Dilemma over existing contract

[BolshieBastard]

Tell them as you are working from home under your own insurance etc etc that your rate is going up £75 per day forthwith.

[dave_m13]

Tell them as you are working from home under your own insurance etc etc that your rate is going up £75 per day forthwith.

Excellent, made me smile, first time today

[RichardCranium]

As you are working from home (so don't have the commute) offer to chuck in a free hour or two?

That's one sweetener: if your commute was two hours a day say they can have an hour free from that each day you don't commute BUT the money stays the same.

Another is to offer a more detailed timesheet showing the hours you have worked and high level tasks. That should allay their piss-poor-management skills. Eventually they will stop looking at it once they trust you.

Another is to offer to have some form of instant messenger running during working hours; that way they can contact you immediately and/or see if you are skiving all day. Skype can do that for them.

Finally, simply say "I cannot afford to work here for less. If you decide to put yourselves in breach of contract by refusing to pay the agreed rate, I am entitled to walk and provide no documentation nor any handover and that is exactly what I shall do. I shall also seek legal advice to recover my losses." That'll make their hard-nosed business managers wake up and realise you can play that game too.

[northernladuk]

Right, sorry to wade in here and be unpopular but lets play devils advocate here and remember WHY you are having to work from home.

You are injured. It's one of the risks of our business. You have to work from home for a medical reason which probably means you are less than productive as well for the same medical reason. You are required to attend meetings which you can't therefor not fulfilling your role to the extent required. You are saving money on the travelling etc and the client has no control over you... and lets face it... working from home <> the same amount of work if you were in the office especially when you are carrying an injury.

The fact the client hasn't just made you go home on no rate surprises me. Knowing the lack of knowledge some managers I have worked with around the contracting world I am surprised they let you work incase you turn around to try and sue the for making your injury worse through enforcing work. I know, I know, they can't do this legally etc but not all managers are aware. They could just do it to cover their ass's.

Personally I think you are lucky to be able to work while injured and for 50 quid a day less I think you have fallen on your feet (instead of your elbow!!). Take it and keep schtum!!

What most of the guys are saying here is legally and technically right, I accept that, but what is legally and technically right does not mean it is what is going to happen on the floor. It might not say you have to work in the office in your contract and you probably have every right to work from home so but how well is that gonna go down at work when you storm in and slap that one on him. Lets have a dose of reality here.

Play devils advocate. What would YOU do if your contractor injured himself and wanted to work from home? I wouldn't put up with him being injured on full pay in a situation that suits him for a start. He gets paid silly money for a job with risks he is fully aware of, a risk turns in to an issue so its his problem to deal with it. 50 quid drop if you please.

And you seriously can't afford a 50 quid a day drop? Maybe if money is that tight you shouldn't be playing so much sport and protecting your income in a tight period??

One big thing that makes all this advice giving difficult is knowing your relationship with the client. If its purely business down the line then I stand by what i say. If it is a very amicable one then maybe what I say is a tad harsh but still felt it needed to be said