How long to accept offer of extension?

**northernladuk** · 19 October 2013, 12:16

This is just a matter of professional courtesy rather than legalities. You are well within your right to not accept until the point the old one expires but this is pretty bad forum, especially if you end up declining. The client and the agent are going to be extremely pissed and I can bet you are going to struggle to get your last payment.

Saying that 10 weeks before expiry is a very early extension offer and I would say waiting until early Dec isn't unreasonable although they may get a grump on if they get a sniff that you are playing them off.

I do hope you are keeping your IR35 house in order with a rolling contract going on that long and extension offers so early. There does sound to be a high degree of mutuality going on there.

**cojak** · 19 October 2013, 12:16

Originally posted by Manz View Post

I have been on a rolling contract for almost 2 years and currently it ends at the end of December, but yesterday I got an email from my agency with an offer of extension for 3 more months. How long do I have before I have to reply with my decision? as I'm currently looking for other roles as I'm, getting really bored at my current job. If I can find another role, I have a flexible relationship with the client, so they should be OK with me leaving at short notice before December. If I do decide to accept and stay 3 more months and then look for a new role, how quick do I need to respond to the email with my decision? Do I have until December or does it need to be responded to ASAP?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Lord knows, we don't know the client or the agency or the contract. Stall them until they tell you to put up or shut up.

**Wanderer** · 19 October 2013, 14:14

Originally posted by Manz View Post

I have been on a rolling contract for almost 2 years and currently it ends at the end of December, but yesterday I got an email from my agency with an offer of extension for 3 more months.

You could tell them you will wait till December because you might find a better job but then they might find a better contractor and leave you with no work too. The reason they are asking for you to sign now is probably because they have the money in the budget right now - if you don't accept then the money could be spent elsewhere and you could be out of luck.

I'd be inclined to accept the extension as offered and then give notice if I found something better....

**Manz** · 20 October 2013, 15:43

Originally posted by northernladuk View Post

I do hope you are keeping your IR35 house in order with a rolling contract going on that long and extension offers so early. There does sound to be a high degree of mutuality going on there.

I'm with an umbrella company because its a low hourly rate.

Originally posted by Wanderer View Post

You could tell them you will wait till December because you might find a better job but then they might find a better contractor and leave you with no work too. The reason they are asking for you to sign now is probably because they have the money in the budget right now - if you don't accept then the money could be spent elsewhere and you could be out of luck.

I'd be inclined to accept the extension as offered and then give notice if I found something better....

If I accept it, can the company end my contract early if they don't need me any more? because the other week I was in a meeting with the boss with another colleague, and there isn't really anything for me to do now as the project is pretty much finished, there is another project going on which just needs occasional UAT testing done from me, but apart from that there is nothing for me to do now. In the meeting the colleague was explaining something and my boss said "I'll get him to do it" and the colleague said "well you don't need to" and my boss said "no, he will do it, or he is going to lose a job as there is nothing to do" Right now there is nothing for me to do and I don't think there will be anything to do in the future either, so I don't know why it got extended. Can they let me go at any time? or do they need to wait till the contract ends?

**SueEllen** · 20 October 2013, 17:39

Originally posted by Manz View Post

I'm with an umbrella company because its a low hourly rate.
Can they let me go at any time? or do they need to wait till the contract ends?

They can finish you at any time.

However whether they give you notice or not depends on the wording in the contract the umbrella company signed on your behalf. This is why it's a good idea to run your own affairs as you know exactly what is in the contract.

Some of my contracts explicitly say if the project finishes early then I don't get paid while others don't mention this. In both cases they have a notice period. This means the client either has to give me notice and send me home, or pay me notice to completely get rid of me. I've only had the latter and that was once.

Most places that use a lot of contractors are experienced at estimating the work to fill the time available and extending the contract to exactly fit any extra time required.

**DirtyDog** · 21 October 2013, 08:42

Originally posted by Manz View Post

I'm with an umbrella company because its a low hourly rate.

You've been on a low hourly rate through an umbrella for two years now? Did you not fancy improving your lot over this time?

**Manz** · 21 October 2013, 12:08

Originally posted by DirtyDog View Post

You've been on a low hourly rate through an umbrella for two years now? Did you not fancy improving your lot over this time?

I did, in this time I passed my Prince2, MSP and Agile exams, and then I asked my manager to put me on some project management/delivery roles to get some experience and I was able to do a small project which started 3 months ago and has just recently finished. Now I'm looking to move forward to a new contract

**Sausage Surprise** · 21 October 2013, 13:00

Originally posted by Manz View Post

I did, in this time I passed my Prince2, MSP and Agile exams, and then I asked my manager to put me on some project management/delivery roles to get some experience and I was able to do a small project which started 3 months ago and has just recently finished. Now I'm looking to move forward to a new contract

Good job you are through a brolly with talk like that

**masonryan** · 21 October 2013, 14:04

Originally posted by northernladuk View Post

This is just a matter of professional courtesy rather than legalities. You are well within your right to not accept until the point the old one expires but this is pretty bad forum, especially if you end up declining. The client and the agent are going to be extremely pissed and I can bet you are going to struggle to get your last payment.

It's more the agent who will be annoyed because of loss of commission, not so much the client since they sound like they are running out of work for him to do. Plus, they are taking on contractors and should be aware of the risks attached such as non-renewal.

But we know that your sympathies are very much with the agents.

How long to accept offer of extension?