Power cut, sent home.

[psychocandy]

Or, as I said earlier, when a period of time has passed that is defined as a full day in the contract.



Can't make your mind up, can you

OK. By that rationale... I've had contracts less than 4 hours = half day, more than 4 hours equals full day.

So 4 hours and 1 minute passes. You bill full day as per contract. Then you tell client tough titty you're out of luck no more extras for you its in the contract. Yes perfectly legal and acceptable but they aint gonna be pleased are they?

[Willapp]

OK. By that rationale... I've had contracts less than 4 hours = half day, more than 4 hours equals full day.

So 4 hours and 1 minute passes. You bill full day as per contract. Then you tell client tough titty you're out of luck no more extras for you its in the contract. Yes perfectly legal and acceptable but they aint gonna be pleased are they?

No, and rightly so. This comes back to being flexible and treating your client as a paying customer and offering good service. I doubt anyone in their right mind is going to try and bill a full day by going a few minutes over what their contract says defines a half day. What happens in reality is you work 5 hours one day and either bill it as half a day with the mindset to offset the extra hour against another day or you write it down as a "loss" in the name of customer satisfaction. Either that or you do the opposite, bill it as a full day (with the client's prior knowledge and agreement) and accept that you will likely be expected to put those hours back in when the situation calls for it.

Personally I think the last option is a bit of a permie mentality though and I'd be very wary of effectively being paid up front for hours I didn't work. IMO it's much better to show flexibility by working the extra hours first and expecting that you may then be able to offset them against shorter days later - for example if you get stuck in traffic, have a doctors appointment etc.

[MrMarkyMark]

OK. By that rationale... I've had contracts less than 4 hours = half day, more than 4 hours equals full day.

So 4 hours and 1 minute passes. You bill full day as per contract. Then you tell client tough titty you're out of luck no more extras for you its in the contract. Yes perfectly legal and acceptable but they aint gonna be pleased are they?

As I said, my full day is anything > 5 hours.
Once the meter is over 5, even by a minute, I bill for a full day.

I have done this on a number of occassions during this contract, with full knowledge of the client and never had any issues.
Obviously, if I wasn't delivering they wouldn't be so flexible.

As I have said many times before, most of this sort of thing depends on the relationship that you have established with a particular client, very early on.

[SueEllen]

No, and rightly so. This comes back to being flexible and treating your client as a paying customer and offering good service. I doubt anyone in their right mind is going to try and bill a full day by going a few minutes over what their contract says defines a half day. What happens in reality is you work 5 hours one day and either bill it as half a day with the mindset to offset the extra hour against another day or you write it down as a "loss" in the name of customer satisfaction. Either that or you do the opposite, bill it as a full day (with the client's prior knowledge and agreement) and accept that you will likely be expected to put those hours back in when the situation calls for it.

Personally I think the last option is a bit of a permie mentality though and I'd be very wary of effectively being paid up front for hours I didn't work. IMO it's much better to show flexibility by working the extra hours first and expecting that you may then be able to offset them against shorter days later - for example if you get stuck in traffic, have a doctors appointment etc.

Permie mentality?

You never worked for the horrid companies I worked for as a permie - they tried anything to dock pay and not pay out expenses.

I have more flexibility as a contractor.