Fixed-term contract advice
Discussion
Would really appreciate some good advice on my current (complex) work situation.
I joined a large university as a Business Analyst in IT change projects on an 18-month fixed-term contract beginning of last year. In June this year my contract got extended another 6 months until the end of December by my Programme Manager and he signed-off for me to do Agile Project Management training in a push for me to transfer over as a Project Manager. Then in July he resigned because of ongoing politics/sh!t-a4sery in the workplace.
A month later the IT director declined my Agile PM training course a week before it was due to start. Then awkwardly for him, two weeks after he declined it I got re-assigned onto a number of small projects here in a Project Management role, despite not having the training. I'm learning and adapting as I go. These projects are set to go on for at least another 12 months, a couple have deadlines of 2021.
Shortly after getting re-assigned, I felt I had a stronger negotiating position, so I sent a politely-worded but frank email to the IT director and my Senior PM (who's kind of acting as Programme Manager, but not really, as they're not replacing the previous one) saying basically "I like working here, I like the team, I'm fully committed to a long-term career with you, but if I haven't heard anything from you regarding my fixed-term contract by end of September then I will reluctantly have to start actively looking elsewhere." The IT Director replied with "Thanks for being candid, I will let you know what conclusion we come to."
A week later, and my Senior PM has come back to me with "we can't give you an answer until November. I'm really sorry." Fwiw, me and him get on very well and I've saved his a4se a few times, I'm essentially his right-hand man on a lot of stuff. The IT director has come across as gutless and hasn't spoken face-to-face or emailed me directly with the outcomes of my Agile training or my contract. It's always come from the Senior PM.
Since I've been here, this organisation has come across as severely tight, short-sighted and has a fixed-term contract mentality with most of its employees that have joined in the last couple of years. The powers-that-be are always moaning about lack of funding and money. But there's a lot of projects on the go that need to be delivered. They have a lot of history of not discussing FT contract renewals until a month before (sometimes only days before!) they're due to expire. This happened to a colleague of mine last year. He went ballistic on the final week, threw his toys out of the pram and left.
I've read various things about the legalities of fixed-term contracts. My options as I see it are:
1. Continue to knuckle down with said projects in this role, despite being paid as a BA doing a PM role with no training. Hope they at least extend my contract beyond March 2020, as then I'll have been here longer than two years and my original fixed-term contract would have been extended twice by that point, thus making it automatically permanent(?), then after March I can strongly re-negotiate a Project Manager contract/salary in line with market rate.
2. Start actively job searching elsewhere ASAP. Sod their short-sightedness and poor form.
3. Send another politely-worded email to the IT director and Senior PM again, this time requesting a face-to-face meeting discussion and explaining this isn't treating employees particularly well, highlight the projects I have on the go/workload, lack of training, and cc in the Chief Executive, HR Manager & HR Director - smash down those brick walls.
What would you do? Cheers
I joined a large university as a Business Analyst in IT change projects on an 18-month fixed-term contract beginning of last year. In June this year my contract got extended another 6 months until the end of December by my Programme Manager and he signed-off for me to do Agile Project Management training in a push for me to transfer over as a Project Manager. Then in July he resigned because of ongoing politics/sh!t-a4sery in the workplace.
A month later the IT director declined my Agile PM training course a week before it was due to start. Then awkwardly for him, two weeks after he declined it I got re-assigned onto a number of small projects here in a Project Management role, despite not having the training. I'm learning and adapting as I go. These projects are set to go on for at least another 12 months, a couple have deadlines of 2021.
Shortly after getting re-assigned, I felt I had a stronger negotiating position, so I sent a politely-worded but frank email to the IT director and my Senior PM (who's kind of acting as Programme Manager, but not really, as they're not replacing the previous one) saying basically "I like working here, I like the team, I'm fully committed to a long-term career with you, but if I haven't heard anything from you regarding my fixed-term contract by end of September then I will reluctantly have to start actively looking elsewhere." The IT Director replied with "Thanks for being candid, I will let you know what conclusion we come to."
A week later, and my Senior PM has come back to me with "we can't give you an answer until November. I'm really sorry." Fwiw, me and him get on very well and I've saved his a4se a few times, I'm essentially his right-hand man on a lot of stuff. The IT director has come across as gutless and hasn't spoken face-to-face or emailed me directly with the outcomes of my Agile training or my contract. It's always come from the Senior PM.
