Ok, so any advice on how to handle this situation would be greatly appreciated. Here’s the background:
I currently work as a temp at a fortune 500 corporation. I originally started the position expecting it to be a brief summer temporary job. It turns out they liked me and the project I was on (scanning all their documents in an effort for them to go completely paperless) has lasted about 16 months. However, the project is almost over (only about two to three weeks worth of scanning left), in the meantime I’ve been looking for a job.
I am extremely happy to report I found a full-time perm job with benefits and better pay. Here’s the problem: For the past month my agency and the corporation have been renewing my contract on a weekly basis, so when I was interviewed I told the potential employer I only needed a week’s notice in order to finish out my contract, which was true at the time (The interview was a while back and I hadn’t heard from them after so I assumed I didn’t get the job). Last week my current employers decided to renew my contract until October 12 for some reason. They notified me, and since I hadn’t found a job I said I was OK with that because I didn’t want to be out of work. The new job came up suddenly after I had already been notified of the contract being extended. So now the new Employer wants me to start next week because they need to send someone from their main office out of state to train me and that fits their schedule best. I am torn because I did tell them I could start working within a week, and I don’t want to lose this oppurtunity for full-time work, because it seems like an awesome oppurtunity and I can’t be sure I’ll find another job in this economy. At the same time, I’d like to fulfill my contract obligation or at least leave my current employer on good terms. How should I handle this?
Thanks for any advice, and sorry if it’s a little TLDR.
Go to HR and explain the situation. If it’s a Fortune 500 company, chances are they deal with this sort of thing all the time. It will probably be a very simple thing.
Doesn’t it sort of depend on what “contract” means in this case? If you signed something saying you’d stay, leaving in the middle of it could bite you in the ass. It’s unfortunate that you agreed to sign a contract lasting longer than a week, but you should investigate your options (and what the contract specifically states) before just sailing out the door.
StusBlues - I actually am not worried about the corporation so much as the temp agency I work through. They are much smaller and are now expecting to be paid until October 12. I am worried about what will happen if I don’t fulfill my contract. Is there any way for them to give me a hard time about this? I am also worried that in the future they may not give me a good review if I am looking for another job and need a reference or something. Maybe I am overreacting but I don’t want to leave them in a lurch, at the same time there is really only a few more weeks work here and and I don’t want to turn down a permanent gig for three more weeks of work.
I guess I am taking the job for sure but I want to know what will happen, if anything, if I don’t fulfill my contract obligation?
rachelellogram - That’s exactly why I am worried. However, I signed an initial contract when I took the job that specified a specific time frame that I would work. All subsequent renewals past that initial time frame have been verbal through phone or email, so I’m not sure if that makes a difference. The whole process seemed informal, but I am not sure how serious they would take this.
ETA: I just found out my start date will be October 3, which is still before my contracted end date, but gives me a little more wiggle room.
Also sorry for the double post. I post somewhere else where editing is not enabled.
I would just give my week’s notice and go. I mean, they’ve been keeping you as a contractor, and that’s great, but it’s not a permanent position. They would have to expect that you’re looking for a job so close to the end of your project. Plus, as Agent Foxtrot said, they’d do the same. I mean, if the company was that wonderful to you, why wouldn’t try find you a permanent position on another project when this is through? Keeping contractors for long periods is to their benefit, not yours, and you need to look out for yourself.
Give whatever notice you can, and explain why in a professional manner. That’s all you need to do. Starting on the right foot with the new place is the most important thing.
Having hired many, many temps in my time on indefinitely postponing contracts like this, I can’t say I ever heard of anyone who heard a peep out of their temp agency for leaving with zero notice, let alone giving notice.
In addition to what everyone else has said, I’m willing to bet the temp agency has other people looking for work who can replace you with relative ease.
