Question for contractors...

Sparky191

Not sure if this should be in business or here. But I'm sure a mod will move it as appropriate.

If you are contracted (fixed term) to do a job. But the term runs out and you haven't finished the job. What happens? I've examined my contract, which has a few minor errors in it, but only says "IT Consulting" as a description of the job. Am I obliged to finish the job, or am I free from the contract once the fixed term is up? The only mention of specific tasks, deliverables is in the project proposals, and job desciption. None of which are in the contract. Incidentally I'm not contracted to either the client ot the agency directly but to a third company.

I have already agreed to move to another contract somewhere else after the current one is up so theres no slack where we can overrun on time. At the moment I can only think of 2 options.

1) They take on a new contractor
2) I finish the project but outside of normal working hours

The first option is not ideal because it would waste a lot of time bringing someone else up to speed. I've also been through a lot of checks to be allowed work on the project. The client isn't going to be happy to go through all that again. Also what I do isn't all that hard but not many people do it and it will be hard to source another contractor to do it.

The second option is difficult since I'll be offsite and unavailable during office hours due to my new contract. But the current client doesn't normally work outside office hours. Its also an unknown how much free time I'll have in the future to finish the project.

Finally I really want to finish the project. Because there's likely future revenue from it and to be honest I hate leaving something half finished. The reason its not finished is mainly due to me concentrating on other commitments I had outside of this contract. But the agency and the client were informed this might cause problems at the outset and were still took me on.

Where to go from here?

casper-

Sounds like two separate issues here :

(usual disclaimer, ianal, etc..)

1. Are you under obligation to continue doing work on a contract after your fixed term is up when your contract doesn't specify anything about that?

It would seem no ... but we haven't seen the contract, nor know about your agreement with the third-party agency. However, anything beyond that is the agencies problem to deal with

2. You want to continue working with the client (somehow) but aren't sure if it's possible? First of all, you'd have to find out if your contract with the agency allows you to do anything with a client after your agreement with them is finished. Somehow I'm guessing there's a clause in there that stipulates six months to a year of not being able to work directly for a client you met through them.

Once that's sorted out, finding a mutually agreeable time for you to work for this other company is child's play -- if they understand the situation (how difficult it is to hire someone else, etc) then I'm sure you guys can work something out.

usualsuspect

What do you want to do? It sounds like you are fence-sitting instead of taking control of the situation. You should be careful not to burn bridges, which is very easy to do when you leave one job to take up another, but you should get it sorted out quickly especially if your contract is about to end. Working out-of-hours will not suit some companies so it really depends on your situation...you should avoid surprises if at all possible...

Sparky191

I decided I try and finish as much of the first contract project in my own time as I can before the 2nd contract starts. Its only a few days and its mainly just to clear up as many loose ends as I can. But after that it becomes to awkward, both practically and administratively to work offsite and/or outside normal working hours. If the first client was committed to the project he would have ensured that the resources would be there to complete the project. In hindsight they never did this, otherwise they'd have contracted me for longer or made provision for a handover to another contractor/employee. That they haven't tells me that this project isn't all that important to them, and therefore I'm going to leave them to it.

usualsuspect

The way you work out that you think the project isn't important to them makes it sound like you haven't actually talked it through with them - is this the case? Has communication broken down? I hate it when that happens...:D

Sparky191

Originally posted by usualsuspect
The way you work out that you think the project isn't important to them makes it sound like you haven't actually talked it through with them - is this the case? Has communication broken down? I hate it when that happens...:D

Yes, they say its important, but as the're not putting the resources or the manpower on the project then that says a lot more to me. In fact they are pulling people off the project, and of course theres the small matter that the main person actually doing the project (me) is finshed his contract and is now contracted somewhere else. I told them that the project wasn't going to be finished within the alloted time frame a month ago, and they effectively stuck their heads in the sand. Even now they seem unconcerned that the project is unfinished and they have no means to finish it.

At the end of the day the day I've got paid for my time thus far, and theres no more resources available to finish the project. I've told them I can recomend another contractor to finish the project if they wished to contract him. But they haven't taken me up on that.