Mental Health Issues and Contracting

[KentPhilip]

There is no protection for contractors, and nor should there be.

I "survived" 8 months out due to <unspecified> illness. I put it on my CV as training and travel, despite the fact that I did neither. Didn't stop me getting another gig, although one agent did ask me to explain myself "just so we can be sure you weren't in prison "

cheeky git..

[tarbera]

No Issue

[I am posting this here rather than General, as I hope it gets treated seriously]

There was a BBC article about how Amazon workload could lead to stress-related illnesses......

If you had a period of time-out due to health reasons, particularly clinical depression, brought on by stress, how should this be managed in the CV gap?

Should clientcos be allowed to discriminate?
On the grounds that some roles, perhaps PM roles, are by nature stressful, and placing the candidate into such roles might trigger another episode?

Contractors don't have the benefit of employment laws, so may be inclined to hide away long-term depression, rather than encouraged to seek help.

Working for yourselves, how do you ensure you remain healthy, when there may not be others around you (close colleagues) to notice warning signs?

When staying away on-site mid-week, if you have family, etc, how much a toll does it take on your mental well-being?

How much of an effort do you take to ensure your health is maintained?

I dont see an issue here as I seem to have lots of mental contractors working on my Project !!

[Old Greg]

Unless I'm missing something, there's no general discrimination legislation that protects against non-criminal discrimination against non-employees. A company can be held liable for not stopping non-employees from discriminating against its own employees but the other way around is completely fair game. In reality, a company wouldn't say that they're binning you on your first day for being a black hindu gay female in a wheelchair, they'd just say they've no work for you so goodbye and you have no recourse except for any notice or termination within your contract.

I thought we were included in some aspects of employment law as agency workers (if opted in and working through an agency).

[northernladuk]

I thought we were included in some aspects of employment law as agency workers (if opted in and working through an agency).

Not quite employment law. Its The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003.

[VectraMan]

Does discrimination on grounds of race, disability etc. apply to engagement of contractors?

I would say yes, certainly on race. For example, the BNP weren't allowed to only allow white members, and there's been various stories of christian nutter B&B owners being prosecuted for not allowing gay couples to stay. Neither of those are anything to do with employment.

[SueEllen]

There have been female contractors who have been terminated for being pregnant by clients and have got pay outs for threatening to take legal action. A couple posted on here years ago - so you are covered for sex discrimination.

And the TV people who have gone to court over ageism in the last couple of years aren't employees.

It really depends on how the law interprets the word "worker".

[northernladuk]

There have been female contractors who have been terminated for being pregnant by clients and have got pay outs for threatening to take legal action. A couple posted on here years ago - so you are covered for sex discrimination.

And the TV people who have gone to court over ageism in the last couple of years aren't employees.

It really depends on how the law interprets the word "worker".

That's just bullying for a payout. No way would that have stood up in court but clients have better things to do than go through court. I hope someone takes a test case all the way one day. Getting a payout with a threat is not being covered IMO. I do wish HMRC would come and look at the accounts of those that claim 'employee rights' when it suits them and be contractors the rest of the time. Might leave the rest of us alone for a bit longer.

[Old Greg]

That's just bullying for a payout. No way would that have stood up in court but clients have better things to do than go through court. I hope someone takes a test case all the way one day. Getting a payout with a threat is not being covered IMO. I do wish HMRC would come and look at the accounts of those that claim 'employee rights' when it suits them and be contractors the rest of the time. Might leave the rest of us alone for a bit longer.

I think you need to distinguish between 'employee rights' and freedom from discrimination.

[northernladuk]

I think you need to distinguish between 'employee rights' and freedom from discrimination.

Where is the discrimination? Client contracts to a supplier to provide a service. Supplier can no longer provide service. Termination of contract. No discrimination there. Same reason would be used for any reason the supplier couldn't deliver regardless of situation.

[Old Greg]

Where is the discrimination? Client contracts to a supplier to provide a service. Supplier can no longer provide service. Termination of contract. No discrimination there. Same reason would be used for any reason the supplier couldn't deliver regardless of situation.

The discrimination is not the termination of contract, nor the stated reason, but the actual reason.