They can give you a “hard time” but you can also tell them to fuck off. At worse they might be sore with you and give you attitude, but what do you care? You have a full time job. It’s not like you’re Derek Jeter signing with the Yankees for $20 million. The “contract” just means that Fortune 500 is purchasing services from TempAgency. It doesn’t mean you are an indentured servent for the next month.
What are they going to say? You quit and found a better, more permenent job? If you are worried they will arbitrarily slander you, you wouldn’t use them as a reference anyway.
My thought is that you should never feel bad about leaving a company in a “lurch”, beyond the common courtesy of 2 weeks notice. If I am so important to a project/department/company that they can’t do without me, then they should have paid me better and kissed my ass more. It’s poor management on the company for allowing any individual to become a single point of failure.
I agree with everyone’s points. I was having the same thoughts but sometimes I tend to overthink things and get myself worried for no reason. I don’t think I’m that vital to the company and I’m sure they can find someone else to do what I do. It’s not as big a deal as I initially thought and angering the agency is no biggie. Thanks.
I left a temp assignment for a much better one once, and they threatened to sue me. Yeah, good luck with that - temping is as “at will” as it gets - they can (and have) let me go with zero notice, and I can do the same.
Just let your temp agency know what’s going on and what your time-frames are looking like, and I’m sure you’ll be fine.
I agree with just giving your notice and going. If they wanted more notice, they could have offered you a contract that required it.
Renewing a temp position like they’ve done for you is basically just saying “our current plans do not involve firing you until date X”. There’s no commitment on either side.
And having “been there done that” I’ve had contractors who worked for me when I was a consulting manager who had these sorts of “we think this contract will run through March, can you commit” verbal contracts offered and accepted Monday morning. Then the company they were placed at would announce earnings and we’d get a call Monday afternoon “don’t have the budget anymore.”
If they really wanted the commitment, you’d have a written contract with a clause that they’d exercise if you terminated prematurely. You don’t. Call the company you are placed through and tell them to tell the client “Friday is her last day” The company you work through can make the decision to say “and we will send someone out on Wednesday to start working with her for free, so you won’t see any change in your schedule.”
I agree that you are making a much larger deal of this than needed. Temp agencies are (should be) volume businesses, they likely have many people available to show up today if necessary to replace you. Yes, it will be a slight pain to the company to train someone to do the task, and yes it will be a slight pain to the temp agency to call up your replacement and tell them where to show up (but that’s what they DO, that’s their job).
Yeah, if you don’t need the agency itself as a reference, this is no big deal. Just cite the Fortune 500 company as your employer if you’re using this job on a resume.
FWIW, I’ve been fired exactly once in my life, but my work dates sit in such a way that I can leave that job off any resumes or applications without showing a gap in my work history. You should be OK.
Okay, so that’s what I fantasize about doing when I leave this place. Realistically, I’d say you’ve good advice here. Thank them for the opportunity, and professionally explain that you’ve sought permanent, full-time employment elsewhere. I also don’t think the employer you’re contracting with will have hurt feelings if you bail. Some years ago I was temping, and near the end of my assignment (which had also been extended numerous times), I started looking for work, and was upfront with my direct supervisor. She understood; it would be unreasonable for her to expect me to completely blow a great career opportunity so that I could continue sending bills to people at some crappy temp job for an extra week. I parted on good terms, and she was a great reference for me in the gig I ended up landing.
Best of luck.
Edit: That reminds me, during this whole adventure, the company I was working for thought I was great and didn’t get butthurt over my departure. The temp agency, on the other hand, tried to bullshit me into staying out the contract no matter what. At one point the recruiter asks what could be done to ensure I complete the assignment. Hey recruiter – you can find me a job! What a dumb ass.
You don’t need to give anyone any more reason than that unless you want to. It’s unreasonable to expect anyone to work 2-3 more weeks as a temp without any future guarantee when they could be working a full-time job with benefits instead. No one full time at the temp agency or the F500 company would switch places with you; why would you be expected to settle for that?
