Contractor v Client Notice Periods

[LondonManc]

You negotiate or substitute.

Or terminate as per the rights of your contract.

[northernladuk]

Or terminate as per the rights of your contract.

Indeed but the whole point of my statement is you don't need to. You can exit gracefully without bothering with notice and the client can bin you on the spot without it as well...

If you think it provides you any safety then you would be wrong... unless you were a permie.

[LondonManc]

Indeed but the whole point of my statement is you don't need to. You can exit gracefully without bothering with notice and the client can bin you on the spot without it as well...

If you think it provides you any safety then you would be wrong... unless you were a permie.

Jeepers, I'd have thought you knew me better than to think I would expect any notice; anything more than signing off the current day is a bonus. Typically bigger places honour notice periods though.

[northernladuk]

Jeepers, I'd have thought you knew me better than to think I would expect any notice; anything more than signing off the current day is a bonus. Typically bigger places honour notice periods though.

I do indeed and did wonder why this chain. On the whole clients do tend to honour them, sometimes through decent planning so the end dates dovetail, other times because they are so used to dealing with permies they don't realise they don't have to and also because it's the right thing to do in the end. But it shouldn't be taken for granted.

[ShandyDrinker]

It does happen.

I've been hired to do ".Net development" and a few weeks after starting discover it is really mainly production support on old versions with very little development (and yes I explicitly asked at the interview and it was kept from me), and then asked to make changes to MS Access spaghetti apps that should have been thrown out 10 years ago.

Last contract I was on one dev only took the role as the client said he would learn AngularJS only to discover after he started they're not even using it.

Another dev started and did nothing but testing for months as the testers were behind.

When positions are misrepresented (among other reasons) a contractor needs a reasonable notice period.

In the examples you state above I would suggest that the misrepresentation in of a role constitutes a breach of contract and would be discussing with the client/agency on that basis, irrespective of notice clauses. If you're not doing the work you were brought in to do then in reality there can be no contract. However, this assumes that the contract contains a decent description of services/technologies used in the contract.

[LondonManc]

I do indeed and did wonder why this chain. On the whole clients do tend to honour them, sometimes through decent planning so the end dates dovetail, other times because they are so used to dealing with permies they don't realise they don't have to and also because it's the right thing to do in the end. But it shouldn't be taken for granted.

All hypothetical but I'm thinking more about the notion of a rate cut forced on you at short notice (happened to me about 4 years ago). They've got you over a barrel, which isn't a great way to build a business relationship. Why should I worry about serving notice if they don't worry about how they treat you?

[northernladuk]

All hypothetical but I'm thinking more about the notion of a rate cut forced on you at short notice (happened to me about 4 years ago). They've got you over a barrel, which isn't a great way to build a business relationship. Why should I worry about serving notice if they don't worry about how they treat you?

I guess you shouldn't but that's going a bit off topic.

[MrMarkyMark]

All hypothetical but I'm thinking more about the notion of a rate cut forced on you at short notice (happened to me about 4 years ago). They've got you over a barrel, which isn't a great way to build a business relationship. Why should I worry about serving notice if they don't worry about how they treat you?

Usually with a rate cut, though, it's on a take it or leave it basis? Also, as I have said before, some never get them, even if it's an across the board policy...talking to people can help

I agree, on the surface of it, unequal, notice periods seem to mean very little...but..

Negotiation means a hell of a lot. Those first conversations, prior to getting on site, can really make a difference to both your impact / influence on the project and how you are treated later on.

[Contreras]

I just got new contract through, its only 3m, and has the agency/client can give my Ltd company 1 weeks notice, yet the company has to give it 4 weeks.

In the past, overseas and here, I always have negotiated/demanded it be equal, usually ending up as 2 weeks each way. But searching on here it seems contractors are saying thats not a good idea? Is that right?

It's quite possible that the contract between agency-client is 1-week either way, but the agency are trying it on with 4-weeks from the Ltd to agency.

If you've preferred to negotiate shorter/equal terms in the past then there is no reason why you shouldn't do the same again.

As to the best terms, generally or wrt IR35, this has been argued every which way short/long/equal/unequal/no notice. Only for permies? haha. There isn't a definitive right or wrong, except IMHO that the contract should align with expectations and intent even if some clauses can effectively be trumped by others.

[zappakat]

I'm currently negotiating my extension based on this point. It's currently weighted 4 weeks to 1 in the clients favour and I've asked for that to be reduced by 50% before I will sign it.

For those stating notice periods are for permies can I ask how you go about terminating it early and breaking your contract without causing issues?

In my role I'm assuming the notice period is there for me to provide ample handover. I can't see them wanting to finish it earlier just because the contractor asked them to..