Missed my contract renewal deadline due to boss not communicating it by email, how to respond?

Question

I work on campus at my university. Earlier this month, my boss sent me and my colleagues an email, asking if we are willing to continue working during the fall semester. He said that the deadline to let him know about our decision is in mid August, and if we don't respond or decide to leave, he will be looking for replacements. However, one of my colleagues talked to the boss recently, and apparently the email in question contained an error; the deadline for our decision was supposed to be about two weeks ago. I do not know the details of the discussion that followed between my coworker and my boss, but it was a heated debate.

I myself haven't responded to the email; I was trying to keep my options open and reply to him a week or two before the deadline, but obviously this is an issue now. How should I bring this up to my boss? I don't think it's a good idea to mention how I found out about the error, as it would remind him of his argument with my co-worker. I don't think I will get fired because I, like the co-worker in question, am relatively difficult to replace. Although I would prefer electronic contact, the boss seems to like to keep his employees "on edge" and doesn't always answer emails he reads.

Answer 1

Do not discount the situation. Know you local work laws, at least talk with your colleague.

Back in here, depending on the contract, your boss missing the deadline for a mandatory written notification of your dismissal/renewal, means either the prior contract is already automatically renewed, of if it is the 3rd renewal or 4th renewal (laws change), it means it becomes permanent automatically. There are pretty much similar laws about automatic renewals deadlines in most countries.

The point is, your boss potentially may have made a big mistake. The current email may not have any legal enforcement whatsoever, and the situation, or rather the inaction around it might have implications down the line in the not-so-near future in some legislations.

Forward a copy of the specific email to your personal address and/or print it and take it home ASAP.

The heated debate with your colleague may be because:

• the email might have whatsoever no legal validity, depending on the jurisdiction
• your colleague already had the expectation the contract was [automatically] renewed
• the job market right now is closing for holidays
• your boss has to do his job properly, especially when concerning the lives and expectations of others.

From uslegal : Automatic Renewal Clause Law & Legal definition

An automatic renewal clause allows an agreement to continue for a defined period if the existing agreement isn't renegotiated within a specified time measured from the expiration of the current contract. The term of renewal depends on the specific contract language, but such clauses generally provide that the contract shall be automatically renewed for the same period (or some lesser term) unless either party, at some stipulated and predetermined time (i.e., 60 days before expiration), gives notice to the other of its desire to end the agreement. Generally, if the contract doesn't provide a time period for the contract to be subject to renewal, it may be renewed indefinitely.

It is a clause which may be included in various contracts, such as an employment contract or rental lease.

Answer 2

You say the boss doesn't take full responsibility for an error, when you don't even know that an error was made at all. All you have is hearsay.

You have an email saying there is a deadline in August. So you reply before the deadline. Just in case there was an error you don't wait until the last minute. If you didn't want the job anyway, then it doesn't make a difference. If you want the job and get it, then it doesn't make a difference.

If you want the job, and you are told you missed the deadline, then and only then you show your email. If you are lucky, your reply was only rejected because you missed the deadline, and the email shows it wasn't your mistake, and you get the job.

On the other hand, if someone else was already hired, your boss might say "well, that was my mistake, the deadline was wrong, but we hired someone else, tough luck". And if that is the case, there is very little you can do.

Answer 3

It seems that at the moment the OP discovered that the date of the deadline was in question, in the wake of having somewhat of a flaky boss, that human resources should have been consulted for an authoritative answer. This would have cut out the poor feedback loop between boss and employee. Why not just cut to the chase?

Answer 4

1. I understood your main question to be "Missed my contract renewal deadline due to boss misstating it in email, how to respond?"; I had to reformulate the original title from "How to approach a boss who doesn't take full responsibility for his mistake?"
2. How you react depends on what the "deadline" is exactly, whether it's one specified by your contract, or the date they requested you respond for their internal decision-making/hiring process (i.e. in the current scheme of things, if you don't renew, the date they actually stop paying you).
3. If it's a legal question then relevant considerations are: what country and state you're in, whether you have a contract, what it says about renewals, deadlines, acceptances, whether this deadline the same for other depts, how the dept generally handles late renewals, whether your boss messed up like this before, if so what happened. Without knowing those we can't answer ("What happens to a person on a fixed-term contract in Jurisdiction expiring on Date if the renewal deadline is misstated to them? Can they legally hire my replacement?")
4. "I was trying to keep my options open and reply to him a week or two before the deadline, but obviously this is an issue now. How should I bring this up to my boss?" Well, since your time's up, you have to give them your decision whether to renew or leave. It seems too risky if you're trying to buy extra time to interview/negotiate compensation or continue interviewing.
5. For something major and urgent like this, it's better to communicate both in writing and verbally (memo in writing what you say verbally, include the date). Schedule a brief meeting. Then that should eliminate your concern "Although I would prefer electronic contact, the boss seems to like to keep his employees 'on edge' and doesn't always answer emails he reads."
6. I get that you believe it's a big deal that your boss did not correctly notify your dept of the deadline or ever ask if you were renewing, it may be useful to have that email. But I suggest don't hang your hopes on him accepting responsibility right now, just get renewed.
7. If your boss being non-responsive to emails is a bigger ongoing problem and you want solutions, you need to learn some effective techniques to deal with people like that (whether they're shy, flaky, or actively dishonest). A brief dated memo to your boss summarizing your discussion (or else your understanding), for major things, is useful.
8. Two well-known techniques for dealing with flaky, uncommunicative or dysfunctional people: calendar a 1-on-1 meeting. Say, every month. Even for 15 minutes. Second, in emails, state a default course of action: "I plan to to do X unless I hear otherwise from you by Date".
9. In your memo, you don't necessarily need to say something like "Apparently(?) email in question contained an error; deadline ... supposed to be two weeks ago." and don't reference the "heated debate... between coworker and boss," Then don't. Just say/write "Boss, I understand my contract renewal date was actually X, but I did not get notified of that timely/until Date/now. I'd urgently like to discuss my renewal with you, by Date."
10. Summary: if as you say the deadline has passed, recommend you come to a decision immediately and communicate it verbally and by memo to your boss (and whichever other relevant parties).
11. Your other criticisms of your boss are things you might raise after sorting the renewal out, if you believe he would change. It's far more important to get the contract renewal mess fixed ASAP than get the boss to take "full responsibility" for his miscommunications and their impact. It's strongly possible he won't change, and it's up to you how far you push that issue, and via what channels.

(The discussion of this question from Meta from the original version, which was closed, reopened and edited: https://workplace.meta.stackexchange.com/a/4019/16071)