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

[northernladyuk]

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)

Did I regret in in my 20s & 30s - oh no. This is probably a passing phase. I haven't done office politics in 2 decades. Contracting after 40 in the current market is a different concept however. Luckily I just mortgaged my soul for some cars so I can go bankrupt and contract for Yodel.

What kind of hours have your school peers been putting in?

[Snarf]

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

I met a guy once that landed an IR35 investigation 3 months into his first contract with almost no war chest and no insurance to cover accountants fees... He regretted it quite a bit.

[MrButton]

I met a guy once that landed an IR35 investigation 3 months into his first contract with almost no war chest and no insurance to cover accountants fees... He regretted it quite a bit.

That’s a bit tulip.

But at least his liabilities would be tiny having only 3 months worth of billing.

Surprised HMRC would even bother.

[northernladuk]

That’s a bit tulip.

But at least his liabilities would be tiny having only 3 months worth of billing.

Surprised HMRC would even bother.

You shouldn't be. Don't underestimate them.

[pauldee]

I met a guy once that landed an IR35 investigation 3 months into his first contract with almost no war chest and no insurance to cover accountants fees... He regretted it quite a bit.

How much difference could there be in 3 months between being in and out of IR35?

[pr1]

I met a guy once that landed an IR35 investigation 3 months into his first contract with almost no war chest and no insurance to cover accountants fees... He regretted it quite a bit.

You shouldn't be. Don't underestimate them.

It's the guy that's been in a contract for 6 years that should be worried... 3 months is nothing

Also, not sure how they would even know who he is in the first 3 months? Did he royally f##k up his first VAT return or something? Very close to calling bs!

[TonyF]

I met a guy once that landed an IR35 investigation 3 months into his first contract with almost no war chest and no insurance to cover accountants fees... He regretted it quite a bit.

After only three months, it shouldn't have made any difference. Unless he was paying dividends from the profit that had been retained in the three months, which is always a risky proposition since there is no guarantee that that profiut will be there at the end of the year.

I don't believe this story for one second. How much could he have paid in dividends by that stage? Why wouldn't he just move to paying salary or putting money into a pension? With only twelve weeks worth of work (and maybe only having received payment for eight of those, depending on invoice and payment cycle) there just wouldn't be enough to warrent not declaring yourself inside IR35 as soon as the investigation starts and leaving the contract for something else.

[billybiro]

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

Yes, but "probation" periods are getting longer and longer and it's not uncommon to see probation periods of 6 - 12 months these days.

Why is this relevant? Because your notice period is usually no longer than 1 week, and sometimes as short as "immediately" during the probation period.

So, if you do get paid for notice not worked when the employer gets rid of you, you're getting paid a very small sum of money indeed (if indeed anything at all). OP was correct when he insinuated that being a permie (at least for the first few years / the length of the probation period) is really no "safer" than being a contractor.