If I want to quit a contract after a few days?

[northernladuk]

Hope you got broad shoulders and can take a lot of shouting and threats for a while.....

[kingcook]

Say I want to quit a contract (contractor, using umbrella company) to take a job in Switzerland... I realise this only a week after I started the new contract.

How bad would this be? Any way I could actually do that?
Do I end up on a contractor blacklist forever... etc?

Not a British citizen (am from Belgium) if that is of any relevance. I don't necessarily plan to live in the UK in the future..

The situation occurred because I felt I needed to jump on a contract before the foreign employer could make up his mind.

How would you feel if you'd just got married, and whilst on honeymoon your bride says that she's found another man who suits her needs better?

Would that girl be on your blacklist for the future?

[BlasterBates]

Go ahead.

In Switzerland you are not self-employed, you will be a temporary employee with all the rights.

Since you haven´t even signed there is no problem at all.

This is a different situation than in a business-business contract.

[Notascooby]

JFDI

No one is going to remember or care, if the contract hasn't been signed then you shouldn't be on site anyway.

tulip happens, businesses fire contractors or cut rates or impose a whole lot of other rubbish and we take it or walk. If you have a better offer then leave.

Tell them your mum is sick and you have to go back home to look after the poor old dear.

[billybiro]

JFDI

No one is going to remember or care, if the contract hasn't been signed then you shouldn't be on site anyway.

tulip happens, businesses fire contractors or cut rates or impose a whole lot of other rubbish and we take it or walk. If you have a better offer then leave.

Tell them your mum is sick and you have to go back home to look after the poor old dear.

WHS.

This is the only reasonable advice in this thread. You're not a permie, there's no "loyalty" here (mind you, even in permie land there's no loyalty these days). You're a contractor working for yourself, your only loyalty is to yourself (and in the case of you working through your own company, your fiduciary duty is to your own company not your clients).

Ignore the naysayers who talk about "pride", "honour" and all that cr&p. Your pride and honour don't put a roof over your head or food on the table. Ignore those that'll tell you that you "give contractors a bad name". Within most companies, a contractor's name is mud to begin with, you really can't make it any worse. Ignore those that'll tell you you'll be "blacklisted" in the future. If you're the right guy for a gig, an agent's memory will be amazingly short once he thinks he can make money out of you, and that's assuming you're going through the same agent, which is debatable given enough time. Hell, even within a client's business, it's unlikely you'll come across the same people twice between contracts so there's no one to even remember you from last time.

If you want the "warm fuzzy feeling" of "doing the right thing", go do some voluntary work for a charity you care about in your spare time.

Business is business. As the parent here said, clients would toss you out in a heartbeat if they needed to balance the budget. They always put their own best interests first, you need to do the same.

[psychocandy]

WHS.

This is the only reasonable advice in this thread. You're not a permie, there's no "loyalty" here (mind you, even in permie land there's no loyalty these days). You're a contractor working for yourself, your only loyalty is to yourself (and in the case of you working through your own company, your fiduciary duty is to your own company not your clients).

Ignore the naysayers who talk about "pride", "honour" and all that cr&p. Your pride and honour don't put a roof over your head or food on the table. Ignore those that'll tell you that you "give contractors a bad name". Within most companies, a contractor's name is mud to begin with, you really can't make it any worse. Ignore those that'll tell you you'll be "blacklisted" in the future. If you're the right guy for a gig, an agent's memory will be amazingly short once he thinks he can make money out of you, and that's assuming you're going through the same agent, which is debatable given enough time. Hell, even within a client's business, it's unlikely you'll come across the same people twice between contracts so there's no one to even remember you from last time.

If you want the "warm fuzzy feeling" of "doing the right thing", go do some voluntary work for a charity you care about in your spare time.

Business is business. As the parent here said, clients would toss you out in a heartbeat if they needed to balance the budget. They always put their own best interests first, you need to do the same.

Spot on

[theroyale]

Thanks for the input!
I get the message that it would be a pretty bad thing to do.

Is this sort of thing common? I can't recall it happening although I've seen a few contractors get sacked before their contracts were up. But never seen anyone quitting.

I've seen people leave one week-ish into their contracts: 2 in fact at the same company who started on the same day. The manager felt insecure (is it me? is it the office?) more than anything else, then everyone forgot about it.

Go for it.

[Taita]

Say I want to quit a contract (contractor, using umbrella company) to take a job in Switzerland... I realise this only a week after I started the new contract.

How bad would this be? Any way I could actually do that?
Do I end up on a contractor blacklist forever... etc?

Not a British citizen (am from Belgium) if that is of any relevance. I don't necessarily plan to live in the UK in the future..

The situation occurred because I felt I needed to jump on a contract before the foreign employer could make up his mind.

I have read the replies and cannot resist a tongue-in-cheek comment. My British sense of fair play and desire for an honourable reputation require me to fulfil my agreement but you are free from such ridiculous bonds so off you go......

[tractor]

..

The professional route is to give notice according to the requirements of the contract. If it requires none then however 'professional' people tell you that you should be, you are only required to comply with the contract to be considered professional.

I had a contract once where the hiring managers made a big deal of continuity and commitment but were happy to dump people at a moment's notice where the contract allowed them to.

Some clients are more professional than others and so are some agents, so are some contractors. As long as you comply with the contract there is no comeback and contrary to what you may believe, there is no blacklist.