Notice Period as a Contractor

[HangingOver]

I'm struggling to find a definitive answer on whether/how much notice you legally need to give if there is no contract in place and nothing in writing. Notice was never discussed. I'm not averse to spending a little while doing a thorough handover for the sake of the rest of the staff but I gotta get out!

Are you definitely not an employee? In the absence of anything in writing or even spoken it's a bit uncertain. A fairly safe bet would be the same periods as your payments from them - maybe monthly or weekly?

No, I invoice them weekly through my partner's company and they pay weekly. I was thinking a week was probably fair...

I'd say a week too in those circumstances. You could perhaps offer to do handover at your hourly rate on dates to be agreed after you've left if they need to contract a replacement?

That a really good idea actually, thanks.

Hopefully things will work out for you. There is a contract although it's not in writing. These things work both ways - if you're invoicing them weekly they can terminate the contract with minimal notice too.