Contracting question. Minimum number of days per month?

BrokenArrows

I'm a permanent employee but a situation has come up where a company wants me to contract for them at a very good rate for 3 months.

I'm interested but I don't want to quit my permanent role and then have them cancel the project after a week.

How common is it to have a minimum number of days in a contract? So if they cancel they still need to pay the minimum?

srsly78

Have never seen that. Every contract I have had (10+ years) has been for 8 hours/day, 40 hours/week. Contract can be terminated by either party subject to notice clause (usually 1week-1month). Not much different from a permanent contract really (can also be terminated).

If contract does get terminated sometimes you will have to work out the notice period, other times you might get "gardening leave" during it.

Don't bother with short-term stuff. What you want are the ones where you get a good rate and are still getting it (+raises) after several years. Short-term contracts (like 3 months) are always really really ****ty work that noone else will do. Also may be sign of toxic workplace etc.

14ned

BrokenArrows wrote: »

I'm a permanent employee but a situation has come up where a company wants me to contract for them at a very good rate for 3 months.

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Such a short contract duration already sounds highly suspect. Either they're just using the contract to trial and error a permanent hire, or they have completely unrealistic expectations. If it's neither of those two, it's likely piecework, and you probably don't want to go down that route living in the West.

I'm interested but I don't want to quit my permanent role and then have them cancel the project after a week.

Part of the risk and reward of contracting I am afraid. You can get canned at any moment, on a whim even.

How common is it to have a minimum number of days in a contract? So if they cancel they still need to pay the minimum?

Never heard of it, not ever.

But I have asked for, and received, payment in advance. So say you'll be glad to take the contract, but you'll need to be paid in advance, monthly.

That they will almost certainly refuse, in which case you've dodged a bullet, so rest easy because they're weren't actually serious. But if they are serious, you'll find they'll do month in advance. I've had a few contracts like that in the past where the client was a startup with funding problems. It's not unknown to ask for, though still unusual.

Niall

14ned

srsly78 wrote: »

Have never seen that. Every contract I have had (10+ years) has been for 8 hours/day, 40 hours/week. Contract can be terminated by either party subject to notice clause (usually 1week-1month). Not much different from a permanent contract really (can also be terminated).

Yeah but you're really in permanent employment, just via contract. The kind of contract the UK IR35 is intended to prevent.

For me during the past ten years, contracts have ranged from a week long up to eighteen months long with a rolling three month extension. Lots of gaps between contracts. If I lived in the UK, I'd not be affected by IR35, my Irish accountant recommended to me to comply with IR35 just in case, and with my work patterns it's easy for me to do that.

Don't bother with short-term stuff. What you want are the ones where you get a good rate and are still getting it (+raises) after several years. Short-term contracts (like 3 months) are always really really ****ty work that noone else will do. Also may be sign of toxic workplace etc.

It depends on the specialism of the work.

I did a contract a while back at €1000/day for two weeks on a very specialist topic. Wish it would have continued, but once their devs were up to speed, I was very expensive.

But otherwise I absolutely agree. For contracts less than a month I'd be looking for a corresponding leap in day rate to offset the risk of losing out on longer term work. Start with €800/day, it sorts out the serious from the time wasters. Only when a six month or longer contract is on the cards might I drop to €600 to €500/day as there will be less time not earning between contracts.

Niall

BrokenArrows

They have sent me the details of what they want to accomplish in 3 months and it's realistic. But it's not realistic for me to do whole also working full time.
They're aware I'm working full time.
It's a specialised subject.

I have a meeting with them tomorrow to go over the details.
I think the suggestion for monthly advances might be the way to go. I'll raise that issue with them anyway and see what happens.