How best to proceed?

Felon

Felon

Felon

Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2014
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Location
Midlands
So I’m currently in a job I hate, totally loathe it - been there 8 months and I’ve spent the last 2-3 really trying hard to find a new role, I’ve spend the last 8 months just wasting away, confused, annoyed and basically just hating the **** out of it.

I managed to land a really nice contractor role yesterday, working on bleeding edge stuff in finance. Good rate - totally want it, (working with people I know from previous) offer has come through - they want me to start in one month. (I haven’t signed anything yet)

Current place have me on a 3 month notice…

My current contract has a clause which says I must devote 100% off my time to them etc, so it rules out having a second job (which is normal)

Do I - try to negotiate with my current employer, to have them reduce my notice to 1 month?

Or

Aside from getting myself fired on purpose, are there any other options?

If I say to my employer that I don’t like it there and want to leave, I can’t imagine they’d force me to work 3 months notice, especially when I’m not involved in any major projects or anything at all really.. I’m just wasting away..

Any ideas?… or suggestions…
 
If you've only been there 8 months it seems a tad harsh to expect a 3 month notice period. You've probably only just fallen outside of your probation period where you could have given 1 minute notice of leaving.

Talking with your manager is probably your best bet. They might be okay with it.

Otherwise you've got to make the decision on whether that's a bridge you can afford to burn.
 
Semple said:
If you've only been there 8 months it seems a tad harsh to expect a 3 month notice period. You've probably only just fallen outside of your probation period where you could have given 1 minute notice of leaving.
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Yeah that’s a good point actually, considering I’m not in the middle of delivering anything, and I’ve been there less than a year, thinking about it rationally - it wouldn’t make much sense for them to enforce the full 3 months…
 
Screeeech said:
Yeah that’s a good point actually, considering I’m not in the middle of delivering anything, and I’ve been there less than a year, thinking about it rationally - it wouldn’t make much sense for them to enforce the full 3 months…
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Technically if you don’t work the full notice period they can sue you , but it’s unlikely.
 
3 month notice period is typically a blocker for contract roles, I assume it wasn't discussed until now? I didn't apply for contracts when I had 3 months notice as considered it a non-starter.

Given what you've said I'd discuss with current employer and say you are resigning and you'd like to give one month notice and believe you can comfortably hand over your current responsibilities within that timeframe, and would be fully committed during that period. Don't make any silly threats but effectively allude to the fact that a month of focussed effort from you is probably better than a couple of months demob happy. Assuming you aren't doing something that will be hard to cover whilst they find a replacement, you could ask rhetorical questions like what additional value they believe you would add in months 2 and 3 compared to the next month?
 
HangTime said:
Assuming you aren't doing something that will be hard to cover whilst they find a replacement, you could ask rhetorical questions like what additional value they believe you would add in months 2 and 3 compared to the next month?
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Yeah this is the way I’m going to play it I think, I should get the contract for the new role over this week so I’m waiting until then, but there’s absolutely nothing going on so it would be very awkward of them to enforce the 3 months.

To be honest, even if they did - I could just start the new role anyway and work on that without telling them - however that’s a last resort,
 
Screeeech said:
To be honest, even if they did - I could just start the new role anyway and work on that without telling them - however that’s a last resort,
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I presume both are remote then?

If you really don't like it at the current place then go for it, I'd be tempted to give a firm yes to the contract with 1 month's notice regardless.

I guess you still pitch it to your employer as you asking permission to cut the notice period short, essentially even though you likely have no intention of returning there I guess it's still in your interests to be seen as a good guy by people working there. Would be silly of them to refuse given you've not been there for even a year but if they do then I do like your backup option of juggling both roles and keeping that from them, ultimately you're in your notice period at the current place by then so they can't exactly overload you with stuff and you'll be quite comfortable to delay completion of things, refuse to work beyond contracted hours etc.. and miss meetings with weak excuses/put any scheduling clashes in favour of the new employer/client.
 
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dowie said:
I presume both are remote then?

If you really don't like it at the current place then go for it, I'd be tempted to give a firm yes to the contract with 1 month's notice regardless.
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Yeah both roles are fully remote,

To be honest I don’t really have any moral problem keeping it from them if they enforce a 3 month notice, so long as I’m logged into slack and teams lol…

The only thing that bothers me is if they find out, will they sue me or something…. If I was in the middle of delivering some project for a customer or whatever I’d understand and wouldn’t leave them in the **** like that, but I’m doing absolutely nothing so…. I imagine they wouldn’t bother, but it’s a last resort..
 
