Notice Period

[Moose]

Just got a contract through from Network IT.

Under 'Notice Period' it reads...
...Network IT Recruitment shall give the service provider 10 working days notice of termination. The service provider may not give notice and is obliged to work the full term of the contract

Is this normal?...it's the first time I've seen it?

[Xenophon]

Sometimes. I would ask that you have the ability to give notice. I have it in mine. Might be good to get a little more than 10 days notice from them too.

[Moose]

Ir35

The agency have said that this clause is in there to make it more IR35 friendly from the contractors point of view as notice periods are indicitive of employment....Does this hold water?

[XLMonkey]

The agency have said that this clause is in there to make it more IR35 friendly from the contractors point of view as notice periods are indicitive of employment....Does this hold water?

Not really. It's true that notice periods are indicative of employment, but the agent appears to have got it the wrong way around. Any form of notice period is indicative of employment (i.e. the 10 days notice they have to give you), and what matters rather more is the notice that the client has to give you, rather than what you have to give them.

Besides which, the clause requiring you to continue to work until the end of the contract would (I think... no legal expert) actually make it more likely that your relationship was one of employment (since your notice period is effectively x months, where x is the remaining time left on the contract).

With that said, notice periods are only one of the factors that indicate IR35 status; so it might not matter that much if the rest of the contract makes clear your rights of substitution and control over the work.

More relevant is whether you really want to be tied into the contract to the bitter end. I guess at least it means you'll keep earning....

[mcquiggd]

Ive had several contracts where I technically couldnt give a notice period. On the one occasion where I really wanted to leave, the client and I came to an amicable arrangement where I spent two weeks writing documentation and performing a handover... I got a reference and the client seemed to at least appreciate my honesty.

They dont want an unhappy contractor, and will probably just agree a notice period despite what the contract says.

Unless they are bastards, in which case you bonk the (legal) teenage daughter of your manager - in reference to an earlier thread.

[Moose]

Bonking the teenage daughter

Well that's cleared that up then.

Noticed that further into the contract it states 28 days either way, so the bit at the begining of the contract didn't really matter.

Cheers chaps

p.s. I signed the contract...the dosh was good and the 'employer' seemed like like a good sort....which is nice

[boredsenseless]

p.s. I signed the contract...the dosh was good and the 'employer' seemed like like a good sort....which is nice

Loosely translated : I went into his office, and there was a lovely picture of his stunning 18 year old daughter at university.

[dork]

I just got my first contract through and the notice period is 7 days for the Agent/Client and 30 days for me, The Supplier.

Does this sound right? Is it worth fighting over?

[malvolio]

Think about it - if you cannot terminate but the client can, is that not evidence of financial risk on your behalf, in that while you have to complete the work, the client is under no obligation to do so, nor any obligation to pay you for doing so.

Fninancial risk is a business pointer, ergo a non-IR35-caught one.

Anyway, what intention do you have of walking early on a negotiated contract? The last guy that did that to me never got a reference, which didn't help him with his next contract...

[dork]

...
Anyway, what intention do you have of walking early on a negotiated contract? The last guy that did that to me never got a reference, which didn't help him with his next contract...

Well, as much intention as the client, which is hopefully no intention whatsoever. However, contracts are there to agree what to do in unforseen circumstances....

I suppose in the end it comes down to human nature and how you deal with people. I prefer the honest approach myself, which probably leaves me open to abuse......