In a pickle with my contract

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Right here is a good one for you all. I've been working for a company in Newcastle who are part of a global company but I'm paid for and just part of the Newcastle office and just look after the Newcastle Office. As I'm the only one in IT here they have assigned the IT manager in London as my manager for guidance but am not part of IT.

Now the good bit. After 11 months of being here I was told there was a screwup and IT in London found that they were paying my wages and I wasn't part of Newcastle and never paid for Newcastle even though my contract says otherwise. This to me means my contract is null and void in a sense. Newcastle can't afford my wages and the new MD says he was under the impression that IT in London always paid for me which is crap.

I'm looking for a new job and wanted to get a view that if I got a contract and because I don't work for the company on my contract if I could walk with only giving a weeks notice (because of how contracts work it's always at short notice and they wouldn't wait 4 weeks). I think I can because in a sense my contract is void though I know I can hold them to it but they could just make me redundant and pay me 4 weeks anyways so it's not really worth arguing about.

Not ideal and I'm gutted to leave as I did love this job but if I stay under IT it means I've got to start travelling and that wasn't part of my job. I don't want to do this with a young son and was the biggest factor in me taking the position.

Any ideas...

 

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Well, firstly I wouldn't rush into anything.

As long as you have been paid and will continue to do so then I wouldn't judge where you are paid from as a critical part of your contract.

Have you sounded them out about the travelling bit ? Might be worth doing that before you jump at something else. You could always hint that you'd have to leave if it meant travel and see what they say - if it's "well you've got to give us 4 weeks etc" then you know you're in for a fight no matter what.

 

I think my time is pretty short there anyways as I've tried several times to get this sorted and they are just messing me around. The reason I'm concerned is that they tried to send me to two offices for a site visit without bothering to speak to me first knowing that my job doesn't require me to travel when they thought I was part of Newcastle. The problem is it's in my contract that I could be asked to travel but it's in my contract to cover the company but the verbal agreement was I would do 2-3 trips to London for meetings and appraisals etc. I don't want to go back to traveling with a young son (not until he's older as it would cause a lot of problems for my wife who works).

I'm considering going back into contracting but that means only giving a week or two max notice and they might not be happy but I have a mortgage and young son to pay for and need to start to think about my circumstances and not theirs for once.

 

Ah right so you're not contracting already, it's your actual employment contract you're on about. Gottit !

Well, difficult one as the verbal agreement probably wouldn't stand up if you got into wranglings and had to go to a tribunal. Probably the best thing is to start looking for something now so you don't get caught out. In my experience, most companies won't generally want to keep you working if you're leaving especially if it's in IT in case you screw things up for them.

If you can get yourself lined up for something at pretty short notice then you could go and see your boss and discuss it with him but, in the current climate, I'd be pretty sure you have something to go to, especially with a young family.

 

It's a bit of a strange one to be in and I'm caking myself with the current market. I think I'm on borrowed time because some idiot messed my contract up.

 

I personally would seek legal advice before doing anything because employment legislation is a minefield and if you get it wrong, it can haunt you in future employment circles. By 'legal advice', I mean just have a quiet word with a solicitor or the Citizens advice Bureau to guage how you stand.

Declan

 

I think you'll find that most employtment contracts will have a clause in them requiring you to work where they want. Certainly back in the 80's when I worked for a national building society my contract technically meant they could ask me to work at any branch in the country. Obviously I wouldn't have, but the terms were in the contract.

Get your CV together and start looking now would be the best advice - you never know, you might find something better anyway !

 

Legal advice might be a good idea, but I agree that looking for another place is the way to go.
Don't rush into anything, but start the ball rolling - and make some options.

 

Cheers for the advice guys. I think I might contact Citizens Advice and see what they say. I don't want to turn down a good contract for this 4 weeks notice period and then find I get the bullet off work anyways. I think they are keeping me in the dark until I get some work out the way that requires me onsite and then I think they will let me go. It just comes over fishy after asking 3-4 times for a meeting to get this sorted out and so far they can't be bothered.

I'll keep you all posted...