Contract Termination - Client no longer requires, for any reason, Company Services

[PermieToContractorAndBack]

Um me? With my school peers hitting CxOs of investment banks & FTSE companies I very much regret it in retrospect. I had an absolute blast from 93-00 but since the PWD was introduced....

A conversation with a techy who used to sit next to me over for dinner last week who quit his employer after 14 months because he had maxed out his accelerator at GBP 1M in 2017 to be snapped up by a rival who did not cap was a solid dose of reality. (Longest sentence ever but can't be arsed to grammer)

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I don't know your peers but I know people. Pinch of salt for all of the above.

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[clearedforlanding]

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I don't know your peers but I know people. Pinch of salt for all of the above.

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Sadly I know all of them personally as I organised our reunion 3 years ago. And the techy is my best man to be. It is miserable.

[PermieToContractorAndBack]

Sadly I know all of them personally as I organised our reunion 3 years ago. And the techy is my best man to be. It is miserable.

Fair enough. I contracted with someone a few months ago who used to hold a very senior position at a well known (and hated) tobacco company. He took great care to conceal his ups and downs (well, his downs) from his peers.

But obviously that doesn't always apply. You must have gone to a very good school.

[quackhandle]

Right oh, thanks for the heads up

Post wasn't aimed at you.

qh

[quackhandle]

I have never met anyone that regretted trying to get into contracting.

That's because they went back to being permy.

qh

[LondonPM1]

All you noobies and lurkers, please read and try and understand this thread before you decide to "gonna give that contracting thing a go"

qh

All you experienced contractors please be aware that this can happen to a perm in the first two years of work

So stop coming out with all the risks you take to warrant an increased day rate....

[MrButton]

All you experienced contractors please be aware that this can happen to a perm in the first two years of work

So stop coming out with all the risks you take to warrant an increased day rate....

It can. But they will pay your notice period. Which is typically 3 months nowadays.

[PermieToContractorAndBack]

All you experienced contractors please be aware that this can happen to a perm in the first two years of work

So stop coming out with all the risks you take to warrant an increased day rate....

It happened to me after 4 years and 8 months with a company. The difference is, I got a payoff the equivalent of 6 months gross salary tax free plus my notice period.

Most contracts will stipulate that you have to be paid or given a notice period - as someone else said - if you get it past the first month or probation. In my last permie role there was no probation, it went permanent straight away.
They also had a pension scheme for every pound I paid in for up to 5% of my gross salary, they paid in 2.

With permie roles you also have a proper interview process and the company invests in you, there is HR protection.

Nowhere near the same ballpark

[pauldee]

No employment protection for the first two years. If you factor in holiday and possible sick pay into your day rate, then apart from a 3% contribution to your pension I don't see any advantage in being permie anymore.

[PermieToContractorAndBack]

No employment protection for the first two years. If you factor in holiday and possible sick pay into your day rate, then apart from a 3% contribution to your pension I don't see any advantage in being permie anymore.

There is no employee protection beyond 2 years either, my sister's boyfriend never had his redundancy money paid because the company pretended to re-employ him.

Companies set budget and headcount aside for permanent staff, it is usually in management's interest to keep the number of staff because building up the headcount is difficult, politically. Permanent teams also usually have a better established reason to exist.

You get sick pay, you get paid holiday, you get maternity leave, you get paid notice period, you get a proper interview process where, if you are smart, you can assess the likelihood of a career.
You have HR protection against bullying, various forms of discrimination unless you are guilty of gross misconduct.

The only thing you can't do is take the company to court - which most people don't.

As a contractor, you have no form of protection at all, most of the time you have no way of telling what you are getting yourself into - in terms of feasibility of the project - until you start working there. No HR protection, you are the first person to get dumped if it starts going pear shaped.
Good projects go to permie staff first, there is no career progression, there is no headcount planning because contractors are seen as disposable resource. There is no training.

A good contract is also harder to get than a good permie job because you can't work your way up.