Most contractor unfriendly clients and clients managers

[psychocandy]

Talking to a mate recently where the team leader pretty much insisted that contactors "because they earn loads" had to buy the beer for the whole team every friday lunchtime.

Now, I usually offer to buy beer for the permies but not sure if I'd like to be told to be honest.

Got me thinking of, over the years, some places are a bit contractor-unfriendly....

1. Place where there was a "contractor corner". Contractors weren't allowed to sit next to permies. Weird.

2. Client where contractors have to be in by 9am, can't work from home ever. This team leader used to miss meetings because he'd forgotten at 11am and hadn't turned up, worked from home and you could never contact him. His attitude "flexible hours and wfh is a perk of being a permie, you're perk is extra money".

3. No contractors in the main car park. BUT you couldn't park on the road outside the office (no yellow lines but it looked "scruffy") and had to park in the overflow car park (about 15 mins walk away).

[BR14]

Talking to a mate recently where the team leader pretty much insisted that contactors "because they earn loads" had to buy the beer for the whole team every friday lunchtime.

Now, I usually offer to buy beer for the permies but not sure if I'd like to be told to be honest.

Got me thinking of, over the years, some places are a bit contractor-unfriendly....

1. Place where there was a "contractor corner". Contractors weren't allowed to sit next to permies. Weird.

2. Client where contractors have to be in by 9am, can't work from home ever. This team leader used to miss meetings because he'd forgotten at 11am and hadn't turned up, worked from home and you could never contact him. His attitude "flexible hours and wfh is a perk of being a permie, you're perk is extra money".

3. No contractors in the main car park. BUT you couldn't park on the road outside the office (no yellow lines but it looked "scruffy") and had to park in the overflow car park (about 15 mins walk away).

cool story

[cojak]

I don't bother going to the pub with them.

I did however buy 100 samosas as a leaving gift.

That's the level of my involvement with client teams.

[ladymuck]

From what I've heard, #1 is quite common in Germany. Some companies completely segregate contractors from permies. Not worked there myself so this is second/third hand knowledge. I don't have an issue with it as long as it doesn't impact productivity. Spend too long hanging around the permies and they start to treat you like one, and you start behaving like one....

Had #2 when working at Maersk. Not quite that extreme but I did find it frankly ridiculous that due to the no home working policy I had to take a whole day off for a 10 minute check up at the dentist. So, I booked it for a really inconvenient time for the project

Car parking, really? My goodness that's scraping the barrel as to 'bad client' criteria.

[TheGreenBastard]

2. Client where contractors have to be in by 9am, can't work from home ever. This team leader used to miss meetings because he'd forgotten at 11am and hadn't turned up, worked from home and you could never contact him. His attitude "flexible hours and wfh is a perk of being a permie, you're perk is extra money".

So not really contracting, that's permietracting.

[original PM]

Petty people who enforce these sort of pointless rules purely to give them that tiny, tiny feeling of power are one of the biggest threats to the Uk economy.

[psychocandy]

I don't bother going to the pub with them.

I did however buy 100 samosas as a leaving gift.

That's the level of my involvement with client teams.

100 samosas?

[psychocandy]

So not really contracting, that's permietracting.

maybe ;-)

[Pondlife]

From what I've heard, #1 is quite common in Germany. Some companies completely segregate contractors from permies. Not worked there myself so this is second/third hand knowledge.

It’s a relatively recent thing. Contractors (IT sys support) were not allowed to work in the same office as staff. Project guys had a separate office but general admin support guys worked from home.

[GJABS]

I would be more than happy to buy the permies a round of beer. I've been alcohol-free for the past 3 years, so they'll enjoy Heineken zero and Becks blue by the bucket full on me.

But then I'll probably find they stop joining me at the pub and I'll get canned shortly thereafter.