Ending a contract early

[psychocandy]

If everything falls right, what's to stop you doing both at the same time for a couple of (busy) weeks? Answering some emails from gig#1 during the downtime/breaks in #2 then putting in the meat of the work for #1 when you get home?

Nah cant see that working to be honest. New place is wanted me there on site asap.

[northernladuk]

If everything falls right, what's to stop you doing both at the same time for a couple of (busy) weeks? Answering some emails from gig#1 during the downtime/breaks in #2 then putting in the meat of the work for #1 when you get home?

Erm, because you are being paid to do a full day by your current client and the old one will probably expect the same. Either way, not gonna fit in with either.

[LondonManc]

Nah cant see that working to be honest. New place is wanted me there on site asap.

Do you have a substitution clause?

[amanwhoisquiet]

Nah cant see that working to be honest. New place is wanted me there on site asap.

Erm, because you are being paid to do a full day by your current client and the old one will probably expect the same. Either way, not gonna fit in with either.

I was on about the OP's thing rather than yours PC, and as the OP said the current gig is fully WFH and just marketing/maintenance then there might be some scope to do that staggered over a day/eve/wkend or some other arrangement. That's why I said if everything falls right. I'm sure this is absolutely being done from time to time by a non-zero amount of contractors. If the #1 contract does specify particular hours, then yes, you'd be just ripping them off by taking on another at the same time - although there must be people doing this as well.

[psychocandy]

Do you have a substitution clause?

Yep. But never going to fly in practice.

[SlipTheJab]

Yep. But never going to fly in practice.

So you offer them the sub, they refuse, contract broken, you walk, simples

[northernladuk]

So you offer them the sub, they refuse, contract broken, you walk, simples

Not as simple as that I am afraid. We covered that option in another thread recently.

Plus you've just shot a major pillar of your IR35 defense in the foot.

[LondonManc]

Yep. But never going to fly in practice.

Flying might help if the M4 is knackered again. Ho hum.

[waynek]

Depending on your experience, skillset and SME knowledge you will likely find yourself in this position many times. There is no right or wrong answer - you simply need to weigh up the pros and cons and make a business decision.

If you do decide to leave early - provided you manage it in a professional way and you maintain a high level of proficiency in your given field then I do not see why new contracts will be rejected across the board. When business / projects change direction or lose funding then the client will go through a decision process to potentially reduce head count and will not hesitate to trigger a release clause.

Some questions to consider:
- How long will you remain contracting for?
- What future benefit will the existing / new contract bring to your business (beyond the invoice amount possible for the 6 months or so)
- What will either role add to your marketability for future roles

Once confirmed make the decision and move on and be up front and honest to all parties.

[Jordan]

Apologies for taking a while to respond, just want to say thank you for the feedback and ideas.

Ultimately, I decided to stay with the current contract until it ends and actively look for new opportunities closer to then. To be clear: I was referred to the other contract I was interested in by a friend but didn't go beyond speaking to a recruiter to determine if it would have been a good match.

(To save future readers time, I've edited my opening post to add links to some of the other threads I read while trying to reach a decision.)