IT job contract role?

[nicklau81]

Hi,

I'm working as an IT administrator and I got a contract role offer. Does anyone have experience working in contract role? what is the advantages and disadvantages in this type of role? Can I legally resign before the end of the contract?

cheers

[rayonline]

Yes, you can resign. In your contract there will be a clause of how much notice you need to give.

Contract may be better paid but you don't get union backing, unless it's a longer duration contract and the union accepts that. Contractors don't get compensation when you use a job via restructure. Depends what sort of contractor I think. If you are going thru an agency, you can get holiday pay but it's thru your agency, you are employed thru the agency not by the company you are assigned to work under. So all the perks the normal staff get you won't get - ie., subsidised insurance, able to belong to "more" unions, how hrs are calculated. LIke some have 37.5 and treated as 40hr weeks. Maybe even the company's holidays are not paid, ie., they may be closed between Christmas and NYRs. Contractors may get the stats holiday paid of course, but you may not get the other days "non stat days" when the company closes down ..

Of course contractors has less security of work. When contract ceases and not renewed, you are on your own.

Those issues will be in your employment contract.

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.

[stoorob]

Of course the flip side to this is that if you're a contractor you *should* get paid a good amount more than if you were working as a full time employee, so the fact you don't get paid for time off is compensated somewhat. It's all a matter of how much risk you want to take and if you're confident about finding other contract roles when this one finishes.

As for being able to resign, this is all down to the contract. Some contracts (from particularly slimy agencies) may provide no notice period, meaning you are not able to terminate the contract early, something that if noticed prior to signing you can negotiate out.