Question: I was offered a job by a US software company.
On my first day at work they told me they couldn't actually hire me for legal and technical reasons.

So, now they want me to be a consultant and to become self-employed.

I had plans to buy a house in UK soon, and now I won't be able to do it unless I provide at least 24 months of invoices as self-employed.

Nobody is taking responsibility, they are blaming their 'solicitors'.

Therefore, my question is: how can I handle this situation (sudden request to change contract) in a professional way?

Answer: 
> 
> they added a new clause where the company might sue me to hell and back if they find it appropriate
> 
> 
> 

That's a contract that I might be disinclined to sign.

For example as an employee I wouldn't expect to be *sued* if someone finds a fault in software that I've written (because I expect them to test it too, etc.) ... but as an contractor (perhaps a.k.a. "independent supplier") I'm not so sure. What if they were sued by *their* client, and they tried to deflect the liability onto me?

They may allow you to tweak the wording of the contract slightly (before you sign it, assuming your request is reasonable and they want to employ you).

For example I once altered a contract so that it said I could expect to be sued in the case of "gross negligence", instead of just "negligence" (I decided there's a difference between negligence and gross negligence and the latter would be more difficult to prove).

If you are going to be self-employed, here's quite an interesting video I watched recently on the subject of legalities -- [Mike Monteiro: F\*ck You, Pay Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVkLVRt6c1U)
At first sight it looks like there is a good legal case against the USA Company. However UK employment law gives very little protection to someone until they have been in a job for some time. Assuming the notice period on the employment offer was 1 month, the most you are likely to win from the company in a legal case is 1 month’s wages. (But you may get them to pay you 3 months wages, if they don’t wish their name to be all over the papers.)

**But trying to force a company outside of the UK to pay up, even when ordered by a UK court is expensive and likely to fail.**

Don’t sign a consultant contract with them in your personal name without getting very good legal advice!

Tell them you will need to consult with a UK lawyer on your return to the UK before you agree to anything. Get them to pay ALL your expensive for the trip the USA cleared in your bank account, before rejecting any offer they make!

If you create a limited company in the UK, and only sign any contracts in the company name you can protect yourself from most risks of them suing you. **To cover the costs of running the company etc, expect to get “paid” double what you would in a “job”.**

Personally I would get as much compensation out of them as possible due to them misleading you about the job and you leaving your past job, then find some other work. **Life is too short to a setup as complex as what they are trying to get you into.**