Reply to: Cannot serve the full notice period

[SimonMac]

Love the chilling quotation marks around "disappointed". Very James Bond Villain.

I don't think Bond, I think...

[SimonMac]

At the end of the day if the contract allows the OP to terminate early then do so, if not don't or do and accept the fallout, simples.

The contract allows the OP to terminate with the agreed conditions, i.e. 4 weeks notice which he is choosing to be in breach of.

[javadude]

I'm in a similar situation in that I'm looking to start a new contract a week and half before my current contract finishes.

There's not enough work for me at my current client and hence why I'm moving on and I can't see them wanting to pay me for doing nothing. I'm sure the agent will be pissed at losing some money but it's not an endless gravy train.

I had this once. The old client wanted some support for the software I'd written but didn't have enough work for me to work full time. The new client wanted me to start as soon as possible and was happy to take whatever time I could spare. I ended up working a month overlap with 2/3 days at each client each week.

[psychocandy]

You are taking their viewpoint entirely, what about if you miss out on a 12 months contract then are benched for 3 months just to help clientco out in a project that doesn't matter as much as your family and well being.

Bottom line end of the day!

[NCOTBAC]

My contract also states my hours say 35 hours a week. Say the client needed me to do a late one but I refused stating the contract is 35 hours I won't do a minute more, am I being reasonable?

You are being unreasonable now. There is a massive difference between the two scenarios. This one is you are still delivering what the client needs however you work the 35 hours and your are forgetting to mention if you get the time back with a shorter day etc. In the OPs situation he is not. So poor analogy I am afraid.

[SlipTheJab]

At the end of the day if the contract allows the OP to terminate early then do so, if not don't or do and accept the fallout, simples.

[SueEllen]

My contract also states my hours say 35 hours a week. Say the client needed me to do a late one but I refused stating the contract is 35 hours I won't do a minute more, am I being reasonable?

Depends.

If the client doesn't make a fuss if you have a doctor's appointment and you make time up, then I wouldn't refuse.

If however they are inflexible I would refuse. Then again I don't take contracts like that if I can help it.

[I just need to test it]

I...have seen people "black balled", on a number of occasions, if they had "disappointed", the client, before.

Love the chilling quotation marks around "disappointed". Very James Bond Villain.

I had one regular client where I got the work done, got on with folks, worked on and off for 6 years on various pieces of work and it always seemed to go well. I sometimes accepted diabolical rates of pay if it meant working on a technology I was keen to get into. Everyone's a winner.

Then suddenly WHAM - no more calls, despite them going to market for people to work on stuff I had worked on previously. They claimed not to have blocked me from further work though it certainly felt that way. Ah well. Life goes on.

[Unix]

But you can't claim that a client is being unreasonable by sticking to the terms of the contract that they both signed. Unfortunate they are not in position to let him go maybe but the client not putting himself out because a contractor wants to jump for more money is hardly being unreasonable. They don't owe the contractor any favours so why they should suffer some hardship just because the contractor is doing one because it suits him. Contract terms are contract terms, if they are flexible enough to let him go then that's a massive win. If they don't then it's just terms.

My contract also states my hours say 35 hours a week. Say the client needed me to do a late one but I refused stating the contract is 35 hours I won't do a minute more, am I being reasonable?

[MrMarkyMark]

In this case a large corporate that maintains a central black list of people they won't consider in future. The aforementioned numpty did try and go back to a different department at the client to be told in no uncertain terms to go away and not come back. How long that would last I couldn't say.

I have seen this too.
Unsure if it is official, but, have seen people "black balled", on a number of occasions, if they had "disappointed", the client, before.

[bluetoaster]

As for burning bridges - if it's a smallish client fair enough. But if it is a big corporate - does it really stick for a long time ? The clientco's that I've spent time in, people move between departments every few years and there is an internal re-org every few years too. So if you've burned bridges with a particular manager, they may not even be in charge in a few years time. Same goes with agency - agents move about & it probably wouldn't matter in a few years time.

In this case a large corporate that maintains a central black list of people they won't consider in future. The aforementioned numpty did try and go back to a different department at the client to be told in no uncertain terms to go away and not come back. How long that would last I couldn't say.

[LondonManc]

I'm in a similar situation in that I'm looking to start a new contract a week and half before my current contract finishes.

There's not enough work for me at my current client and hence why I'm moving on and I can't see them wanting to pay me for doing nothing. I'm sure the agent will be pissed at losing some money but it's not an endless gravy train.

If work is running out then front up with your hiring manager. Advise them that your work is nearly complete and that you don't want to fall foul of IR35 regulations (assuming your contract is outside IR35) or cause him unnecessary expenditure. It may even be worth offering to finish a few days earlier than your next contract is due to start in case he wants you there slightly longer than expected.

[VillageContractor]

I'm in a similar situation in that I'm looking to start a new contract a week and half before my current contract finishes.

There's not enough work for me at my current client and hence why I'm moving on and I can't see them wanting to pay me for doing nothing. I'm sure the agent will be pissed at losing some money but it's not an endless gravy train.

[MrMarkyMark]

FTFY

An agent will care more about their relationship with the client, than with the contractor, in all situations.

[LondonManc]

That's quite an assumption and doesn't really fit with the sentence offered but is a possibility. I would have thought if it's gone this far the client will be more than aware of the situation and made his position clear as well. Maybe the OP could elaborate....

Agreed. But given the market, agents will be desperate to secure whatever revenue they can. An agent will care more about their relationship with the client than with the contractor in this situation.