Does contract still exist?

and_e_says

I have/had a catering agreement contract within a local company & I have operated onsite for the past 5 years but things have come to a head internally and with change of management & procedures, operating there has become a chore & I am planning to hand in my notice to quit in the next 4-6 weeks.

The original contract was renewable every June & ran for 12 months & was signed & agreed when I joined in year one, an amendment letter & reference to the original contracts terms & conditions was signed in year 2 but there has been no contract, signing, amendments or renewal since.
I opened as a sole trader franchising the catering & kitchen facilities. There doesn't seem to be any special conditions on the original contract & the fact that it has expired does that mean that all terms & conditions of the original contract are null & void right now? I would prefer to serve notice to be fair but am pretty sure that reactions from the new chiefs (the other 95% will understand) will make it a difficult few weeks to operate.
A couple of questions:
Am I essentially free to walk away without recourse or management chasing me for compensation for the remainder of what would have be the operating year (up to June next)?
When I notify management they may well get the hump at me leaving... can they turf me out immediately, i.e. tomorrow?

Thanks
Andy

Gloomtastic!

Without seeing the contract, any advice here would probably be useless.

You could try sitting down and talking through the issues with the new management team. If you can't solve them then a suitable agreement to break away may be achievable.

The only people who usually win, when disputes go legal, are the lawyers.

delahuntv

It would be manners to give 4 weeks notice - if you ever went for a contract with another company and they checked up on previous work, walking out with little notice would nto go down well.

I'd give 4 weeks - see what they say. They may say 2 weeks is all that they need, or they may ask you to stay longer to allow them find new caterer

and_e_says

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Without seeing the contract, any advice here would probably be useless.

You could try sitting down and talking through the issues with the new management team. If you can't solve them then a suitable agreement to break away may be achievable.

The only people who usually win, when disputes go legal, are the lawyers.

Ok, thanks for that. There's no sitting down with new management I'm afraid but also I can't see it going legal unless they push it that way, I just want to get away sooner rather than later (weeks not months). I'm just worried there may be some sort of continuance whereby I am bound to see the original contracted time frame out...like the reversal of squatters rights or something?
I'm not looking to drop tools & run & will give upto 6 weeks if required.
My concern generally is, in the absence of a structured contract am I essentially free to leave & are management equally free to run me out the door at the drop of a hat. I would prefer to work my notice in full.

and_e_says

delahuntv wrote: »

It would be manners to give 4 weeks notice - if you ever went for a contract with another company and they checked up on previous work, walking out with little notice would nto go down well.

I'd give 4 weeks - see what they say. They may say 2 weeks is all that they need, or they may ask you to stay longer to allow them find new caterer

Thanks for the reply. Yes, manners cost nothing. I would prefer to leave with no ill-feelings
and if 4-6 weeks is unacceptable then we will probably have to either form an alternative agreement or part rapidly on bad terms!
I have re-read the original contract & it states 12 months only with an option of 2 more, plus the letter of amendment I referred to states June 2012 as an expiry date.
As I said above, I don't think it will turn legal, but I don't know much about how contracts work outside of time frame for which they are drawn up for. Like is there some sort of hidden continuance as I have continued to work on as if nothing has changed regardless of a signed contract.

and_e_says

delahuntv wrote: »

It would be manners to give 4 weeks notice - if you ever went for a contract with another company and they checked up on previous work, walking out with little notice would nto go down well.

I'd give 4 weeks - see what they say. They may say 2 weeks is all that they need, or they may ask you to stay longer to allow them find new caterer

Thanks for the reply. Yes, manners cost nothing. I would prefer to leave with no ill-feelings
and if 4-6 weeks is unacceptable then we will probably have to either form an alternative agreement or part rapidly on bad terms!
I have re-read the original contract & it states 12 months only with an option of 12 months more, plus the letter of amendment I referred to states June 2011 as an end date.
As I said above, I don't think it will turn legal, but I don't know much about how contracts work outside of time frame for which they are drawn up for. Like is there some sort of hidden continuance as I have continued to work on as if nothing has changed regardless of a signed contract.

and_e_says

and_e_says wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. Yes, manners cost nothing. I would prefer to leave with no ill-feelings
and if 4-6 weeks is unacceptable then we will probably have to either form an alternative agreement or part rapidly on bad terms!
I have re-read the original contract & it states 12 months only with an option of 12 months more, plus the letter of amendment I referred to states June 2011 as an end date.
As I said above, I don't think it will turn legal, but I don't know much about how contracts work outside of time frame for which they are drawn up for. Like is there some sort of hidden continuance as I have continued to work on as if nothing has changed regardless of a signed contract.

What are you worried about if the contract is expired already?
Is there clauses saying its automatically renewed, or does it say you can pull out at any time with X amount of notice?

delahuntv

It won't turn legal as no time specific contract is in force and only standard or "reasonable" terms would apply. This would mean 30 days.

I'd look at giving notice and saying that you will finish on Friday 2nd October. - That's a very reasonable 5 weeks for them to procure another person to do the catering.

pedronomix

This is overly complicated. Give in 3-6 six weeks notice of termination and say that you are happy to work it out or if they prefer they can pay you for your loss of earnings if they wish to terminate earlier/immediately. If you have other staff, employed they may face issues on the whole transfer of contact employemnt legislation!!

Only one way to find out. It does sound that they might like you gone quietly and in an orderly fashion to me!

and_e_says

Deleted User wrote: »

What are you worried about if the contract is expired already?
Is there clauses saying its automatically renewed, or does it say you can pull out at any time with X amount of notice?

Thanks for reply,

Yes contract has expired, I don't know much about these matters & so am/was unsure as to whether the management would have any hold on me as I stayed on at my own will for the past few years with no contract in place. Thus I am asking the afore mentioned questions.
Also there is no mention of giving notice within the expired contract other than their option to discontinue at the end of any 12 month period or any perceived mis-conduct as deemed so, by the management team.

Judging by all the replies I should be ok giving 5 weeks notice in writing.
Thanks, Andy

Ctrl Alt Delete

If the contract has expired you are free to walk. But what I would check in the expired contract is termination notices and go by that by way of professional courtesy