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I'll bet that the agency's contract has a clause that asks for two
weeks notice. Comply with that and you are ethical.
In virtually every contract I've accepted through an agency, there is a
similar clause; however, I have found that the larger the company, the less
incentive there is to follow that clause.
Twice, I've worked for a large, global tech company and twice I've found
that the individual worker does not have the ability to make them adhere to
any contract. The first time, I, and 6,000 other contractors across the
country, were given two days notice. The second time, 400 of us were told
via e-mail no to report to work in the morning. Both employment contracts
had two week clauses.
Larger companies view workers as a commodity, an FTE, rather than a living,
breathing productive member of society. Part of that attitude has to do
with the detachment the accounting department (and project planners) have
with the employees. Decisions are made in a boardroom in one area of the
country. They don't know the people who's lives are affected, and probably
don't want to know them. This way they can do whatever the numbers say
needs to be done without their conscience being bothered. The fact that
you are an ethical, hardworking technical writer who has just saved them
thousands of dollars in potential legal fees by fixing critical
documentation errors doesn't mean squat to them. You are an FTE and they
want to cut the number of FTEs.
Smaller companies, for the most part, seem to have more ethics in fulfilling
the contract, but you still have to watch your back.
Al
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Al Geist
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"When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to
answer "Present" or "Not guilty.""
Theodore Roosevelt
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