Contract with no notice period

**Manic** · 3 November 2009, 16:37

IIRC that is a good indicator for IR35. When a company contracts a service company you would expect they want them to complete the job, it's not employment after all........is it?

**Fat Dave** · 3 November 2009, 16:38

You've only just got the contract. Do you want to hand in your notice already?

**Jeebo72** · 3 November 2009, 16:42

I always ask for parity on both sides. But you've been on the bench, so why give a toss? 0 notice and 5 days hardly makes a difference...

**TheFaQQer** · 3 November 2009, 16:42

Do you mean that you can't give notice, or do you mean that you have a zero days notice period? There's a big difference.

Qdos recommended on one of my contract reviews to have a notice period added so that I could give notice. Some clients just won't do it, though. At the end of the day, it's been argued both ways r.e. IR35 implications.

**Jeebo72** · 3 November 2009, 16:45

[QUOTE=TheFaQQer;990784]Do you mean that you can't give notice, QUOTE]

Ah good point... if this is the case, tell them to f*** off .

**kaiser78** · 3 November 2009, 16:48

[QUOTE=Jeebo72;990787]

Originally posted by TheFaQQer View Post

Do you mean that you can't give notice, QUOTE]

Ah good point... if this is the case, tell them to f*** off .

Very important point !!

**NotAllThere** · 3 November 2009, 16:48

Originally posted by strawberrysmoothie View Post

... Secondly as far as I know, isn't that illegal?

Why would anyone think this?

It's in the client interest for you to not be able to give notice, but be able to dispose of you immediately. It's in your interest to be able to give immediate notice. So start negotiating.

The client having to give you notice is irrelevant, as they only have to pay you for work done, and usually don't have an obligation to give you any work to do - if they've done their homework of course. Having said that, I did get a week's payoff a few years ago for an early terminated contract. The client hadn't done their homework. The client was Enron.

**malvolio** · 3 November 2009, 17:37

It might be a baddish idea commercially, but if you have a notice peiood it implies two things - one, that you are an employee, because employees have to be given notice, and two, that potentially you can get paid when in fact there is no work for you to do. Both would be seized on with great glee by a Hector trying to put you inside IR35.

You aren't an employee, you're a contractor. You are there to do a given piece of work. You neither need nor want notice periods.

**nomadd** · 3 November 2009, 18:20

Originally posted by strawberrysmoothie View Post

After many months on the bench I've finally secured a contract.

I'm getting read right now re IR35 but I was scanning through and I noticed that the agency had 1 week notice period to notice period but I had 0 notice period.

I was pretty annoyed when I noticed that and I want them to change this.

What's the best way to go about dealing with this issue. Secondly as far as I know, isn't that illegal?

Yep, turned down a contract with one of my prior clients earlier this year over this type of thing. I had no notice, they had zero days notice. The client refused to change anything in their contract, so I politely declined and got a role elsewhere.

Mind you, that did leave me with a long bench period. Fortunately, the role wasn't that good, and there were many other IR35 clauses in the contract that they also refused to change. Your situation may be different. As others have said: if you've been on the bench a while, and the job is a good 'un, and there is nothing else in the contract you disagree with, then take it, whether they'll change it or not. Still, no harm in asking politely if they are prepared to change it.

Nomadd

Contract with no notice period