Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington
Termination of contract without notice
I work for a company in which all employees work under a contractual work agreement, but are considered full time, permanent employees. I was notified that my contract would not be renewed, through no fault of my own, as my position is being elliminated. My contract stipulates that if my employment is ended, I shall receive at least 3 months notice, or pay in leiu thereof. My contract expires in less than a month, and my employer stipulates that as a contractual employee, I am not entitled to said pay or notice once my work agreement has expired.
Because there was a verbal understanding that my employment would continue, and because all employees are subject to these agreements that are renewed automatically, and because my position was clearly supposed to continue beyond my contract expiration (which it now will not), am I entitled to the three months' salary or notice? Or, is my employer correct that when the work agreement expires, he owes me no further compensation?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Termination of contract without notice
If I understand the question correctly, you are saying your contract is going to expire in a month, and the employer has informed you it will not be renewed. You believe you should get three months' pay because the contracts are usually renewed, instead of just the pay through the end of the current contract. Based on these facts, I don't think you have much in your favor. The contract is due to expire, and the only reason you think it should be renewed is because they have been renewed in the past. However, it is very difficult to answer questions in this format and feel comfortable with them. There may be other facts why you do have a good case, which facts I am missing or you did not point out. (Such as what you mean by you and your co-workers are considered full time permanent employees, even though you are on renewable contracts, or such as what the exact contract language actually is.) Thus my answer is only as good as the question, and might not be good advice. Sorry to dodge a bit here, but that's the nature of this medium.
The lawyers who sued Microsoft in the permatemps case would have some expertise in this area, and I encourage you to call them. Bendich, Stobaugh, and Strong is the law firm, in Seattle.
Good luck with this
Steve Teller
(206) 324-8969
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