Job offer rescinded and changed to 3 month contract

Sounds naughty. But I'd take it just as something is better than nothing

If you've got nothing, you've not lost out.

Go there, wow them. They'll probably offer you the permanent position.

In the meantime, keep applying for other stuff.

No, but you have no way of working out what will happen, you could be unemployed in 3 months time, or find yourself on an endlessly repeating contract which morphs into a full time role down the line....

Is it 3 months on day rate contract or just a half-arsed 3 month contract on normal cards in type wages?

I'd take it whilst continuing to look. Might be the hiring manager desperately wants you on-board but they've cut recruitment and this was the best they could secure, might also just be an awful employer, go in with your eyes open, keep looking and treat it as an extra 3 months with pay and something positive to out on your CV in terms of role progression.

Is it 3 months on day rate contract or just a half-arsed 3 month contract on normal cards in type wages?

This

Effectively any new job is a temp contract until a) your probationary period has passed and b) you have 2 yrs under your belt. A formal Short term arrangement should work in your favour though, this sounds a bit cheeky.

Sounds like they may have a freeze on new hires but have budget for contractors. Not unusual! I'd take it and see what happens, provided they are paying contract rates.

Any point in telling them "thats not good enough" and negotiating either a longer contract or a significantly higher rate?

Gives you three months to find something else.

Find something else then leave them in the shit 2 weeks before completion of the project - that’ll learn ‘em!!! 🤣

Or have the got a nice lawn by reception you can hammer frozen sausages in!?

Works both ways, my last job I started on a 3 month contract and stayed 8 years. It was company policy, like everyone says, you have nothing to lose. I thought it was a bit odd but chatted it through with potential manager.

Good luck

Id want MONEY in that situation

(I also have nothing else currently in place, due to the assumption I had a permanent position secured).

What does that mean? Are you actually unemployed at the moment?

Yep, it didn't work out as the contract ended up ending mid COVID.

I'd still do it again, but be sure to work it to your advantage when it comes to negotiating for the permeant role, at the end of the 3 months you're (hopefully) as good as they thought you were when they offered you the job, plus experience of their systems, plus being the incumbent with no extra recruitment costs for them.

Was it a written job offer and did you accept in writing?

Was this at your currently employer or a new one?

For context, the permanent role I was originally awarded was a game changer in terms of salary and opportunity.

Worth doing just for the CV and onward opportunities IMHO.

Temp rules apply - they need to pay you far more for a short term role.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation?

no. But a short term contract carries a higher rate of pay than a permanent post. Albeit maybe not with the same benefits package.

This is a great opportunity for negotiation.

Is it 3 months on day rate contract or just a half-arsed 3 month contract on normal cards in type wages?

this

I also have nothing else currently in place, due to the assumption I had a permanent position secured

Is this because you resigned another role to take what you thought was a FT position?

But yes - no role is secure/safe for a couple of years and until you get inside the company to find out if this is a pretty standard MO for employing new staff I guess you'll never know. And as has been said before if this turns into 3 months of CV enhancement (and a wage) you have nothing to lose.

Having pondered a little more I think this is a classic bait and switch. the bait being a permanent post and the switch being to a temp contract

Do you want to work for folk like that? I would certainly be letting them know I was very unhappy and at a minimum negotiating for more but unless its hard for you to get a post I might well tell them to shove it in your position

Thank you all for your responses greatly appreciated.

To answer some of the above, yes I am unemployed. I worked my notice to start this role, though unfortunately the circumstances changed.

The revised 3 month contract is a pro-rata version of the original contract.

For continuity of employment / needing to pull in an income I’ll be taking the 3 month contract as haven’t got a great deal of choice.

Looking at the positives, it keeps me afloat for a little longer, though the whole process stinks and has left a sour taste.

3 months is also no time to make any significant impact, so maybe it’s a a stop gap to bide time to convince the board for a longer term contract, by proving my worth.

Thanks for taking your time to respond everyone, greatly appreciated 👍

Looking at the positives, it keeps me afloat for a little longer, though the whole process stinks and has left a sour taste.

Agree.

Take the job, look for a another (unless there are good circumstances for what happened).

The revised 3 month contract is a pro-rata version of the original contract.

The way I'm looking at mine is I've got a FTC at the permeant rate for now, but the balls in my court in 6 months time (and judging by the current industry job market even with annual reviews etc it's hard to see the existing staff rates keeping up with the new offers).

That's appalling OP.

Surely this is breach of contract from their end? You've gone and given notice based on an offer of FT employment and with their bait and switch they've put you in the position of having to take a 3 month contract or else be unemployed.

They've engineered themselves an advantage by offering you security and then whipping it away.

If youbdo end up taking this job (because they've basically forced you to), I'd start looking for something else immediately, they sound like total bastards.

Morally it's awful, but legally suspect nothing you can do. In fact, if they'd wanted to they could have said nothing and then after 3 or 6 months (up to 2 years in fact) said that circumstances changed and you're no longer needed.

Do it, sounds like you need the job for the money anyway but do it with eyes open as to the folks you're working for. They might change your mind once there, but I'd be looking elsewhere for the long term personally.

They sound like a bunch of untrustworthy b*stards , I'd tell em to shove it and go cap in hand back to previous employer.

If that's not possible and you do take it, please let us know how it goes and whether they are as bad as they seem.

Well someone somewhere has been a dick but it might not be your immediate boss so go into it with an open mind. You're never secure anyway, can be dismissed without cause up to 2y (and redundancy beyond that is common and easy with limited compensation) so it's not like an open-ended contract would have been a real guarantee of anything anyway.

But of course with a 3 month deadline you'll be looking for other work, just as if a long contract was drawing to a close. And any reasonable boss will understand and accept that, even if it means you may walk out with minimal/no notice.

Gives you three months to find something else.

Yep. Either they are simply dishonest or the company has problems. If you don't have something better right now, take it but keep looking and take the first decent alternative you are offered.