Notice period - holidays

[jobbyj]

Hi all, Hope you are well.

I have a legal question on notice periods for contracts. If a contract says I have to give 4 weeks notice for termination, and when I do that I am on leave for say the first 3 weeks of that, although maybe not ethical, does that mean I have breached the contract or not? I have had a quick scan and do not see any mention that the notice needs to be worked.

i appreciate the reputation issue, however a few of us are currently in a complex wrangle between a consultancy, the client, the agency - and so there is an understanding that we may need to look for other work - which softens the above

Can you advise please

[northernladyuk]

Hi all, Hope you are well.

I have a legal question on notice periods for contracts. If a contract says I have to give 4 weeks notice for termination, and when I do that I am on leave for say the first 3 weeks of that, although maybe not ethical, does that mean I have breached the contract or not? I have had a quick scan and do not see any mention that the notice needs to be worked.

i appreciate the reputation issue, however a few of us are currently in a complex wrangle between a consultancy, the client, the agency - and so there is an understanding that we may need to look for other work - which softens the above

Can you advise please

What does your contract say? One way of looking at a standard contract is that it is a framework in which services may be delivered if required and if delivered will be paid for, but with no obligation of either side.

If you are not worried about reputation, then you have a few options:

- Give notice and then advise them that you will be unavailable for three weeks
- Advise them that you will be unavailable for three weeks and then give notice
- Give notice and send a substitute, but offer to terminate the contract instead if they prefer not to accept the sub
- Give notice and advise that you are really pissed off and unmotivated but if they really want you to come in with that attitude, you will
- Give notice and advise that you are no longer washing for medical or religious purposes, but offer to terminate the contract instead if they prefer

[TheFaQQer]

If a contract says I have to give 4 weeks notice for termination, and when I do that I am on leave for say the first 3 weeks of that, although maybe not ethical, does that mean I have breached the contract or not?

You are unlikely to have breached the contract.

As long as you give the notice as specified in the contract, then that's all you need to do. I've not seen a contract which said that you are expected to provide your services during the notice period, but that doesn't mean that yours doesn't include something like that.

[jmo21]

There is a good chance agent and client will go absolutely mental, which you acknowledge in realising your reputation may take a hit, but also be aware, they may well try and withhold any outstanding invoice payments.

They are not supposed to do that of course, but be aware it may happen, and you may have to chase for payment.

[Hobosapien]

Holiday notice and contact ending notice are unrelated but may coincide.

You let the client know in advance, as much notice as possible, when you will be unavailable due to holidays. They then let you know if there's a problem in which case you negotiate a resolution. Some contractors have been known to cancel their holidays to meet the client's needs at the cost of their wife's needs resulting in or worse from the wife.

If contract notice happens to coincide with holiday notice then it just requires a discussion with the client about any impact and options to mitigate it if necessary and possible.

Be prepared for the client to terminate the contract early (they may have a shorter notice period on their side of the contract, sometime zero) if they see a problem and need to resource up for it.

[northernladuk]

You have to be more specific if you want a proper answer. Questions that spring to mind are..

Is this a genuine holiday or are you taking 3 weeks off to start another gig? One is an unfortunate coincidence, the other is a thinly veiled effort to circumvent your contractual obligation.

How much notice are you giving the client of the holiday? Are you service 4 week notice and then telling them you'll be off for 3 of them or have you already told them about the holiday and the notice period is an unfortunate coincidence.

I think the reasons behind what you are proposing make a big difference. A bit of clarity rather than a woolly hypothetical question with no background will help

[jobbyj]

You have to be more specific if you want a proper answer. Questions that spring to mind are..

Is this a genuine holiday or are you taking 3 weeks off to start another gig? One is an unfortunate coincidence, the other is a thinly veiled effort to circumvent your contractual obligation.

How much notice are you giving the client of the holiday? Are you service 4 week notice and then telling them you'll be off for 3 of them or have you already told them about the holiday and the notice period is an unfortunate coincidence.

I think the reasons behind what you are proposing make a big difference. A bit of clarity rather than a woolly hypothetical question with no background will help

thanks, first time poster

so i have told them about the holidays 3/4 months ago, that does not come as a surprise. i have a 4 week notice period, and so would be working only one week of that, the last week after the holiday.

thanks

[northernladyuk]

Is this a genuine holiday or are you taking 3 weeks off to start another gig? One is an unfortunate coincidence, the other is a thinly veiled effort to circumvent your contractual obligation.

What contractual obligation? Do you have a contractual obligation to provide services for the duration of your contract?

[TheFaQQer]

thanks, first time poster

so i have told them about the holidays 3/4 months ago, that does not come as a surprise. i have a 4 week notice period, and so would be working only one week of that, the last week after the holiday.

thanks

I suspect that if you give notice, you won't be working that last week either.

[northernladuk]

What contractual obligation? Do you have a contractual obligation to provide services for the duration of your contract?

It gets very complicated with unilateral and bilateral contracts and will all get lost in legal speak but there is some form of obligation within the contract to do the work offered and the client will pay if the work is done.

I would imagine if a contractor is using holidays as a way to circumvent his obligations the court won't be in his favour. They tend to favour the party that proves loss. They will take a different view if it was a pre-booked holiday and it's just unfortunate the client has just poorly managed the planning. I guess it comes down to the details of the case. If the contractor is in a new gig by week two of the notice he isn't serving it's going to be pretty obvious what the intention was and looks pretty much like breach.