A contract question.
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Since many of you guys are working as contractors I think this is the perfect place to ask this question: If one get a contract for 6 month is it possible that the employer will cancel the contract within period shorter then 6 month? Are employers usually commit to project duration?
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Since many of you guys are working as contractors I think this is the perfect place to ask this question: If one get a contract for 6 month is it possible that the employer will cancel the contract within period shorter then 6 month? Are employers usually commit to project duration?
You (and the client) always need a mutually acceptable way out, so my contracts contain a clause where one party can give a months notice to the other. Under some conditions, you could phrase it that the client will need to pay you at least x % of the fees if they cancel the contract. My feelings are that I would prefer to let the client 'get out' of a contact and have them come back to me later on, rather than 'force' compliance of a contract and then for the client to feel a little cheated. Cheers, Simon > latest article :: animation mechanics in SVG > blog:: brokenkeyboards > another site of mine :: JeanPant.com > CV :: PDF
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Since many of you guys are working as contractors I think this is the perfect place to ask this question: If one get a contract for 6 month is it possible that the employer will cancel the contract within period shorter then 6 month? Are employers usually commit to project duration?
You could ask for advance monthly payments, so you never end up doing unpaid work.
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You could ask for advance monthly payments, so you never end up doing unpaid work.
Thanks for that idea, Nish. :P Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++
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Thanks for that idea, Nish. :P Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++
Christian Graus wrote:
Thanks for that idea, Nish.
:rolleyes:
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Since many of you guys are working as contractors I think this is the perfect place to ask this question: If one get a contract for 6 month is it possible that the employer will cancel the contract within period shorter then 6 month? Are employers usually commit to project duration?
I've done a lot of contracting in my career and really what it boils down to is the job market for programmers. If the market is in your favor (more jobs than programmers) then you can ask for certain clauses like 'a months notice to terminate a contract' or 'pay a month in advance' etc. If the job market SUCKS then your more likely to get clauses that say they can burn you in hot oil (ok so I'm exaggerating here) if things don't go perfectly. Right now in the US the job market for .net programmerse is pretty decent but not 'red hot' or anything nearing that. It really depends on where you live that determines exactly how things go. So really, it's all relative.
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You could ask for advance monthly payments, so you never end up doing unpaid work.
Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
ask for advance monthly payments
As per Christian, it's a nice idea, but how feasible is it? If I am having cash flow issues, isn't that my problem and not the clients? I suppose a partial up front payment might work though. Cheers, Simon > latest article :: animation mechanics in SVG > blog:: brokenkeyboards > another site of mine :: JeanPant.com > CV :: PDF
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Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
ask for advance monthly payments
As per Christian, it's a nice idea, but how feasible is it? If I am having cash flow issues, isn't that my problem and not the clients? I suppose a partial up front payment might work though. Cheers, Simon > latest article :: animation mechanics in SVG > blog:: brokenkeyboards > another site of mine :: JeanPant.com > CV :: PDF
SimonS wrote:
As per Christian, it's a nice idea, but how feasible is it? If I am having cash flow issues, isn't that my problem and not the clients? I suppose a partial up front payment might work though.
The O.P. is talking about a 6 month contract - that's long enough to justify asking for advance monthly payments.
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SimonS wrote:
As per Christian, it's a nice idea, but how feasible is it? If I am having cash flow issues, isn't that my problem and not the clients? I suppose a partial up front payment might work though.
The O.P. is talking about a 6 month contract - that's long enough to justify asking for advance monthly payments.
Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
The O.P. is talking about a 6 month contract - that's long enough to justify asking for advance monthly payments.
I guess that all depends on your customer. Even the US government doesn't give direct money to the contractor until the work is done. The money goes into a holding account (account change only) to move it to the supervisory department/group for the contractor (the government agency to whom the contractor directly answers to). Then as the contract is run over 6/12 months the money is paid based on work accomplished during that month, not the money allocated for that month. If you are underbudget, you have not put in the hours to get your full months allocation, over-budget, you took too much. Overbudget is not a problem until you reach the end of money, you either finish early (time-wise) which is frowned upon, or you aren't finished and need to request more money to accomplish the job. The latter requires forms, reports, and a stamped approval from someone you will probably never meet. _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)