Leaving gig without notice

[Gaz_M]

IANAL but I think that the client is well within his rights not to sign the timesheet as your colleague has breached the terms of the contract; the consideration would be for recompense of the financial loss caused by the suspension of the contract whilst a replacement was found.

Thanks Lisa. The client has no intention of finding another contractor as he only needed us for one particular project & I got left with an even bigger workload once the other guy left (but I certainly hold no grudges against him as I know the reasons why he went). The project has now gone live.
I'm more interested if anybody knows of this ever happenning elsewhere because the guy here simply cannot be the only contractor ever to leave a gig without completing his/her notice.

[KentPhilip]

And what if as a result of leaving the contract early the client fails to meet a contract obligation to one of its own clients? In that situation the errant contractor could be sued for damages, which (if it is a multiple million-pound contract) could be millions more than his last unpaid invoice.

And don't expect your professional indemnity insurance to cover it..

[SueEllen]

Thanks Lisa. The client has no intention of finding another contractor as he only needed us for one particular project & I got left with an even bigger workload once the other guy left (but I certainly hold no grudges against him as I know the reasons why he went). The project has now gone live.
I'm more interested if anybody knows of this ever happenning elsewhere because the guy here simply cannot be the only contractor ever to leave a gig without completing his/her notice.

You need to indicate why the contractor left as many contracts contain a dispute clause which may have a time frame that is shorter than the notice period.

However to use a clause like this you would need to demonstrate you were reasonable in notifying and negotiating with the client in sorting the issue out before ending the contract for it not to have any ramifications.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Thanks Lisa. The client has no intention of finding another contractor as he only needed us for one particular project & I got left with an even bigger workload once the other guy left (but I certainly hold no grudges against him as I know the reasons why he went). The project has now gone live.
I'm more interested if anybody knows of this ever happenning elsewhere because the guy here simply cannot be the only contractor ever to leave a gig without completing his/her notice.

Contractors walking off site seems to happen fairly frequently but they will invariably lose money and reputation; this industry is very small and I am afraid word does get round if you breach the terms of your contract.

[BlasterBates]

I can't see that for anything other than physical assault, that there would be any justification for leaving the site without notice. If you leave without notice your client would have a very good argument indeed that any work you'd not handed over was worthless. Would you pay a plumber for ripping up the floorboards and leaving a water pipe with a hole in it?

If you leave without notice expect to lose your last invoice.

You can sue him of course and then he'll sue you and then you'll end up with nothing anyway apart from a lawyers bill.

You'd be far better off negotiating with the client. He's well within his rights to ask for compensation.

[TestMangler]

I can't see that for anything other than physical assault, that there would be any justification for leaving the site without notice.

If you leave without notice expect to lose your last invoice.

You can sue him of course and then he'll sue you and then you'll end up with nothing anyway apart from a lawyers bill.

You'd be far better off negotiating with the client. He's well within his rights to ask for compensation.

To prove a breach of contract, you have to be able to quantify your material loss. If there is no loss, there is no compensation for that loss.

OP should probably learn from this not to go around breaching contracts but client co didn't handle the situation correctly either. A client breaching terms in response to a contractor breaching terms is not the way to reach a settlement.

[BlasterBates]

To prove a breach of contract, you have to be able to quantify your material loss. If there is no loss, there is no compensation for that loss.

OP should probably learn from this not to go around breaching contracts but client co didn't handle the situation correctly either. A client breaching terms in response to a contractor breaching terms is not the way to reach a settlement.

Not at all, you don't have to pay a bill if the service isn't provided. If a plumber walks off the job leaving it half finished you don't have to pay his bill, you first of all find out how much it costs to finish the job and then you subtract it from the bill; and lets face it half finished work is usually useless, it is worth far less than the hours put in. If you walk off without notice you wouldn't have a very strong argument in court.

In a case like this if you want your money you'd have to go the legal route, and I can't see it would go particularly well.

[TestMangler]

Not at all, you don't have to pay a bill if the service isn't provided. If a plumber walks off the job leaving it half finished you don't have to pay his bill, you first of all find out how much it costs to finish the job and then you subtract it from the bill; and lets face it half finished work is usually useless, it is worth far less than the hours put in.

Also known as 'material loss'

It's a poor analogy though, because it's doubtful you would have a written contract with your plumber giving him the right to leave the job with notice.

What I'm trying to get at (probably badly) is that just 'breaching a contract' is not an automatic right to any kind of compensation. Compensation is based on the losses incurred.

In this case the contractor could argue that his loss is the unpaid money for work done. The client could argue that his loss is the ADDITIONAL cost of completing the unfinished work. if it came to court action, whoever could prove their material loss would win (based on balance of probabilities, rather than BARD).

[Gaz_M]

To prove a breach of contract, you have to be able to quantify your material loss. If there is no loss, there is no compensation for that loss.

OP should probably learn from this not to go around breaching contracts but client co didn't handle the situation correctly either. A client breaching terms in response to a contractor breaching terms is not the way to reach a settlement.

I agree.
Ok, we all know it is wrong of any contractor to walk & not complete his/her notice period. However, if the guy here had phoned in sick instead of phoning in to say he wasn't returning & at the same time given his two week notice, then was off sick for his notice period, he would have been entitled to his last payment.

[BlasterBates]

The point I'm making is that not paying an invoice is a valid option, if the contract is breached.

If you breach a contract, then you can't breach it, it has already happened.

Whether he doesn't pay the invoice or he sues makes no odds, both are perfectly legal ways of handling the situation.

If you're in dispute why would you put yourself at a disadvantage when you don't have to.

What does "unaccceptable" mean? from a legal perspective non-payment is a perectly accpetable way of proceeding, or do you mean from an unwritten code of conduct amongst contractors? i.e. it might be legal but contractors will slag you off.