Notice period - AIBU?

[AmIUnprofessional]

I've been working in a job with a fixed term contract.

Recently the scope of the project reduced significantly and felt it highly likely that rather than needing me for a further 12 weeks, the business would only want me for up to 5 more weeks, and could decide to cut back and resource the project with permanent staff immediately. Only a week's notice is required by either party and this left me in a vulnerable position, especially as I'm a single mum.

I immediately raised concerns and asked for clarity, but at the same time started to look at other options.

I found out about a position which needed to be filled urgently - another FTC but for a much longer period, in a role that has potential for further opportunities and where there are lots of other positives. I interviewed and they made an offer.

It was only over a week after the scope changed and when I had this offer that my current employer said they would honour the full length of the contract, or release me in a month. But the other company can't wait that long and I'm contractually only obliged to offer a week's notice.

I can see this will cause issues for my current employer, and could potentially damage the business. I did try to offer a workaround so I could enable a smooth transition. I'm willing to work extra hours and do all I can so I don't let people down.

I am not the kind of person to leave people in the shit, but I've had a lifetime of putting other people first and I need to put myself and my family first.

Their reaction has been extremely negative. I had a director calling me out of office hours telling me I am making a mistake and being unprofessional. I took his call knowing I would get an earful to handle the situation properly.

If I had a month's notice period, or similar security, or if they had reassured me that they wouldn't be getting rid of me at the point the scope changed, there's no way I would have looked elsewhere. I was completely committed to the project.

All they've offered me is the vague likelihood that they'll give me further contract work in the future. Clearly if I go I'll have burned my bridges, but the bulk of the work they can offer is of the type I've already made a decision not to do. I'm also really looking at permanent roles in the longer term anyway.

The next week will be awful but have I really done anything wrong?

So your contract states one week notice and you’re giving them one week notice? If so, what’s the issue? If they’d wanted to prevent you leaving that quickly they should have specified a longer notice period. But they didn’t.

Work the final week, leave things in as good a state as you can then move on to your new role.

You've got to put yourself first. Would the company go out of their way to make it easy for you if they ended the contract - no! That's what you've got to keep in mind. If they wanted more security they'd have put a longer notice in the contract so don't worry about doing anything other than you are contracted to do.

The key here is Only a week's notice is required by either party.

They have changed the scope and timeline of your FTC, & can only offer you another 5 weeks of work rather 12. This could shorten this again - I have seen it happen.

Yes I can see giving them one weeks notice could make their lives difficult but that is the risk the company took with FTC.

You have done nothing wrong. Look after yourself like they would do.

Nothing wrong whatsoever! If they wanted you to give more than a week’s notice they should have put that in the contract. If it had suited then to let you go with a week’s notice they would have done so without a second thought. They have behaved badly and you don’t want to work there again anyway so burn that bridge!

I think if you'd had a discussion with them it would have gone better tbh, or waited for a response from them. It does sound a bit rushed from your side, within a week you've made a decision that you were not needed in your role when the company have confirmed they'd give you at least another 5 weeks work if not the full 12 weeks of the contract.

It's fine to get another job and move on. The company have the viewpoint that the work was still there for you, so from their point of view it's not clear why you thought it wasn't.

They wrote the contract, right? They chose to put their employee in the extremely vulnerable position of only having a week’s notice. They could have done 1-2 months notice which is much more normal, they chose not to, because they incorrectly assumed that all the power in this relationship belonged to them.

Yanbu. Take the other job and well done on getting it.

The next time your (soon to be ex) employer writes a contract, perhaps they’ll put a less exploitative notice provision in it.

I think you've misunderstood the timeline.

The scope of work changed; I asked what this would mean for me; I looked for opportunities just in case; I interviewed; I was offered the role; I told my employer I had an offer but didn't resign; they came back at that point and said either I could stay for a month or till the end of the original contract. But this was over a week since I had asked for clarification on my role. I had several discussions.with them. I then did some thinking and said I wanted to accept the offer and give notice as all I was getting from them was security for 12 weeks when I could have security into next year.

As PP said, if they felt I was critical to the project, they could have acted to secure me sooner.

To put this into context, I've had the scope change on a project in the past and my contract has been cut short. I've also had people imply there will be more work to come that hasn't materialised, and I've been offered contracts where the paperwork never arrived and it all went quiet. This is the nature of the job, but I've got wiser now and unless I have something in writing it means nothing.

Would they hesitate to give you a week’s notice if it suited them? I doubt it.

You’ve done nothing wrong. You have abided by their contract.
You can rest assured had they wanted to let you go, they would have given the bare minimum the contract allowed, no more They are just surprised you’ve done what any man would have done.