Reply to: confused about pay

[AtW]

Yes you are right, I now got stone skin and empty heart now - very robot like.

[TheMonkey]

Sounds like you one tough monkey mate...

You have to be. I spent years getting abused as a permie, working until 10PM on a doomed project with no hope of completion. It thickened my skin somewhat. My life is not infinite so I better get some compensation for wasting it on that crap.

Give someone a little and they WILL take a lot.

[AtW]

Sounds like you one tough monkey mate...

[TheMonkey]

I run my own Limited, I work through an agency or directly and I fill in agency timesheets, which then get thrown in the bin.

Timesheets are there to keep the agency<-->client relationship happy. Your invoices to the agency are the ONLY "keep" requirement other than the contract.

I do 8 hours on the dot otherwise the clients get abusive generally and expect me to do extra hours to "meet their deadlines" or translated "tulipe project management". If they want extra hours they HAVE to pay for it. Simple as that. I'm not a charity, I'm a business and in business, everything has a cost, especially time.

[Alf W]

Of course the Agency won't care. They add commission on what you bill.

The client might care if they notice you are taking the p1ss and doing less work than they are paying you for.

This is a wind up and I claim my £5.

[AtW]

Just make sure you put aside cash to pay for any time out of contract or whatever.

Good luck!

[newcommuter]

thanks for all your advice which i've only just been able to look at.
looks like the agency don't care if i put the odd 7 hours here, 6.5 hours there - they still paid me full day rate!! and what a whopper of a pay it is too!i am so pleased - lone parent counting the pennies most of the time you see - i can relax a little now.
cheers everyone

[Paddy]

As for timesheets, if you are on a day rate (as I am) then your timesheet should reflect days, not hours. My timesheet at the end of the month has a '1' against each date I have billed. I will not breakdown the number of hours in there. The client tried to get me to do so initially but I told em to poke off...

Quite right. If the time sheet does not fit the for daily rate just put down one day. I always stipulate in my small print that a daily rate is for a maximum of seven house in the UK and eight hours in Europe . Extra hours by professional discretion

[ratewhore]

As for timesheets, if you are on a day rate (as I am) then your timesheet should reflect days, not hours. My timesheet at the end of the month has a '1' against each date I have billed. I will not breakdown the number of hours in there. The client tried to get me to do so initially but I told em to poke off...

[Ardesco]

I always make sure that my contract states clearly how many hours are classified as a day and make sure there is a clause about overtime rates. This you can be very clear with your client that while you may stay a bit longer now and then it is not something they can try and force you to do as you have a contract stating you will work X hours a day.

I belive Natwest and Bank of Scotland are well known for taking the piss and expecting 13 hours days for all thier daily rate contractors so it's useful to have a definition of how many hours a working day is in your contract

[milanbenes]

I always thought a day rate is based upon working 8 hours (or more with the more unpaid)

however depending on the relationship with the boss leaving early can be taken in leu of working later at other times

or on the invoice and time sheet log a 6 hour day and charge for 75% of the day rate

discuss with your boss and your agent openly so that everybody's expectations are managed and realistic and out in the open - avoids surprises further down the line

have fun contracting

Milan.

[lukemg]

Contractors need to be low maintenance, which means:
1- They get on with everyone, even if they hate them (Permies are allowed to be annoyed by people/slag them off, you aren't)
2- They don't moan about the place
3- They don't cause unrest by talking about money
4- They don't b1tch if they don't get invites to the pub/xmas bash/keiths leaving do
5- They don't have childcare/sickness/relative issues -leave them at home
6- They don't turn up later than agreed or leave on the dot if there is extra effort required.
Turn up, do the work as agreed, go home - repeat until end of contract and then consider options.
Yes, you get some flexibility over time but the basic principles stay the same.
Anyone who starts to think like a permie, messes things for the rest of us (e.g. some tw4t claiming employment rights on a long term contract means I will get 11 months max)

[MarillionFan]

Right. Its almost 8am.

What a bollocks post. The way you are asking the question(which the other numpties above missed) was you asked about a fixed day rate as a contractor.

You obviously have a 'fixed term contract' judging by your questions. I assume you are probably covering for someone on maternity or something like that. You are through a temping agency, working in an office.

Yes, you are supposed to do the full day.
No, its up to you to get to work.
No, nobody owes you a living.
Yes, I would fire you if you kept turning up at 9.15 and going at 4.30
Yes, If I was a permie I would get pissed off and make a comment.
Yes, you are a temp, not a contractor.

Problem is ATW is a lazy blighter with only one contract at McD's to his name.

Sheesh.

[oraclesmith]

Hi
Can anyone out there tell me (a first time contractor who has not been paid yet):

1) Is a day rate a day rate only if you work 8 hours, and does that mean that if you have to leave at 4.30 to make it on time to the nursery and have 'only' worked 7 hours a day, you can't get paid the full rate?

I have been diligently and honestly filling in my time sheets, with lunch breaks and all (30 min here, 20 min there), which means that effectively, work hours are even less than 7. How is that handled? What is an 8 hour day? DOes it have to be an 8 1/2 hour day to justify my day rate?

2) What about travel expenses. I drive to sunny Slough from London every day, and am incurring substantial costs. Sorry this sounds profane, but do I get this reimbursed, partly at least?

As you can see, I've been too busy surviving the day at the Office to have the energy to work these things out myself

I would be very grateful if someone had any answers to these questions

cheers

newcommuter

Ooooookay ! There's not really enough info here to avoid assumptions, so first a few easy questions :-

1. What is your structure ? Have you set up a limited company, working through an umbrella, a managed company umbrella thingy, a sole trader or PAYE from a temp agency ? Or something else ?

2. Is there an agency involved between you and the end-client ?

3. Have you read, understood and signed some sort of agency or client contract (or even your own version)? If so, what does that mention about hours, if anything ?

4. Whose timesheets are you filling in ? The agents ? the clients ? your own version ? Who do you give them to ?

[AtW]

Whatever you do, don't post from around 8am to lunchtime - people on here are particularly angry on here and just look for some ***ch to lash out at.

Thankfully we have got Chico here who normally takes most of abuse in the name of his boss.