Switching Jobs With A Work Permit

Just wondering...if you get a work permit to allow you to work in the UK are you allowed to switch jobs and work for someone else if the job does not work out or get a second part time job?  Suppose you were fired or the boss turned out to be an ogre - are you obliged to work for that person for a fixed period of time?  If so, how long?

You're not allowed to switch jobs with a work permit, unless your new employer sponsors a new work permit.  If your boss is an ogre and you quit, you have to leave the UK.  You aren't required to stay at a job you hate but you have to go back to the US.

Thanks for the clarification.  My husband thought one could simply switch jobs as soon as you got a work permit if things just did not work out, but I could have sworn I read that one would have to go back to their home country if things did not work out and you would have to wait for a work permit to clear if you applied for another job.

The reason the question came up was based on a fear I had that if he started working a job and for whatever reason it did not work out we would have to uproot our whole family and go back and forth which is why I suggested to him that he go over there ahead of us to make sure that was a job he really wanted before pulling our children out of school and away from friends.

We had a nightmare situation of relocation over his job, but that was only from Nashville to Memphis.  The company he worked for back then did not come through on their promises of better pay and a staff and relocation expenses.  In the end, we had to pay our own expenses to move and to cut our lease short.  He made less money and the rent was higher.  Plus he had to work the store single-handed as the manager because no one locally wanted to work at the store [with the salary they paid him and to work open to close mall hours it amounted to under minimum wage.]

Due to his wanting to move so far just to please the company, it ended up costing us dearly.  I worry if he makes this move [this time with the company he works for now] if the conditions do not meet his expectations or it becomes hellish on what kind of trouble we would face and what options we would have.

You should look into applying for an HSMP visa as an in country applicant.  The HSMP visa will allow your husband to look for any jobs and work for any employer, not just the one who sponsored his work permit.