Fixed Term (No Notice) from the Contractor

[Carp3Di3m]

WCJS

Next time get the contract reviewed thoroughly!

What has a contract review to do with a role which is advertised differently?

My last contracts where fixed term but where advertised as is. I knew what I signed up for.

I did not sign up for a support role and being on call. I would have never taken this role if I would have known earlier.

[NotAllThere]

Are you on an hourly rate? Do you get paid for being on call? Do you get paid if your are called?

Do you have another contract to go to? Why can't you just tough this out for another five months, take the money and chalk it up to experience?

[Gentile]

What has a contract review to do with a role which is advertised differently?

My last contracts where fixed term but where advertised as is. I knew what I signed up for.

I did not sign up for a support role and being on call. I would have never taken this role if I would have known earlier.

I think Cojak's advice was spot-on. If it doesn't say you'll be required to do support in your contract, don't do it. They'll soon make up their own mind about whether they still want you to fulfil the actual role they initially asked you to provide or not. And, if you want out of the contract, simply invoke your "no MOO" clause, and state that regrettably you will not be available to accept any further work offered for the remainder of the contract. You won't get to work with that Client or Agent again, but if they're playing bait and switch with the role they're probably a Client/Agent that you don't want to have further dealings with in the future anyway.

I had a role like the one you're describing this time last year. Some member of staff with a grossly-inflated ego and a propensity for meddling in things that were None Of His Business had the cheek to send me an Outlook meeting request, indicating that I'd be "on-call" every second weekend in rotation with him. I of course declined the request, and when he immediately appeared at the desk I was using to launch into a rant (it wasn't the first time he'd done this), I stopped him dead, told him he wasn't my boss, and invited him to discuss the matter with his boss if he had any further concerns about any of that. Concurrent to this, I also sent a message to the CEO to have a word about clarifying my responsibilities. The problem member of staff appeared at my desk again about fifteen minutes later, to say that he'd set up a meeting between his boss, himself and me. I reminded him that my advice had been for him to discuss his concerns with his boss, and that I already had a meeting scheduled with his boss to discuss my own concerns about the subject, to which he was not invited. Cue an even redder face and attempted strop, which I again cut dead. The upshot was that I had my side-meeting with the CEO, and the problem member of staff was told to get on with his own work, and stop over-stepping his limited responsibilities.

As ever in business, it pays to be nice, but don't allow anyone to take liberties with your time or the terms and conditions under which you are engaged.

[Wanderer]

will undertake all tasks reasonably requested by the Client in relation to the Services;

I don't think it's reasonable that they would be allowed to call you after you've left work for the day or in the middle of the night.

Be business like and to the point. eg:

My contract doesn't include provision for on call, however I would be quite happy to negotiate adding on-call to the contract as follows:

1. 1 day pay for every week or partial week on call, charged as an extra day on my time sheet.
2. Call outs time charged at an hourly rate based on the contracted daily rate / 8 with a minimum charge of 2 hours.
3. Any call outs received while not officially "on call" will result in a charge being made for being on call for the full calendar week.
4. Call outs will only be accepted from people nominated in writing by the client as authorised to call me out.

[norrahe]

What has a contract review to do with a role which is advertised differently?

My last contracts where fixed term but where advertised as is. I knew what I signed up for.

I did not sign up for a support role and being on call. I would have never taken this role if I would have known earlier.

As you yourself said, the schedule wasn't defined, which is asking for open ended abuse of what the role could be defined as.

Always make sure you get the role defined in writing so that any sway from what is defined can then be used in further negotiations.

We've all had instances where the client will expect more than what was outlined in the advert, but it is what is defined in the contract, it is what the role is, not the advert!

[Sockpuppet]

I did got it reviewed but only for ir35.

In the future use B&C. £155 and they'll advise of anything they don't like that not IR35 related as I found this week when I sent mine in for review. They spotted there was no notice period on my side (which is a good thing).

[BS1397]

Be business like and to the point. eg:

My contract doesn't include provision for on call, however I would be quite happy to negotiate adding on-call to the contract as follows:

1. 1 day pay for every week or partial week on call, charged as an extra day on my time sheet.
2. Call outs time charged at an hourly rate based on the contracted daily rate / 8 with a minimum charge of 2 hours.
3. Any call outs received while not officially "on call" will result in a charge being made for being on call for the full calendar week.
4. Call outs will only be accepted from people nominated in writing by the client as authorised to call me out.

I like it, worth printing and sticking on my wall... Cheers.

[Sockpuppet]

I'd be wary about putting down an extra day as a way to get paid for being on call.

The whole MOO thing would scare me, clients not paying you for time you didn't work etc.

[psychocandy]

I had a contract once where I turned up and after a few weeks they said, would I be OK to go on-call. They were nice about it so I thought - why not if you sort out the payment side of things.....

They offered me £20 a night to be on call (same as the permies got). They were willing to pay me my normal hourly rate when I got to the office if I got called out (no remote access) but no travelling at all.

So I asked the manager if potentially that meant me being called at 3am, driving 50 miles to the office (taking an hour), potentially being there for 30 mins, driving home again another hour for 1/2 hours pay. And then having to come into the office next day to avoid losing valuable billable hours.

Umm, yes, said he. No thanks said I.

[Gentile]

I'd be wary about putting down an extra day as a way to get paid for being on call.

The whole MOO thing would scare me, clients not paying you for time you didn't work etc.

It's only a personal opinion, but I think you'd still be OK for MOO, since you wouldn't be getting "paid you for time you didn't work", but instead for time spent in readiness of a call-out (e.g., you're being remunerated for avoiding any socialising, travelling, drinking, etc, that might make you unavailable). That's not MOO; that's providing a service. This would be particularly evident if you were getting paid more if you were actually utilised, compared to when you were standby but not called out. I still wouldn't do it, though, because it's usually simply not worth the remuneration.