Dilemma - Leaving Perm for Fixed contract

jcj225

Morning Everybody,

I was just looking for a little advise as I'm a bit torn on what to do here. The situation is that I went for a position with a very large, well known and credible company and out of 48 apps - it was between myself and an internal person. As I don't have specific experience in the field, the internal person took the position. I was of course, really disappointed.

My current job - small company, I really don't like where I work and I use my own car for business and it costs me around £250 minimum on fuel per month (sometimes more, but never less - also pay for wear and tear etc). The salary is about 20k and I get pretty much no benefits. I had to have emergency surgery last month costing me 3 days pay which was a nightmare for example.


New company (prospective) - Large company and global - didnt offer me the position I wanted, but as they were so impressed, they explained they wanted to get me on board to help with a company they have acquired. I will be doing something new which is field based training, and retaining customers moved over in the transition. I feel this will be interesting and exciting. Unfortunately salary is £19,500 and it is term time so I would expect pro-rata too which will put me down about £250 per month. However, I can easily achieve bonuses, I get a car and fuel paid for, but the contract is fixed term 9 months. The national manager explained it is much easier to get into this company once you're internal and positions come up all the time simply because of its size.

I understand moving to another company i never permanent as they could just get rid after 3 months so I'm not too worried about the contract, but it could be a foot in the door in a great company doing something I think I will really enjoy.

A little guidance to help put my mind at ease is what I am looking for. I don't believe after the fuel bill etc, I will be too much out of pocket. I don't have a mortgage, but I have a car on finance.

Thanks,

InsideInsurance

You can claim 45p/mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p/mile after that for business use of your private vehicle

Ultimately only you can make the choice, it sounds like a paycut and a company car that you dont need but will be taxed on but as you say it could be either a foot in the door or a way to become unemployed in 9 months time.

I did leave perm work for contracting and it worked out well for me but others have done the same and found their contract terminated early and then they struggled to find other work

jcj225

My employer won't pay this for coming into the office which ends up being a 65 mile round trip and my car isnt good on juice, I was under the idea this would be paid for at interview, but as soon as I got here, that suddenly disappeared...

Car will be a hire car, so I'm not sure if that works out differently from being taxed on it or not. Earning around 15k which is what it will be on pro-rata, i wouldnt expect to be taxed much anyway :-/ ?

InsideInsurance

You dont get paid for your commute to your regular place of work but for any other mileage you should be and claim relief from HMRC if your employers dont.

It doesnt matter if its a hire car, lease car or owned car, if your employer pay for it and you can use it for personal use then you have BIK to pay on it. How much will depend on what the vehicles list price and CO2 outputs are.

As an example a base model Ford Focus hatchback 1.6 petrol Zetec with employer paying for fuel would average roughly £65 a month in tax to be paid.

jcj225

I understand,

well that's given me more to think about now :-/ however that £65 is more affordable than running my my own car and paying for the pleasure. 45p a mile would probably just about cover fuel around town driving.

Overall after that, its leaving me with about £600 disposable income but a lot to think about if I can't get a job towards the end. Something is making me want to go for it though :-\

InsideInsurance

jcj225 wrote: »

Something is making me want to go for it though :-\

Sometimes risks are worth taking, I left a good job that paid well, good perks and exceptional bonuses to take on a 3 month contract on over double my income.

Several years on I've never had a day between contracts and so its worked well for me.

Unfortunately another chap did the same as me but 2 weeks into the contract it was cancelled with just 1 weeks notice and it took him months to get a new job and he ended up back being perm on a lower salary and lower perks than he had been on before he left.

In my case didnt have kids, had a supportive wife and so it was an OK gamble. May have been more reluctant if there were other dependants on my income

jcj225

Thanks,

I'll have a good think about it, luckily I have no dependents but I do have bills and some outgoings. I'm really not happy where I am, and i cannot see that changing anytime soon unfortunately. Having a great brand on my CV will help though come the future...

getmore4less

will there be overnights that can cut costs if the expenses are good.

jcj225

There will be overnights and things like conferences away from home. How can that cut costs may I ask?

jcj225

Expenses are good, things like £6 a day for lunch when you're out etc are all included.

InsideInsurance

jcj225 wrote: »

There will be overnights and things like conferences away from home. How can that cut costs may I ask?

1) you dont have your commute that you fund yourself but instead they pay you to travel to the conference

2) you dont pay for your own food/ subsistence which you would if you'd been in your normal office.

Ok, you dont end up living for free as things like council tax have to be paid no matter where you are but every little helps. If you can pay all the expenses on a cashback/ reward credit card rather than having a corporate card then you also get extra monies.

Of cause there are the older tricks to artificially inflate your expenses slightly but no one here will advocate fraud.