FTC any pitfuls to be aware of

[MonkeysUncle]

Hi all
Potentially going to be taking on an FTC role with an option of going perm at the end.
It's 6 months at my day rate then if all goes well a perm position.

Am I right in thinking an FTC at my day rate will work out the same as an inside role in terms of take home?

From those taken a FTC, anything I need to be aware (first time for me)

MU

Sent from my LYA-L09 using Contractor UK Forum mobile app

[northernladuk]

FTC is nothing like inside. Don't try compare them. Forget what it might compare as, just look at the value and see if you are happy with it. Sod all you can do about it anyway.

You can find what your take home you can use a PAYE calculator but again what can you do about it? You could also go back to the employer and ask them to work it out as they'll be running it and should be able to tell you exactly what it is. You are employed by them now so you need to be speaking to them first.

Nothing much to be aware of. You've got an employment contract. The one key point is that you have no future there past the FTC end date. They do not have to offer you the job at the end and they can roll the FTC on and on for two years at which point they have to legally employ you or drop you like a hot stone. Don't get too comfortable thinking you've got a dead cert job at the end of it. Just because you are employed you've got to work your best. Don't get your feet under the desk and start slacking. F**king horrible things FTCs.

[Eirikur]

Hi all
Potentially going to be taking on an FTC role with an option of going perm at the end.
It's 6 months at my day rate then if all goes well a perm position.

Am I right in thinking an FTC at my day rate will work out the same as an inside role in terms of take home?

From those taken a FTC, anything I need to be aware (first time for me)

MU

Sent from my LYA-L09 using Contractor UK Forum mobile app

I have never seen an FTC which offers the same as a day rate, most of them are less then average salaries. £50k pa max where you can achieve a day rate of £550 on a contract for the same job

[northernladuk]

I have never seen an FTC which offers the same as a day rate most of them are less then average salaries. £50k pa max where you can achieve a day rate of £550

This is a pretty new thing in the last few years. It is fall out from the IR35 rules so they've just bunged a contractor that would have been inside into FTC but the framework and payments still work on day rates. We did have a thread on this change when they first started appear but I can't seem to find it.

EDIT : Can't find it. It started with your exact question and we dug in to it. It raised issues about the difference between the perm rate at the end which is unlikely to dovetail with the daily rate.

So OP. There is something to check. What is your monthly take home on daily rate FTC and what will it be as perm. If the FTC is indeed contract related it could be more than perm.

[edison]

This is a pretty new thing in the last few years. It is fall out from the IR35 rules so they've just bunged a contractor that would have been inside into FTC but the framework and payments still work on day rates. We did have a thread on this change when they first started appear but I can't seem to find it.

I've seen FTC become more common at my last client for junior to mid-manager level roles and for roles I've been approached for since. The last one was £120k p.a. FTC for a year for a role that would probably have been around £750-800 day rate before. That's roughly 70% of the day rate...

FTC always struck me as the worst of both worlds - little of the benefits of flexibility being a contractor and not much of the benefit of being a permie.

[MonkeysUncle]

This is a pretty new thing in the last few years. It is fall out from the IR35 rules so they've just bunged a contractor that would have been inside into FTC but the framework and payments still work on day rates. We did have a thread on this change when they first started appear but I can't seem to find it.

EDIT : Can't find it. It started with your exact question and we dug in to it. It raised issues about the difference between the perm rate at the end which is unlikely to dovetail with the daily rate.

So OP. There is something to check. What is your monthly take home on daily rate FTC and what will it be as perm. If the FTC is indeed contract related it could be more than perm.

Thanks all
Yes the FTC is in response to Ir35 hence day rate for 9 months and then perm option after.
They have already said the perm will be less than the day rate but this is negotiable.

It's a good company and tbh the contractor market isnt great right now.
I would rather be in an FTC then nothing at all.





Sent from my LYA-L09 using Contractor UK Forum mobile app

[northernladuk]

Thanks all
Yes the FTC is in response to Ir35 hence day rate for 9 months and then perm option after.
They have already said the perm will be less than the day rate but this is negotiable.

So this is where I'd be concerned. There are three ways of getting people in. Contractor outside for short piece of work, contractor inside for short piece of work or FTC to perm so the client can drop you if they change their mind. Did I mention that FTC's are ****ing horrible?

The fact they are mixing it as response to IR35 tells me it was option two shoved in to option three. Option two was never for a full time role. Still contract. So I'd be worried they want a short term contractor rather than an FTC to perm. It seems to be a mix of two difference requirements that would worry me. It's a bit smoke and mirrors. I could be totally wrong and their intention is to fill a perm slot with FTC then take you on but as soon as you bring in inside IR35 I start to wonder.

I would push for the perm pay first. Even inside the perm pay could be much different. You could get a horrible surprise when it lands. How are you going to feel when you get offered a perm role doing what you do now for 20% less. That's gonna sting.

It's a good company and tbh the contractor market isnt great right now.
I would rather be in an FTC then nothing at all.

Absolutely but I'd be very wary of the perm option if that is something you were really after? if you are happy to treat it as a short term inside gig and happy to leave when the perm offer appears then fill your boots.

[PCTNN]

FTC always struck me as the worst of both worlds - little of the benefits of flexibility being a contractor and not much of the benefit of being a permie.

FTCs have changed: you now by law get most, if not all of the benefits that permie staff get (holidays, sick pay, bonus, pension, and everything else).

FTCs are basically permanent jobs with an end date. Nothing more nothing less.

[rocktronAMP]

Hi all
Potentially going to be taking on an FTC role with an option of going perm at the end.
It's 6 months at my day rate then if all goes well a perm position.

Am I right in thinking an FTC at my day rate will work out the same as an inside role in terms of take home?

From those taken a FTC, anything I need to be aware (first time for me)

MU

Sent from my LYA-L09 using Contractor UK Forum mobile app

I probably would think long and hard about FTC and then going permanent.

Are they getting your services for free ? Missing training budgets, bonus, life assurance fees and matching pension contribs*: what is the employer getting out of it other than a contract of employment termination data?

What is the different between FTC and the Perm employee?

Are you going to be treated as second-class citizen politically? Will you have power in the meetings?


*PCTNN has corrected me here in the next post.

I suppose an FTC operating through an employment agent is more vulnerable. So OP, what FTC is this? Direct with Client Co or Indirect with Client Co.

If FTC is an indirect through an EA to the ClientCo then I would have valid concerns, because usually an EA has anti-competitive clauses in the contracts. You cannot contract directly with the Client Co for 6 months after the contract, usually. But this is different as it is an employment thing so I don't know for sure.

[edison]

FTCs have changed: you now by law get most, if not all of the benefits that permie staff get (holidays, sick pay, bonus, pension, and everything else).

FTCs are basically permanent jobs with an end date. Nothing more nothing less.

I was aware of the financial benefits you mention but was thinking more about career growth, promotion etc. I've started seeing some 3 year FTC roles which seems pointless.