Leaving IT Contract Early

ZilkyG

I started a 12 month IT project 5 months ago for a government body. However in the meantime I was offered a position for my dream job. My contract stipulates "The agreement shall not be terminable prior to the expiry of this period". Has anyone had any experience backing out of such a contract?

OMM 0000

I've done a lot of googling for you and I cannot find anything which sets out a maximum notice period.

It seems your only options are stay in the job or break your contract, which could have legal implications.

Of course you could get yourself fired...

maybe just go and ask them?

people can be reasonable.

Berserker

Speak to them. How is the project going? If it's all going well and they are not short on resources they might play ball with you. Prepare for battle otherwise. Getting fired isn't a good plan of action. You committed to working for them for a year and signed that contract.

on the other hand if you just walk out and go the the other job there is not much they can do really and and highly unlikely to try to pursue you legally as it's just not worth the hassle for them.

but definitely go talk to the right person(s) on the project first.

actually I saw an article on bbc today sort of related to this

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20190118-how-people-are-ghosting-their-employers

28064212

It's not clear what your circumstances are. Are you:

1. A standard worker on a fixed length contract? i.e. your employer is the government body
2. A self-employed contractor hired to complete a project?
3. An employee of a third-party contracting agency who the government body hired?

Your options are going to be quite different depending on your exact scenario

BrokenArrows

glasso wrote: »

on the other hand if you just walk out and go the the other job there is not much they can do really and and highly unlikely to try to pursue you legally as it's just not worth the hassle for them.

but definitely go talk to the right person(s) on the project first.

actually I saw an article on bbc today sort of related to this

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20190118-how-people-are-ghosting-their-employers

Jesus how weak are the Japanese when they cant even have the courage to quit their own jobs.

paw patrol

ZilkyG wrote: »

I started a 12 month IT project 5 months ago for a government body. However in the meantime I was offered a position for my dream job. My contract stipulates "The agreement shall not be terminable prior to the expiry of this period". Has anyone had any experience backing out of such a contract?

Are you sure that's all it says?
I say this cos if they hired you for 12 months and you were sh1te they have no escape clause to get rid of you early. It's unlikely they have left themselves open like that.
Also a year is a very long time to tie somebody down because many things can get in the way during a year.

My advice is that life is too short and if there is a dream job don't hold back , go take it


I've experience of cutting IT contracts short but never something of the nature you've quoted above.

ZilkyG

paw patrol wrote: »

Are you sure that's all it says?
I say this cos if they hired you for 12 months and you were sh1te they have no escape clause to get rid of you early. It's unlikely they have left themselves open like that.
Also a year is a very long time to tie somebody down because many things can get in the way during a year.

My advice is that life is too short and if there is a dream job don't hold back , go take it


I've experience of cutting IT contracts short but never something of the nature you've quoted above.

Thanks, this is genuinely helpful. Because of the nature of the job, it's actually a contract to an umbrella company which I'm an employee of.

seamus

ZilkyG wrote: »

Thanks, this is genuinely helpful. Because of the nature of the job, it's actually a contract to an umbrella company which I'm an employee of.

Ah well then they're probably some shoddy outfit flying by the seats of their kacks. Lots of the them around.

I would suspect any kind of contract that included a condition that saying it was "unbreakable" would be legally unenforceable. Especially being an employment contract, such a clause is definitely unenforceable; employees cannot legally sign away their right to find a new job. And it is illegal to do anything to force an employee to stay.

If your contract with the umbrella company makes no mention of termination clauses or procedures, then you are entitled to leave and provide the minimum notice of one week.

There's nothing they can do, there is no such thing as an "unbreakable" employment contract.

Xterminator

here is no such thing as an "unbreakable" employment contract.

yes that is called servitude, and its only allowed in ireland for non eu work permit workers!

Graham

Have you signed the contract in a personal capacity, or have you signed the contract for (on behalf of) your umbrella company.

What does the contract say about changes of personnel/substitution?

Graham

seamus wrote: »

Ah well then they're probably some shoddy outfit flying by the seats of their kacks. Lots of the them around.

There's nothing unusual about operating through an umbrella company, it's a quite common approach to contracting.