Since I've been here, this organisation has come across as severely tight, short-sighted and has a fixed-term contract mentality with most of its employees that have joined in the last couple of years. The powers-that-be are always moaning about lack of funding and money. But there's a lot of projects on the go that need to be delivered. They have a lot of history of not discussing FT contract renewals until a month before (sometimes only days before!) they're due to expire. This happened to a colleague of mine last year. He went ballistic on the final week, threw his toys out of the pram and left.
I've read various things about the legalities of fixed-term contracts. My options as I see it are:
1. Continue to knuckle down with said projects in this role, despite being paid as a BA doing a PM role with no training. Hope they at least extend my contract beyond March 2020, as then I'll have been here longer than two years and my original fixed-term contract would have been extended twice by that point, thus making it automatically permanent(?), then after March I can strongly re-negotiate a Project Manager contract/salary in line with market rate.
2. Start actively job searching elsewhere ASAP. Sod their short-sightedness and poor form.
3. Send another politely-worded email to the IT director and Senior PM again, this time requesting a face-to-face meeting discussion and explaining this isn't treating employees particularly well, highlight the projects I have on the go/workload, lack of training, and cc in the Chief Executive, HR Manager & HR Director - smash down those brick walls.
What would you do? Cheers
Edited by TobyTR on Tuesday 10th September 01:36
2. and I'm exactly in the same situation as you, albeit different function.
You've explained to them your position and they've acknowledged, yet nothing has changed. What do you think 1 and 3 are going to do to change that? Sounds like a company culture issue by what you've said regarding FTCs, and it's pretty common for companies who reply on projects for their turnover. By all means send another communication reiterating your position on everything, but by everything you've said it doesn't sound like much is going to change. Look after #1 and start looking for something to move to once your contract is up.
You've explained to them your position and they've acknowledged, yet nothing has changed. What do you think 1 and 3 are going to do to change that? Sounds like a company culture issue by what you've said regarding FTCs, and it's pretty common for companies who reply on projects for their turnover. By all means send another communication reiterating your position on everything, but by everything you've said it doesn't sound like much is going to change. Look after #1 and start looking for something to move to once your contract is up.
Thanks for the reply 
i feared that might be the case.
One reason I think they act the way they are is because of complacency and they are one of the largest employers/organisations in the area. I swear it's arrogance for the most part. Shame, as nothing seems like it will ever change for them and they'll continue to have ridiculously high staff turnover.
i feared that might be the case.One reason I think they act the way they are is because of complacency and they are one of the largest employers/organisations in the area. I swear it's arrogance for the most part. Shame, as nothing seems like it will ever change for them and they'll continue to have ridiculously high staff turnover.
3) won’t achieve anything other than no extension.
You would be making the IT Director look stupid (he may well be) to his peers and that won’t go down at all well. The snide cc’ing of someone’s boss is never a good move if you want to foster good relations with that person.
Just go with 2). It’s education, budgets are always tight. Find somewhere that appreciates its people and move on. Obviously be aware of IR35 in the private sector from April 2020.
You would be making the IT Director look stupid (he may well be) to his peers and that won’t go down at all well. The snide cc’ing of someone’s boss is never a good move if you want to foster good relations with that person.
Just go with 2). It’s education, budgets are always tight. Find somewhere that appreciates its people and move on. Obviously be aware of IR35 in the private sector from April 2020.
Thanks for the replies all
I've been actively job searching the last few weeks and will continue to do so.
Meanwhile, they are currently (slowly) putting together a fixed-term contract extension for me until end of March 2020, which gives me a bit more time to line something else up and jump ship. And they've let slip they want a colleague from another department to shadow me on my projects "in case you're on holiday and we need them to cover you"......
sly pricks
I've been actively job searching the last few weeks and will continue to do so.
Meanwhile, they are currently (slowly) putting together a fixed-term contract extension for me until end of March 2020, which gives me a bit more time to line something else up and jump ship. And they've let slip they want a colleague from another department to shadow me on my projects "in case you're on holiday and we need them to cover you"......
sly pricksGassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff