Attitude towards working hours

[mouseorgan]

Yes you should be more flexible - clock watching is a permie trait.

Indeed, working for free is a permie trait...

*cough*

Even when I was still permie last year amongst contractors I was very tired every possible negative being used about the other type of employee. "Permies are lazy and useless, as they are so comfortable they don't learn anything" vs "Contractors are lazy and uselss as it doesn't matter if they screw up"...

[cojak]

*cough*

Even when I was still permie last year amongst contractors I was very tired every possible negative being used about the other type of employee. "Permies are lazy and useless, as they are so comfortable they don't learn anything" vs "Contractors are lazy and uselss as it doesn't matter if they screw up"...

Doesn't mean they're not accurate...

[mouseorgan]

Doesn't mean they're not accurate...

No, I've seen certain people fit into all these categories, it's just the broad generalisations that are ludicrous.

[cojak]

Well that's told me...

[Freamon]

Would your attitudes to working late "for free" change if you found out the permies who stay till 8-9 at night are getting paid o/t to do so?

[dspsyssts]

If its a tough market and your lucky to have a contract then put in the extra hours for free, turn up early and make a good impression, it may help lead to an extension.(don't forget to get the tea and coffee for people, permies love it and always buy the first round at the pub)

If your skillset dictates you can get another contract at the drop of a hat then work to rule and f**k 'em.

[Greg Longshaft]

If your skillset dictates you can get another contract at the drop of a hat then work to rule and f**k 'em.[/QUOTE]

I think you may have hit the nail on the head, its the TYPE of contractor that you are depends on how you should manage your hours.

A contractor with a ltd company is a resource, the contract dictates what the daily/hourly rate is and how many hours in the day, any more hours is outside the contract unless the contract states additional hours is chargable at x rate.

The other factor is the climate, at the moment most people are lucky to have a contract so should we bend a little to survive?

At least the job market is picking back up and most of us will be able to say (or should say anyway) "if you want me to work an extra hour tonight, i need to add this to my invoice, are you ok with that?" to their manager.

[craig1]

If its a tough market and your lucky to have a contract then put in the extra hours for free, turn up early and make a good impression, it may help lead to an extension.(don't forget to get the tea and coffee for people, permies love it and always buy the first round at the pub)

If your skillset dictates you can get another contract at the drop of a hat then work to rule and f**k 'em.

A bit short-termist. All the good long-term* contractors I know live off reputation. I can command £50-£100 a day more from many clients because I can tap into my reputation. One part of that reputation is as someone who isn't going to suck through their teeth like a 1970s union shop steward if I do 10 minutes over my alloted hours. As far as I'm concerned, that extra daily rate more than makes up for the few extra hours I might put in over a week; I won't over-work to "impress" people but I will if the project needs it.

* long-term is a long time contracting in general, not long-term with one specific client.

[Paddy]

I'd totally agree with this, I do 8-4, my contractor colleague does something like 10-ermonceitsdarkorsomething so I'm always in very early to no visible benefit but I'm seen leaving. One issue there is that my colleague hasn't broken anything horrifically by the time I leave, so when he's going the extra mile and fixing what he broke earlier, he looks better than me just because my stuff worked first (second maybe) time!

Similarily I've not had a lunch hour so far this year, always at my next keeping an eye on things over lunch if not directly working. No reason to think that would ever "count" for anything though.

Comments regarding precise timesheets are in line with where I expected to be, but we've been told to just do "7.5 tab 7.5 tab 7.5 tab 7.5 tab 7.5 tab enter enter" once a week, as the time keeping system is so poor! I didn't expect to be giving OR taking anything. How can a manager be sure he's getting anything like value when "give and take" means you regularly roll in at lunch time for totally legit reasons, but no way to know people know that?!

The tactics do baffle me to some extent. I can stay late but when I do there's no one there to see, so why should I? We've an endless amount of work, and staying longer won't make it finish any sooner, as we've not enough people to do the work within the impossible deadlines. That's not my problem. I guess there are reasons to work later, but they need to fundamentally benefit me / my company, mostly from learning new tech and such. Naturally I can find it very easy to get absorbed in something that interests me, but too much and I'm not home in time for bedtime stories with the kids!

I do work from home, but then my boss (who I now thankfully one step removed due to a recently introduced project manager (contractor)) said once he didn't like it as he doesn't know if i'm doing anything. However he's not techy at all, and I'm a total geek buried in command lines and the likes, so he never can tell even if i'm sitting next to him.

Do the hours you feel comfortable to do, but do them without the pressure from your premie colleagues or management. Don’t rely on permies being friends, just do what is best for you. Keep the permies happy and buy them some chocolate biscuits. Go home when you want to, not when you feel obliged to go, otherwise there is not point in being a contractor.

[VectraMan]

A bit short-termist. All the good long-term* contractors I know live off reputation. I can command £50-£100 a day more from many clients because I can tap into my reputation. One part of that reputation is as someone who isn't going to suck through their teeth like a 1970s union shop steward if I do 10 minutes over my alloted hours. As far as I'm concerned, that extra daily rate more than makes up for the few extra hours I might put in over a week; I won't over-work to "impress" people but I will if the project needs it.

WHS. If something needs doing for 6pm, and you're out the door at 5.30 on the dot, nobody is going to be impressed with you, even if you're doing exactly what your contract says. In fact they're likely to be put off hiring contractors in general. If you go the extra mile and stay and show that you're part of the team, they're going to want to keep you around.

"Flexible resource", is what we're meant to be. No point having a flexible resource who isn't flexible.