Analytics you can ask for contractors working, contract GP this week, contract GP next 13 weeks and contractors with document issues, by client, consultant or team; there the team is the consultant's own team, not rolled up to a parent. Connected apps and AI agents read the same report on GET /v1/placements/contractor-report (team_id and owner_id narrow it; money needs placements:financials:read), and get_contractor_report over MCP.

Next contact

Every live contract (waiting to start or working) can carry a next contact date: the day you next talk to that contractor. There is no fixed rhythm; you pick the day each time.

  • After a call or email: logging a call with a contractor, or sending them an email, asks "Next contact with Priya on" with a calendar open. Pick a day and Save, or Skip. The check-ins and extension asks carry a date on every contractor's row, and "Next contact for everyone on" sets them all at once; each date saves once that ask has gone.
  • On the list: the Next contact column shows the date, "Today", or Set. Click it to pick or change the day; Clear removes it. Sort by it to see who is next; contracts with no date sort to the bottom.
  • In the placement panel: the Next contact line under Contract ends does the same.
  • In your calendar: the date is an all-day event, "Contact Priya (Acme)", in the Lovelio calendar and in your Outlook or Google calendar if it is connected. Move it to another day there and the date moves in Lovelio; delete it there and the date is cleared.
  • On the day: at 8am on your own clock, on a weekday, you get a bell and an email ("You picked today to contact Priya about their contract at Acme"), and a WhatsApp message if your agency has WhatsApp switched on and your own WhatsApp is linked. Once per date. A date on a weekend is reminded on the Monday. The reminder goes to the contract's consultant, or the longest-standing admin when it has none.
  • On home: "3 contractors to contact today, 1 past the date", with a link to the list sorted by next contact. A date stays on that line for 7 days after it passes; after that the contractor goes back to the quiet rule.

Changing the consultant moves the calendar event to the new consultant. Ending or converting the contract removes it. Ask Lovelio and Slack can set it ("next contact with Priya on Friday"). Connected apps and AI agents read next_contact_on on GET /v1/placements and GET /v1/placements/{id}, and set it with PATCH /v1/placements/{id} (update_placement over MCP, patch.next_contact_on as YYYY-MM-DD, or null to clear); log_call returns the contract it could set.