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I work for a contracting company in a contract-to-hire position where I have almost no contact with the contracting company- I send them time cards, and they send me checks. Today I was offered a position at the client company which I accepted, and I gave the contracting company two weeks notice of my resignation.

To be clear, I am an at will employee of the contracting company. The client company has offered me a position, which I have accepted. There are no contractual barriers to my accepting this position.

All of the reasons I know of to offer a notice period to the contracting company do not apply- they have no work for me to handoff or complete, they will not need to replace me, and there is no transition plan to make and execute. The only difference I see in offering a notice period is that they continue to collect their margin for two weeks longer.

Would it have been unprofessional to resign from the contracting position without any notice at all? If so, why?

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  • So, to be clear, you didn't sign anything with this company? Also, what do you mean by "no notice at all"? Just disappear and don't contact them further?
    – DarkCygnus ♦
    Oct 26, 2018 at 23:14
  • @DarkCygnus If I gave them two weeks notice, why would the alternative be disappearing, instead of 'today is my last day'?
    – MackM
    Oct 27, 2018 at 5:17
  • Because I ignore that, and that is why I asked, so I don't have to assume things
    – DarkCygnus ♦
    Oct 27, 2018 at 6:49

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Would it have been unprofessional to resign from a contracting position without any notice at all?

Yes, it would have been unprofessional.

You are normally expected to work for the term of the contract with the client. And if you need to cut it short, a notice period is normally expected - two weeks is traditional in my locale.

Even though it may not have been contractually required, you did the right thing by giving two week's notice. I think your instincts were correct.

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  • I do not have a contract, I am a contractor, an at-will employee of a contracting company.
    – MackM
    Oct 27, 2018 at 5:20
  • @MackM Just to make I'm clear on this: You don't have a contract with the contracting company. You're quitting your (contract-less) job with the contracting company to go and work for the client company that you currently are a contractor at. Have I understood the situation correctly?
    – Anthony Grist
    Oct 27, 2018 at 15:24
  • @AnthonyGrist Yes, bang on. I am an at-will employee of a contracting company, taking a job with the client company. I am seeing from the answers that this is unclear, so I will clarify in the question.
    – MackM
    Oct 28, 2018 at 0:33
  • @JoeStrazzere I am in no way in breach of a contract. My question is, why should I offer a notice period? What is the harm to my employer? I did it to maintain a professional reputation, but I don't see an actual reason to do so.
    – MackM
    Oct 28, 2018 at 0:42
  • @JoeStrazzere Hi Joe, what I'm confused by is why it is unprofessional. I don't see any harm to my employer, so is it just a matter of habit?
    – MackM
    Oct 28, 2018 at 0:52
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If you took a full time job at the company in which the contract company got the job for you... then you could be potentially in breach of contract.

Hiring a temp is very common, but they usually have to go through the contracting agency (who gets a finders fee, because well they recommended a "good" person for the job).

As far as being unprofessional, no... that is what a contract-to-hire position is there for. But going around the system might get you (and the company who hired you) in hot water.

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    +1 on that because this sounds like a temp bypassing anti competitive clauses. He mabe in for a world of pain, legally.
    – TomTom
    Oct 27, 2018 at 6:25
  • I am not in breach of any contract, my question is, why should I offer a notice period when I see no harm to them employer in not offering a notice period? I have clarified my question.
    – MackM
    Oct 28, 2018 at 0:45
  • If all three parties (including yourself) negotiated a temp-to-hire position, then no... you would not need to give notice as it is part of the negotiation. The official start date should be specified by the company you were just hired into as a full-time employee.
    – Phil M
    Oct 29, 2018 at 17:30
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I work for a contracting company in a contract-to-hire position where I have almost no contact with the contracting company- I send them time cards, and they send me checks. Today I was offered a position at the client company which I accepted, and I gave the contracting company two weeks notice of my resignation.

Your responsibility regarding giving notice depends on the nature of the contracts.

1) If you work for a staffing company, who provides workers to another company in a contract-to-hire arrangement then the staffing company is happy when you are given a permanent position with their client. They not only have collected a fee for every week you were on contract but they get another fee for you becoming a permanent employee. The exact terms are in the staffing contract which you never see.

2) If you were in a contact-to-hire contract with the staffing company and you take a job with their client that can make them concerned. Your contract with the staffing company could address this situation. They also want notice if they are still obligated to fill the position and now have to scramble to find a replacement. The contract between the companies may also have relevant sections about poaching employees.

In the first situation the staffing company doesn't need a lot of notice. They do need time to prepare paperwork, but they are not expected to replace you, and they will be collecting an extra fee. They view your being hired as a win for them. What the staffing company is concerned about is the situation where the contract period ends, their client says no you were not good enough to hire; then a few weeks later they hire you and the staffing company doesn't get the hiring fee.

In the second situation, your contract will specify your obligations regarding notice and taking a position with their client.

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It is not up to you to decide no notice will not impact the contacting company.

One it just comes off as unprofessional. They will have some paper work to complete and may even want to talk to you. They will want to talk directly with the client to decide there is no transition.

Your company may have a contract with the client. You would think the client has checked this out but there may be some surprises.

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  • this does not answer the question.
    – Old_Lamplighter
    Oct 31, 2018 at 19:55

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