The End is Near-er
When Contracts End Early
Sometimes things don’t work out like they should. Plans change, emergencies arise, life happens.
While thirteen weeks is the industry standard minimum contract, every so often, for a variety of reasons, contracts are shortened or even terminated. In each situation there is a right and a wrong way to go about things.
In the Winter of 2016 Ellen and I found ourselves 7 hours apart and frustrated. I was working a permanent position in Southwest Colorado that was not going as planned and in order to buy us some time to sort things out Ellen took a travel contract… on the other side of the state on the Kansas border. While the location was far from ideal the boost we received from the travel contract pay versus my permanent position was enough to let us plan out how we were going to head out and resume our travel PT lifestyle for the foreseeable future.
Landing upon a makeshift plan, I put a 30 day notice (I firmly believe that as PTs it is unprofessional to give less notice to an employer as building a patient load is such a challenging task for any company) and Ellen began discussions with her recruiter on how to best go about ending her contract after only seven weeks.
By the end of the whole process we were both able to leave our respective jobs and no one felt slighted in the ordeal.
I have elicited help from a pair of recruiters, each working with agencies that are major players in our industry, to navigate the murky waters of prematurely terminated contracts and their particulars.
Clinic Initiated
From time to time clinics will have to terminate a travel contract early. These situations are most often related to low census or a permanent person being hired for the same position. This is frequently referred to as being “given notice.” Obviously, being fired will appear entirely different.
Given Notice
When a clinic needs to end a contract early it is customary for them to tell the PT as well as your recruiting agency. In these situations there should be fluid and frequent communication on all sides to be sure the transition is smooth and that the PT is not left hanging out to dry.
One recruiter reaffirmed this point stating: “We have a formal notice clause in the contract that is always honored—which is typically going to be 14 or 30 days. This gives us time to re-book the candidate so they are not without work.”
From our experience and discussions with other travelers, if a clinical is “given notice” it is often with at least 30 days notice.
Being Fired
In stark contrast to being “given notice,” getting fired often involves a phone call late on a Friday night stating that you should not show up for work the next week. While both of our recruiters interviewed stated that they tell the PT the reasoning behind being fired and all of the gory details, we have also heard that many recruiters will try to sugar coat things with the traveler so that they are not offended. This is one reason for the occasional social media post from a frustrated traveler who reports being canceled on suddenly and with no reasoning behind it. Sorry bud, but most likely you screwed up…
Our expert recruiters responded in the following ways –
Recruiter 1: “If a therapist is fired there needs to be a reason. A staffing company must verbally go over these reasons with you and send it in writing for to sign and rebut. If there is no cause there it must be a notice. You can’t just get fired with no explanation or something in writing. We would also set you up with a clinical liaison to discuss the issue with a 3rd party professional in the field.”
Recruiter 2: “So for us, if a PT is being fired, we let them know and we loop in our clinical management team to handle that cancellation. We make them [the PT] aware of the facilities concern. If severe, we will terminate. Other times we place an audit on their [the PT’s] file and if they have a second negative offense or issue within the contract then we will no longer work with that candidate!”
PT Initiated
First and foremost I have to address what I consider to be one of the worst moves a traveler can make – Leaving a contract early because they find a better offer elsewhere. Take ownership of the position that you have interviewed for, negotiated for, and signed a contract for! It is terribly unprofessional and unethical to leave just because you can make more somewhere else. If you do not have the wherewithal to avoid taking a crappy position then you deserve the poor pay package you agreed to. Uphold your commitments, finish out the contract, then you can go chase the dollar signs with another clinic.
Whew! Glad I got that off of my chest.
Just as clinics can terminate contracts early for a myriad of reasons, so too can the clinician. The PT may have ethical issues regarding the workplace, a sudden emergency, or be just plain miserable. Each situation is unique and should be handled as such.
Work related concerns
Many travel agencies have a clinical team that are there to guide you through sticky work related situations. Protecting your license is an absolute must! It is what your entire career is built upon. Do not hesitate to address these issues with your recruiter and the clinical team. Their assistance with be incredibly valuable in terms of determining if the situation is worth working through (we all overreact sometimes), if you should simply leave, or if you should leave and file a report with the state board.
One recruiter put it this way: “Loop in clinical if it’s an issue at work that can be resolved, or especially if it’s something due to their license being at risk. (They are being asked to bill minutes incorrectly, sign off on charts of patients they’ve never seen, etc) Let our PT/SLP/RNs within our company handle this directly with the facility. If they facility does not comply, we will terminate the contract and keep the traveler safe.”
Emergency
Every agency that I have ever heard of has a respectable policy regarding emergencies. Obviously, be in contact with your recruiter and be realistic about you ability to either take time off in the middle of the contract, or if termination is the best route.
PT Preference
Terminating a contract due to clinician preference is very similar to having one terminated due to the clinic giving notice. A 30 day notice is recommended and open communication between you, your recruiter, and clinic manager needs to be ongoing. Preferably from day one you and your recruiter will be actively problem solving any issues you are having with the location, setting, etc.
I like how this recruiter sums up the best way to handle this situation:
“If any traveler is super depressed with the job they have or is having issues with the staff on site, productivity, etc, I always say to reach out directly to their recruiter first. Their recruiter should have their back and should give them a few options.
If it related to location or just totally hating the job? That’s fine. Let’s communicate that to the facility, and let’s ideally give them a 30 day notice (even if its 2 weeks for the standard) – and see if we can backfill the job with someone new and move the traveler to a new location. I always tell my travelers to never sit back for 13 weeks and be MISERABLE. But also, let’s not make a habit of this. We cannot do this for every contract that sucks.”
Ending a contract early is a rare occurrence but now you hopefully have some guidance on how to best handle these black swan situations. Starting the conversation is awkward and uncomfortable, but if it is truly for the best, it’s for the best.
Written by: Stephen Stockhausen
