Forced RTO Mid Contract Against Terms
(No longer at Nike and at a new Corp, don’t know how to update my account) Was hired remotely as a contractor and led to believe RTO would only come from an official notice from leadership and after conversations of FTE conversion were started. I’ve been a high performer. Manager and my vendor account manager showed their true colors, they are forcing me to RTO by June halfway through my contract on my own dime, despite me citing these weren’t the terms we agreed to and the order isn’t supposed to come from them. Also started threatening me, belittling my personal life even though I cited reasons why RTO would cause hardship, and telling me don’t even think about accommodations (even though I know others do use accommodations through HR to stay remote). What should I do other than stall and find a new job? Was thinking about just submitting for medical accommodations in May as well to buy more time. TC: 130ish #rto #wfh
start interviewing and applying for new jobs never put all your faith in a company and always have a 9-12 month emergency fund so if you really dislike the job you can quit and let them figure out the rest
Already interviewing and applying! And networking with my old co-workers, past recruiters etc. I’m hoping to land another contract at the very least by May
I was in the same position as you a while back, especially since Marriott Vacations told me that I could optionally RTO as a C2H hire, but that fully remote was perfectly fine. I would ask your contracting agency and recruiter about the nature of the position; depending on the nature of the contract, you may be able to argue that RTO doesn’t apply to you as a contractor. Alternatively, you can try billing expenses to your agency and see if they’ll cover your commute, which should soften the blow of having to commute during the contract. Use a mile tracker to track how many miles you’ve accumulated. However, based on what you’ve written, the relationship may already be strained. You can take the contract experience and move on to a different company, or ask your agency if there are other contract opportunities available that have a shorter time window (6 months as opposed to 1 year) that way, you’ll be able to convert somewhere else. Good luck, OP. TC: $44/hr
I think the relationship is already ruined. The vendor manager was originally on my side and snaked me by now going against it and making the same belittling comments. They are not letting me commute (I offered to get an additional address in the middle and come in slightly more which they had previously said was okay if official leadership notice came and they denied it/continued to threaten me)
You’re definitely being managed out then. There’s some corporate politics at play, and you unfortunately, are the victim of them. Something similar happened to me at MRM; it’s best to finish off the contract as amicably as possible and then look. I’m not sure how the job market will be in 3 to 6 months, but you may have the skills to land another job faster than I could.
So what does your contract say regarding their ability to terminate you? If you fail to comply, you can always fall back on the terms of your contract, but this means: - If they have options to terminate you at will, they can take those steps - If they otherwise retaliate outside of the bounds of the contract (I.e. shut off your access, stop paying you) - you need to be willing to take legal action to enforce the contract - You will burn the bridge. Be mindful of this. Overall, a contract is only as good as the words printed on the page and both parties willingness to either abide by those terms or enforce them. You may be better off simply looking for a new position.
Yeah this was a huge lesson learned. Other clients of the vendor had clear terms of RTO will never apply to contractors and FTE would only be discussed at the end of the duration and RTO terms. This client and account manager kept it vague to lure me to sign. I was dumb and didn’t ask for my terms in writing. Do you think submitting medical accommodations right before that June date would help stall and protect me a bit? (If they do terminate it looks like they did it due to my filing)
As a contractor, you are very unlikely to receive the same protections that an employee would. I can’t speak to the specific terms of your contract and whether you have any medical protections.
Sorry to hear it, OP. You have little leverage and protections as a contractor so it is time to move on.
Redlining hard right now, hoping I’ll reland a better fit within two months
Not tied to your main post but you can’t update your company as far as I know. Each account is tied to a company email.
This is also happening when I am a travel as needed distance away as well (3 hrs) and do come on a need basis lol