Cancel contract after one week

[northernladuk]

Never understood how its perfectly legal to claim JSA whilst on the bench, you are still employed by your company and most lightly getting a salary from it, plus surely you would have a war chest and therefore would have more than 6k in savings.

Indeed but sadly he is right you can. It's like a big fat 70 odd quid a week though. Depends on how desperate you are. Costs more in petrol for my Jag attending interviews though...

[psychocandy]

Never understood how its perfectly legal to claim JSA whilst on the bench, you are still employed by your company and most lightly getting a salary from it, plus surely you would have a war chest and therefore would have more than 6k in savings.

You need to provide a P45 to yourself and stop paying salary. Bit of a grey area but its advisable to stop dividends too.

Not sure of the limit now but its a lot more than £6K I think for savings....

I've had discussions with senior people at the jobcentre in the past about this and they are happy. Its because you are "temporarily without work" or "laid off due to lack of work" - that is all above board.

The jobcentre staff are perfectly happy to allow this. From they're point of view, they are happy to pay out for someone temporarily who they know will sort themselves out with something else shortly, won't give them hassle, or make every attempt NOT to work. Unfortunately, they deal with people like this on a daily basis.

[MrMarkyMark]

You need to provide a P45 to yourself and stop paying salary. Bit of a grey area but its advisable to stop dividends too.

Not sure of the limit now but its a lot more than £6K I think for savings....

I've had discussions with senior people at the jobcentre in the past about this and they are happy. Its because you are "temporarily without work" or "laid off due to lack of work" - that is all above board.

The jobcentre staff are perfectly happy to allow this. From they're point of view, they are happy to pay out for someone temporarily who they know will sort themselves out with something else shortly, won't give them hassle, or make every attempt NOT to work. Unfortunately, they deal with people like this on a daily basis.

Taking out something from the system that someone else will need, morally bankrupt IMO.
I can't see £70 PW being needed by you, in any case, unless you spend most of your time on the bench.

[northernladuk]

I find myself in a situation relevant to this thread.

I have let myself become completely de-skilled and roles in my speciality are getting harder to come by. In my current role, I am not really developing anything, more like hand-holding some testing with a little bit of dev thrown in.

The client, who have been very good over the years, have made it clear that when this project goes live my contract will no longer be renewed. Fair enough, that's the way contracting works.

However, there is a role that has come up elsewhere, that is a strong development role in my skillset, with the possibility of getting exposure to some newer technology as well. I have no idea what the rate is, higher or lower than I'm currently on.

I am torn between seeing out my current contract or going for this other role (with no guarantee of getting it of course). If I get it, I would have to give notice on my current contract. There are others here doing the same stuff, so my client wouldn't really be left in the lurch if I did leave. I doubt they'd be happy, but they would cope.

What would the panel do in my place?

Negotiate it with the client then. I don't agree because others do the same as you leads to the assumption he won't be in the lurch though. Put a plan to him to hand over to someone that dovetails with your requirements and see if he buys it. If you have a good relationship with him he might say yes and everyone is happy.

If not they you have a decision to make. You have a client that has been good to you and may call you back if you are needed in the future. Your three options are negotiate an amicable release, honour the contract for potential returns or just dump him in the lurch and burn your bridges. As you can see from the heated debate here it's purely your choice as it's down to your opinion.

Just a thought though. If we all ditched our clients as soon as we know we won't be extended what would the contracting market look like and how would clients treat us.

Your call.

[northernladuk]

Taking out something from the system that someone else will need, morally bankrupt IMO.
I can't see £70 PW being needed by you, in any case, unless you spend most of your time on the bench.

Indeed but same poster would drop his clients in a heartbeat to suit himself. He has a mercenary attitude to everything so being morally wrong isn't an issue. It's down to personal choice this one I am afraid. The rules sadly say it can be done.

[MrMarkyMark]

Indeed but same poster would drop his clients in a heartbeat to suit himself. He has a mercenary attitude to everything so being morally wrong isn't an issue. It's down to personal choice this one I am afraid. The rules sadly say it can be done.

And we wonder why he, constantly, has so many problems running his show .

[gables]

You need to provide a P45 to yourself and stop paying salary. Bit of a grey area but its advisable to stop dividends too.

Not sure of the limit now but its a lot more than £6K I think for savings....

I've had discussions with senior people at the jobcentre in the past about this and they are happy. Its because you are "temporarily without work" or "laid off due to lack of work" - that is all above board.

The jobcentre staff are perfectly happy to allow this. From they're point of view, they are happy to pay out for someone temporarily who they know will sort themselves out with something else shortly, won't give them hassle, or make every attempt NOT to work. Unfortunately, they deal with people like this on a daily basis.

Personally I think it's disgraceful.

My girlfriend can't get JSA at the moment due to not having paid enough NI in the last three years (who thought that rule I don't know) despite having been employed for over 30 years!! She decided on a career change from nursing, she went a did a degree and whilst doing that had part time work (limited to 16 hours by course) so it's not like she hasn't paid anything.

Yet contractors on the bench can claim it, ffs!!

[psychocandy]

Taking out something from the system that someone else will need, morally bankrupt IMO.
I can't see £70 PW being needed by you, in any case, unless you spend most of your time on the bench.

Claiming for travel expenses that the permie sitting next to you has to pay out of his taxed income, setting your salary level so you don't pay any NI, then using dividends and splitting them with your spouse to mimize tax = morally bankrupt in some peoples eyes.

Claiming JSA is not as if its taking it out of someone elses pocket is it? Yes its not a great deal but be on the bench for 3 month and it adds up. 13x£72 is my morgage paid for another month or so.

Be on the bench for two weeks and you'll think bugger wasted all that time doing the forms for £150. Be on the bench for 3 months, you'll be thinking, hhm warchest is going, that £1000 would have been handy. But its too late to backdate it.

But to answer you're question, in the last 4-5 years, Ive had two weeks on the bench, then three months on the bench. For the 2 weeks one, I wish I hadnt bothered, for 3 months Im glad I did.

BTW. Ever been to a jobcentre and seen the pondlife hanging around? There are bigger issues with benefits then people like me claiming for a few months and genuniely looking for work

[psychocandy]

Indeed but same poster would drop his clients in a heartbeat to suit himself. He has a mercenary attitude to everything so being morally wrong isn't an issue. It's down to personal choice this one I am afraid. The rules sadly say it can be done.

Just for the record, I have never quit a contract with no notice period. I have only ever left a contract early - and that was a week early giving notice - client was fine about it for a contract that wasnt extending. And only once have I declined a renewal and gone to do something else.

[psychocandy]

Personally I think it's disgraceful.

My girlfriend can't get JSA at the moment due to not having paid enough NI in the last three years (who thought that rule I don't know) despite having been employed for over 30 years!! She decided on a career change from nursing, she went a did a degree and whilst doing that had part time work (limited to 16 hours by course) so it's not like she hasn't paid anything.

Yet contractors on the bench can claim it, ffs!!

I believe the rules are that you need to have earned over the minimum threshold in the last two years. Of course, as we all know, we can pay ourselves salary to exceed this so you get credited with NI but not actually pay any.

Unfortunately, I don't make the rules but I think this two year thing is a little unfair. Like in your girlfriends case where shes worked previously. Plenty of people out where have never worked and never intend to can claim.