Contracting and holidays

[DanielAnthony]

Hello,

I am currently a permie and am tempted to go over to the dark side of IT, contracting. However, I am getting married in June this year and will need a couple of weeks off, if I am offered a 6 month contract this will overlap with my wedding plans. Do contracts include terms for time off? I imagine contractors go on holiday too...

Thanks,

Dan

[VectraMan]

Clients generally understand that everybody wants to take some time off, and if you give them pleanty of notice and it's only short they're not likely to have too much of a problem with it. That's my experience anyway. Just be honest up front.

Of course you won't be paid for the time off, and it can spoil any holiday by thinking about the double whammy effect of paying for the holiday, and losing out on thousands of pounds worth of income.

[Mailman_1]

Real contractors dont take holidays.

[northernladuk]

A better question is will the fact I need a week/2 weeks off mid contract affect my chance of getting it which is a tricky one. I have known contractors get through and an offer on the table, informed the agent of a 2 week holiday mid contract which has resulted in a withdrawn offer as it coincided with release dates of the project they were joining. I was also at a contract when a new guy started and requested a week off after only 3 weeks working which pissed the client off no end and he never recovered. Everyone got a renewal except him.

To put in perspective many people have done both the above and the client didn't bat an eyelid so not trying to scare you.

Thinking about the timescales as well

Lets say you think about this for another month, put your 1 month notice in Mid Feb, finish mid Mar take a month or two to find something and then ask for the time off less than 6 weeks in to contract. Some clients might find this a bit hard to swallow. It isn't the best start to a contracting career.

Might be worth thinking about sticking where you are until after the wedding and then get started on the right foot. If you don't get work as your wedding approaches the time off you need will be closer and closer to the start of the contract so look even worse.

I am making some huge assumptions about your ability to find work quickly, picking a difficult client yadda yadda so looking at a worst case scenario here but something to consider.

[Wanderer]

I am currently a permie and am tempted to go over to the dark side of IT, contracting. However, I am getting married in June this year and will need a couple of weeks off, if I am offered a 6 month contract this will overlap with my wedding plans. Do contracts include terms for time off? I imagine contractors go on holiday too...

Congratulations.

I can't help but wonder if you should wait 6 months till the dust has settled after your happy day before you go contracting. There are a lot of things to organise for the wedding and it may be a bit stressful, having a permie position means that your boss will be a bit more sympathetic to your need to take time off at short notice to make arrangements etc. Contracting also involves a certain amount of admin, accountancy etc and there is no job security.

That said, if you are fed up with your job, you are confident enough of your skill set and you have enough money to survive 6 months unemployment (after the wedding is paid for) then go right ahead!

Do contracts include terms for time off? Hell yes, contractors take a break just like everyone else. Some will be forced to do it between contracts and work every day of the short contracts they get, others will take on long term contracts and negotiate time off during the contract. Contractors are expected to be flexible though.

That said, I routinely take 2 to 4 weeks off in the middle of contracts, depending on the needs of the client. If it clashes with the go-live of a major project you are working on then you aren't going to be Mr Popular. As a permie you have a right to take leave, as a contractor you have pretty much no employment rights at all. Technically you are "your own boss" but in reality if you want to run a successful business then you have to meet the needs of your clients.

The way I would play it is to tell the client up front that you are "unavailable for work for these weeks in June" but make it clear that you will work with them to make sure that whatever you are working on is covered during that time.

[DanielAnthony]

Thanks for your responses, it seems like there is no hard and fast rule on this, I suppose if the opportunity did come up then I'd have to look at whether the 'go-live' date for the project I'd be working on would be near the wedding date or if it would be more of an on-going project which would be more flexible regarding a couple of weeks off.

I'm totally fed up with my current role and I had been getting loads of calls about contracts recently so it seems the market is picking up. I'm a Windows server guy so hopefully there will always be opportunities floating around, plus the extra money would come in handy for the honeymoon!

[northernladuk]

plus the extra money would come in handy for the honeymoon!

The first of many misconceptions made by new people when starting contracting. The other is about finding end to end work for years but that will come later as Northwestperm2contractor is finding out. Again think carefully at the timing. Start work at the very best mid Feb, 2 weeks after is first pay of short month. First full month pay will come mid April which is only 2 pays before your wedding. From that you need to get a warchest up to cover yourself for any possible gaps after your first contract, bearing in mind you are having a short month cause of the wedding as well (as a contractor you don't get paid for 'holidays'. You don't work you dont get paid). You are quite likely to find for most of the first contract you will be on the same or less than permie, well the smart contractor would. When you are in a position you won't lose your house and car with a 3 month stint on the bench THEN you can up the spending. You have to be very realistic with yourself when embarking on this career or you are gonna come a cropper.

Contracting is not an easy life with lots of cash. You have to think and work at it and avoid all the pitfalls. Most people come in with wide eyes with dollar signs, and it isn't bad in that area but there is a lot more to it than just dollars. Make sure you read the forums and guides well to find out what you might be missing.

[JimmyJames]

northernladuk - WHS. I switched from permie to contract last August and Christmas was the first time that I felt comfortable that I can think about not working (In the time between I lived off less than when I was permie - and I will at least until April). The first months are more about putting money aside rather than spending. I've a number of friends that have contracted for quite a few years and the best advise that I got before switching was to make sure you've got at least 3 months money to survive without getting paid.

Another bit of advice is to work out earnings based on only working a maximum of 180 days a year.

[DanielAnthony]

Thanks NorthernladUK,

Luckily the wedding is all paid for now, so not too worried about that side of things; getting a warchest together will be my top priority once I start. From my reading on here and elsewhere I need to ensure I am outside IR35 and will start my own Ltd company, that way I can maximise my warchest for periods on the bench. I have an interview for a contract lined up with a client just around the corner with a six month initial and then rolling on a rate of £225pd (I know it isn't as much as developers or others on here but its more than I'm on now), but thats £4725 per month less coroporation tax at 21% (after paying myself NMW). From other threads on here I'll be under the limit for paying higher rate tax on my dividends, hopefully going forward this will be different as my contracting experience and rates increase but my first contract is near to home and with one of the big utility companies so it seems like a good first step. I know that being a contactor means I wont get paid for holidays or sickness, hence my need to start putting some cash aside, the extra money for the honeymoon comment was a bit tougue in cheek

[Scrag Meister]

Hello,

I am currently a permie and am tempted to go over to the dark side of IT, contracting. However, I am getting married in June this year and will need a couple of weeks off, if I am offered a 6 month contract this will overlap with my wedding plans. Do contracts include terms for time off? I imagine contractors go on holiday too...

Thanks,

Dan

I was in exactly the same position last year, started new contract Mid May, wedding end of June with a 2 week honeymoon afterwards. I informed the client at the interview and they were just fine with it.