Working without a contract?

[Hannah2121]

Hello all,

I have worked for a small rural hospital and my 3 year contract will be ending next month. I gave appropriate notice that I do not want to renew it without at least considering a negotiation meeting. The 3 year contract renews automatically without any pay built in pay raises, retention bonuses, productivity bonuses, etc. (To add an unrelated tidbit that I think most in here would gawk at - when I asked about a pay raise last year, the administrator in charge of this told me "we are a nonprofit hospital and therefore by definition the money we make does not go back to its employees" as his way of saying no, so ridiculous). But anyways I feel like I am in a great position but they are scrambling to get my to sign another contract (I'm even meeting with the CEO about it too), but they have never negotiated with any employee that I am aware of since I started working there ( its always a set hourly, no bonuses, no pay raises, no change in time frame- ie. 3 years). 

If I don't like these terms, and they are not willing to negotiate is it unwise to work without a contract? I have another job that would be happy to hire me full time worst case scenario and they let me go, but its definitely a bit harder than my somewhat "cushy" job I have now. Thoughts?

[ohiovolffemtp]

It boils down to this if you and the hospital don't negotiate new terms that are to your mutual satisfaction:

• you stay where you are and nothing changes, except possibly having to work harder for the same pay if patient volumes increase and/or the hospital tries to give you new responsibilities
• you leave for somewhere else with a different mix of compensation, workload, work environment, etc.

Only you can decide which is the best or least bad option.  My recommendation is that you develop a set of criteria and then rate each option you have on each criteria - along with the level of certainty you have about each rating.  Then, you can make your most informed decision.

From my personal experiences:

• some places are better fits for me than others - that's not exactly the same as saying some places are better
• over time, I can adapt to most new things, even though I'm not the greatest about dealing with change.
• being willing to leave (and having done so successfully in the past) is very empowering - probably the only real empowerment I or anyone else has.

I wouldn't do anything without a written contract.  Without it, you've got nothing to stand on if they don't hold to verbal promises.

[Boatswain2PA]

I don't think it is a big deal working without a contract.  You had one that sets the standard for expectations.  As long as you keep showing up and seeing patients, and they keep paying you, then likely no big deal.

If they are pushing to sign a contract, then push for a raise, even a nominal one.  Tell the CEO you love working there, how great everything is....but you need a raise to at least help deal with inflation.

And if money is important, then start looking for other jobs that pay better.