Contract end

It’s only been two days this week, and I’ve already covered both ends of the consultant spectrum this week. I had one new person start yesterday, and I had to tell another consultant that her last day will be Friday.

This news came suddenly and unexpectedly from the client. They actually wanted her last day to be Wednesday, but I asked for Friday, considering the short notice. In the master service agreement between our companies, we don’t actually have language that stipulates the timeframe for releasing consultants. The typical standard in the industry is two weeks, and I asked that the client adheres to that unless there is an extreme reason to release someone immediately.

Even a contract is not necessarily a guarantee of work. The person being released is an independent subcontractor, so now she has to scramble to find her next gig quickly. That’s how it goes when you’re an independent contractor; you get paid more per hour, but you must sing for your supper. The advantage of being an employee of my company is that you still get your base salary when you are on the bench.

I did float her resume to other teams in the hopes that there might be an open role with another client that would fit her skills and experience.