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When is a 6 month contract not a 6 month contract
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Originally posted by Untouchable1 View PostThat clears that up then - thanks.
Untouchable1The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't existComment
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I'm of the view that a 6 month contract is one where you leave 6 months after you start.
I've yet to put any credence into contract duration. There is no greater value to a contractor of a "6 month contract" or a "1 month rolling contract" or in my case a 3 month contract which is about to go into it's 6th extension (I really need to change jobs, I've been here longer than some permies)...Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magicComment
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Lets' be a little more precise here....
Our contracts are either for the delivery if a given "thing", such as a workable product up and running in BaU, or for a service such as producing code for a series of project-related deliverables or expertise in a given field such as proposal costing or service design or security or whatever on an as needs basis.
If you do no productive work under either grouping for any reason, you have no claim to being paid for it. That's why companies use contractors after all.
If you are working to deliver something to a fixed price, then duration is irrelevant (unless of course delivering it by a given date is a requirement) and you get paid the same as long as it's delivered regardless of how long it takes (hence IBOYO, and the ability to make money by delivering early)
In every other case you are providing a resource on a call off basis; the budget underpinning your contract does not entitle you to any more money that you get for days worked. If the work stops after three days, well that's a shame but hey, you wanted to be a contractor.
HTH. BIDI.Blog? What blog...?Comment
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Originally posted by Untouchable1 View Post
What I haven't got my head around is if you sign a 6 month contract with a business, why many people on this forum believe that the business can simply ask you not to turn up for work and then not pay you.
2. As a contractor you are a flexible resource. The project you are working on may be for another organisation, this organisation maybe internal or external, and your client may be the intermediary. If your client isn't going to get the full payment from that other organisation for the project due to some issues outside their control they need to have the option to terminate their contractor contracts. Again it's up to the contractor to negotiate a termination penalty in the contract.
If you want stability you need to become a permanent employee as organisations also do this with larger consulting companies.One client I had was so frustrated with the performance of another large company they asked to do some work for them, that for the final 3 months of the contract they didn't give them any work to ensure they didn't have to pay them further."You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JRComment
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Couple of things that spring to mind here... and most have been done but again..
Clauses in your contract will say payment upon sign time sheet and also agent will only pay if client pays so if there is no work to do you can't get paid. If it's in the contract it's a fact. No one seems to complain when the client requests you don't come in over the xmas period, or bank holidays. You are a contractor, you are available to work. The client is not offering you work over these days so you don't bill/don't get paid. Most people already do it without thinking about it so why get upset when he does the same thing at the end of the gig?
There is also the situation that this doesn't happen a lot and I am sure there are more cases of contractors bailing out of gigs early and breaching contract than there are clients. We just get upset when a client does it to us and put it down to us looking after ourselves when we do it to them. If everyone starts suing and it becomes common practice to uphold terms of contract I have have a feeling contractors would lose out in the long run.
All that said there is a really interesting page on another contractor site listing a pages of links to legal issues facing contractors and a section on termination.
Legal: Contractor Legal Information for UK contractors
One in particular deals with this question which would indicate you have every right to full payment but
How contractors should handle being terminated
in another article linked below Roger Sinclair does say
As Roger Sinclair, a lawyer specialising in contractor affairs with the London-based Egos legal consultancy points out, you do have a right to payment for all of the time you actually worked up to the end of the period of notice.
I'm of the view that a 6 month contract is one where you leave 6 months after you start.
Gotta put all this in perspective though. The percentage of terminations without notice compared to clients that do honour notice or the end of the contract is pretty bloody small.'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!Comment
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Originally posted by Untouchable1 View Post
What I haven't got my head around is if you sign a 6 month contract with a business, why many people on this forum believe that the business can simply ask you not to turn up for work and then not pay you.
Same as if I had to give them a notice period but then didn't honour it because of MOO. I just wouldn't expect to ever be asked back.Comment
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