If you're not doing much at the current place and there's someone to hand over knowledge to (or you can write it down) then they'll quite possibly be happy to save a couple of months' salary by letting you go early. They won't go legal on you unless they're nutters, the cost is silly for what they'd gain. However, its wise to go gracefully instead of burning a bridge, you never know where the next contract might be coming from. Talk to them .. today.
 
Screeeech said:
So I’m currently in a job I hate, totally loathe it - been there 8 months and I’ve spent the last 2-3 really trying hard to find a new role, I’ve spend the last 8 months just wasting away, confused, annoyed and basically just hating the **** out of it.

I managed to land a really nice contractor role yesterday, working on bleeding edge stuff in finance. Good rate - totally want it, (working with people I know from previous) offer has come through - they want me to start in one month. (I haven’t signed anything yet)

Current place have me on a 3 month notice…

My current contract has a clause which says I must devote 100% off my time to them etc, so it rules out having a second job (which is normal)

Do I - try to negotiate with my current employer, to have them reduce my notice to 1 month?

Or

Aside from getting myself fired on purpose, are there any other options?

If I say to my employer that I don’t like it there and want to leave, I can’t imagine they’d force me to work 3 months notice, especially when I’m not involved in any major projects or anything at all really.. I’m just wasting away..

Any ideas?… or suggestions…
Click to expand...

What is your current role by the way?
 
Screeeech said:
The only thing that bothers me is if they find out, will they sue me or something…. If I was in the middle of delivering some project for a customer or whatever I’d understand and wouldn’t leave them in the **** like that, but I’m doing absolutely nothing so…. I imagine they wouldn’t bother, but it’s a last resort..
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It's unlikely they would find out, especially if you're barely doing anything for them anyway at the mo... I guess that perhaps also increases the chances they can afford for you to work a shorter notice period.
 
Bounce said:
What is your current role by the way?
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I'm a "Principal architect" apparently :cry:

dowie said:
It's unlikely they would find out, especially if you're barely doing anything for them anyway at the mo... I guess that perhaps also increases the chances they can afford for you to work a shorter notice period.
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Yeah I think it's me worrying more than anything, even if they did find out - I think i'd realistically not give a ****.. Either way - there's no way I'm missing out on this opportunity because of a notice period which will be spend doing nothing..
 
I think you'll be fine.

Holding you to 3 months notice is in no ones best interests....

Speak to your boss when you hand in your notice - polite explain that the role hasn't worked out for you as planned, and ask for your 1month notice, and that you'll waive the other two months pay etc.

Also look into any extra holidays you still have left to reduce your 3 months that way
 
As discussed, just tell your employer....it's unlikely they'll force you to work the 3 months unless you're super indispensable for whatever reason....although if you hate the role that much they probably know you do.

If you really want the contract, I'd be tempted to just leave the old one. You take the risk they actually bother to pursue it legally, but it's unlikely. Depends if it's a bridge you want to burn really.
 
Depending on what you do, you don’t have to work your notice period.

It just means you won’t get a reference, nor get paid for that time.



If it causes a clear and obvious loss of income for the company, they might be able to go down the legal route, but if it’s a case of “someone else has to pick up the slack”, I doubt they would have much chance.


A clear and obvious loss of income could include:

You’re a project manager on a key project, which nobody else is qualified to do

And anything else similar



I would tell them the situation, see what they say, and if you need to, just leave 1 month through it.
 
booyaka said:
in this day and age - you know someone somewhere will be trying to claim 3 months for 1 month....
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Of course, there would be - why wouldn't they if they didn't agree otherwise? You can quite legitimately claim 3 months for 0 months tbh.. if they send you home and you're sticking to the contractual agreement re: not working for others then they owe you gardening leave.

It's not up to the employer to cancel anything unilaterally, if you didn't want the 3 months' notice canceled then even if they only need you to work for 1 month more they'd better still pay you unless you agree to cut it short.
 
Obviously but if you are resigning to take up another role (i.e. not only do you agree to cut it short, you are demanding to cut it short) you can't just say "my notice period is 3 months, but I'm going to leave after 1 month and you can still pay me for 3 months, kthxbye".
 
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HangTime said:
Obviously but if you are resigning to take up another role (i.e. not only do you agree to cut it short, you are demanding to cut it short) you can't just say "my notice period is 3 months, but I'm going to leave after 1 month and you can still pay me for 3 months, kthxbye".
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Well of course not, just pointing out that you can certainly have situations where someone quits without another role lined up in which case they may want (and are of course legally entitled to) some optionality there.
 
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