I could probably put this into GQ but I’d like to keep it open to opinions too, so here it is.
I’m a consultant for a Very Large Corporation. Come December, I’ll have been on this contract for a year. I originally signed on for a 6 month gig, but was fortunate enough to be extended until October, with the understanding that it might go beyond that, but no guarantees. When I originally met with the agency about this job, they said that the company that I work for is very good about hiring on its consultants, or at the very least moving them to another project should the one they’re working on come to an end. I expressed then my desire to become permanent - I only contract because I haven’t been able to find anything else that will pay my bills.
Throughout the 10 months that I’ve been here, I’ve done very well, and seem to be appreciated and valued, which is great. I’ve reiterated to both the agency and my boss here at the company my desire to become permanent should the chance arise.
And finally, last week, I was asked if I was still interested in a permanent role, and just short of officially offered one - but given a 95% chance of getting the job as planned. Excellent, thinks I, and I do the right and ethical thing and call my agency to let them know I’ve been approached.
In my initial discussions with the agency, they disclosed to me that were I to be taken on as a permanent employee, they’d get some percentage of the annual rate that I was offered from the company to buy me out. So I’d think that they’d be rather pleased - one because they’re getting a nice chunk of change, and two because having a company hire on a consultant can only say good things about the agency that placed her in the first place, right?
Instead I was met by a rather… chilly vibe. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get too far into it, because of the four consultants currently on our team, only two of us have been placed (me being the only one from my agency on the team at all). So I couldn’t exactly go discussing these things in front of the two people who will not be offered positions. So I find a moment to slip away to a private phone to call the agency again, and find out what the deal is.
Agent tells me that the agency “really prefers” that I stay on contract for at least a year before accepting a permanent position. I pointed out that the process is expected to take about a month, beaurocracy being such a wonderful thing, which would put me just one month shy of a year. I also pointed out that my contract expires next month, to which he replied I was wrong. “Really?” I asked, “Because if I’ve been extended, no one has told me anything about it.” He assures me rather pointedly that I’ve definitely been extended long beyond that, at which point I get a little miffed. First of all, if I’ve been extended, shouldn’t I have known about that? Second of all, the state of our current project dictates that it’s highly unlikely that anyone extended contracts - especially for any great amount of time. But he insists that I have been, and that this might be an issue. And thirdly - why is he being a bastard about this?
I asked him to get an official contract expiration date. Turns out that it expires October 12th - right about the time that I should be hired by this company. So much for “long beyond that”. So the company isn’t terminating my contract early; it isn’t trying to cheat the system by buying me behind the agency’s back, it’s just offering me a job.
I have no intention of jeopardizing my chances at a permanent position by putting the offer off another month just to appease the agency. There’s nothing in my contract that says I have to be on assignment for any length of time before accepting a position. I’ve been nothing but up-front about the fact that I was taking this gig as a way of getting my foot in the door, with the hopes of going staff. In all the previous mentions, nothing has ever been said to me about this “one-year preference.” I asked him if he foresaw any problems and he said he’d “look into it and get back to me.” (Does anyone else see the pretty Martians? I’m just checking to see if anyone is still with me here)
Am I wrong? I don’t think I am; I don’t believe I’d be doing anything unethical by telling the agency to stuff it if they try cramming the 1 year thing down my throat. It’s security I’m in desperate need of, not to mention a 6.5% raise over what I’m making now (which is backwards of how it usually works when you go contract-to-staff). Why would the agency be so resistant to this, when this is what they’re supposed to do? It’s not like they’ve been itching to get me into some other assignment - in fact, I’ve gotten the impression that were this one to end, I’d be a free-agent again, and they’d have done little to place me unless something fell into their laps. Maybe they screwed up their contract with the company, and forgot the clause where they get commission, and were hoping to fix it in the next renewal? I’m stumped.
What if they screw this up for me?
Any ideas?
(But almost)