Possibility of mutual termination of work contract

Paulyman

Just a quick question. I am new here. I am working on 6 month contract which was extended for another 6 months to December. Things did not go great the first 6 months as we had a very young inexperienced manager who is a yes man but gets nothing done for the team. A number of people have left. The product I am servicing is very poor and we get a lot of complaints. It is really disheartening. I am newly married and thankfully my wife has been very supportive but I need out. Due to marriage, I have not had the time to seek another job but will do so now. I will now. With things going nowhere and a breakdown on communication, it is time to take some time out to take stock of the situation and reapply.

I won't give in my notice until I get another job as that will mean that I will not be entitled to the dole for 9 weeks (I have not experienced going on it in the first place!) and I don't want to get fired but before things get worse, can I under law ask the employer to terminate the contract mutually? I see it happening in football so thought I would ask here. Cheers for any help on the subject.

TaurenDruid

The football analogy doesn't carry over to ordinary employment. If your contract is terminated it means you're no longer working for the company and are unemployed - which is what you want to avoid.

Just do what you've outlined in your post - continue working and look for another job at the same time. When you find somewhere new, hand in your notice in your current job. Your current contract should specify how much notice you'll need to give but it's unlikely to be more than 4 weeks.

Xterminator

HI OP

your notice period should be specified in your contract. are you saying you do not wish to work this notice period?

you can sit down with manager/hr and request this, and if you both agree great, however they don't have to agree. and if you need a reference from this employer its best to leave on good terms.

usually you are asked your notice period when interviewing for a potential job. they usually have no issue unless your notice period is onerous.

Paulyman

Thanks. I received a permanent contract with naturally a probation period. I received a letter from the company which was not signed advising me that my contract has been extended for 6 months to December. It gave no update on the notice period.

I assume therefore that is 1 week. By mutually allowing me to leave I am hoping of course that I can get a reference and be entitled to the dole when I leave. Therefore allowing me to search for a better position full-time rather than wait 9 weeks. I don't know if that is possible but I thought I would ask before I have my 1-2-1.

TaurenDruid

If you voluntarily give up employment, which is what you're proposing, you'd not be able to get the dole for 9 weeks. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/unemployed_people/signing_on.html: "If you leave work voluntarily or as a result of misconduct, you cannot get a jobseeker’s payment for 9 weeks."