Q: What happens if my contract gets cancelled?
A: Albeit a rare occasion, contracts being cancelled is something that can happen in travel healthcare.
We try to avoid it as much as possible by working with facilities that we know, trust, and with which we have direct communication! Many direct contracts generally will not cancel early. But, ultimately you never know what will happen with the assignment.
One piece of proactive advice I like to give is to set up housing with someone who is flexible and immediately have a conversation about what would happen if your assignment was cancelled. Many AirBNB owners are flexible, but you'll want to be sure.
There can be a variety of reasons a facility decides to cancel a contract. They could have found a full time employee and no longer need a traveler. They may have found a way to use their current employees to get proper coverage instead of using a traveler. Whatever the reason, there is a process in place.
That said, know that most travel contracts will feature some sort of cancellation clause. Typically the facility will have to provide 30 days notice to the traveler if they decide to cancel the assignment. It is put in place to give the traveler time to figure out other arrangements. It’s also worth noting that the traveler typically will have to give 2 weeks notice to cancel the contract on their end.
Once notice has been given, your recruiter company should spring into action and find a new position for you. Typically, our strategy is to try to find something close to your current location first so that you can potentially keep housing. If nothing pops up in the area within a week or so, expand the search.
While finding a back up job in the original location isn’t guaranteed, your recruiter should have your back and help you find a new position!
Unfortunately, contract cancellation is part of the travel life, but it certainly doesn’t happen to everyone! Isn’t nice to know there is a process in place if it should happen?