Urgent: Do I Leave Perm 4 Immediate Contract!?

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Here go to:

http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/

and enter 23500

[mudskipper]

Because it may mean leaving on bad terms with my existing employers and I am not sure how much damage that would do to me.

So this is the only thing stopping you? The other advice re: security/travelling time/money isn't relevant then...

You have a contract with your employer. That contract (presumably) has a notice period. If you do not work that notice period, you are in breach of contract. Current employer may get nasty and go all legal on you, but probably won't. However, they are also extremely unlikely to give you a decent reference if asked. I'm not sure where they stand legally on paying you up to the date you walk if you're in breach of contract. If this is the only thing stopping you, then you should talk to them and see if you can come to some agreement to quit sooner - maybe a week for handovers etc. They may well feel it is in everyone's interest to let you go sooner.

[malvolio]

See, something else you don't know.

It's not me giving half the information needed. However, what's 95 x 365?

Then it's a long-standing rule of thumb that an annual salary divided by 1000 gives the equivalent hourly rate to stay on roughly the same take-home after all the various taxes and non-paying days are accounted for.

You know your salary so you work it out. Or go to and do it properly (another thing you don't know... Building up, aren't they?) . As others have said, you don't automagially make pots of money freelancing, it just looks like you do from the base numbers.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Thanks K2

I was thinking along those lines as well.

I know its a risk and I know it isn't as secure but I am willing to take that risk provided I can do the switch. So far the contracts on offer have been next day which I think is a bit cruel to my employer so I will wait for a 1 week one and then approach my employer about leaving in 1 week.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

It's not me giving half the information needed. However, what's 95 x 365?

since when did you calculate a daily rate based on weekends, bank holidays, sickness and every other day of the year?

Daily rate is based on 5 working days not 7.

[TheFaQQer]

Yes indeed I have done my sums.

Judging by the rest of your post, you have not. Or you have done them badly.

Considering that the contract rates (in my area of work) are 3 times the perm rates I could have done a straight division had I not done my sums. Let's say perm salary = 90/day and contract rate = 270/day, after holidays, sick, bank holidays, extra commute cost (+ B&B if needed) etc etc you come to the equivalent of £180/day which is aprox twice my perm salary. So I could cope on it for at least another 3 months (more if I can claim most back in expenses etc).

OK - permie salary is £20770 NET (£90 a day for 230 days, allowing for 20 days holiday). Plus your NI. Plus your PAYE. Plus any benefits that you get.

Contract rate (advertised) is £270. Minus your employers NI. Minus your employee NI (depending on your salary). Minus PAYE. Minus expenses (if you are going to be in London, then factor in £50 to stay in a fleapit. I stayed in a B&B in Morpeth of all places for £36 a night 6 years ago, so that's pretty cheap). Minus your insurance bill. Minus your accounting fees. Minus startup costs. Minus anything that you need to buy (I've had clients expect me to turn up with a laptop to hook into their system to work from).

Because it may mean leaving on bad terms with my existing employers and I am not sure how much damage that would do to me.

So - when are you ever going to be in a position to leave?

[malvolio]

since when did you calculate a daily rate based on weekends, bank holidays, sickness and every other day of the year?

Daily rate is based on 5 working days not 7.

Not if you're trying to compare like with like. Still what do I know, I've only been a freelance interim manager for 14 years... Stay perm, you're not good enough to go contracting.

[the average man]

You sound like you're going to keep asking questions until you hear the answer you want to hear.

[TheFaQQer]

You sound like you're going to keep asking questions until you hear the answer you want to hear.

We've tried that, but it doesn't seem to be working.

[MaryPoppins]

OP sounds scarily similar to my money obsessed ex, embarrasingly.

He started contracting after we got together, and his pure motivation was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, being completely unable to survive on permy money.

He's now in debt up to his eyebrows both personally and as a director, as a result of never bothering to research anything beyond what an agency will pay into an account in his name.

Obv not saying OP is as bad as that waste of space, but I think some rational thought needs to be applied.

Accept that you should aim to give notice on your current permy role, attend interviews in the meantime, and hope that a client thinks enough of you to wait for you. Then make sure you learn as much as possible, and vow to save as much as possible when you're working.