1 year + freelance contract termination

[Stingray2020]

Hi - I have recently had my contract with a London estate agent terminated. The job was advertised as a 1 day a week design support job and I started in September 2022. I did not receive a contract and the agreement was to provide 10 hours of work per week for £25 per hour. I invoice every month as I am self employed so treated the job as a regular client. Over the last year the company has often paid late, changed my hours and days around and sometimes asked me to work in the evening. I am not entitled to any holiday/sick pay. They had set me up on their email system with an email address within the company. Last week they told me they would like to end the contract (end of September). Would I have any rights to ask for a notice period or a payment for terminating my contract at short notice? Thanks in advance.

[R0b]

Hello

When a contract is silent on the termination rights, assuming the contract was not intended to run forever, each party would need to give a reasonable notice period to terminate. What is considered reasonable notice is fact specific to each situation and therefore it is hard to determine. Fortunately, there have been court decisions that have given guidance on this kind of situation which I have set out below but I would reiterate that no case is the same so a court could decide that reasonable notice could range from 7 days right up to 12 months or longer.

If the incorrect notice period is deemed not to be sufficient, your remedy is going to be damages for the loss of income as if the correct notice had been given.

Factors to consider when determining a reasonable notice period

1. What was the length of the relationship? Typically, the longer the relationship continues, the more notice should be given.

2. How long would the party receiving the termination notice would need to replace the contract.

3. How much the affected party has relied on the contract from a financial perspective.

4. How much has the party receiving the notice invested into the contract e.g. if you invested time and man-hours at times of the day you were not expecting to work e.g. the evenings then a longer notice period may be required.