Help
1 - I came to Hong Kong with a view to try and make a name for myself as a freelancer - now working as a contractor in an office I am basically acting like employee. At the moment they pretty much want me working full-time, so it's hard for me to see the difference really.
2 - How much notice should I need to give them for my availability - weekly, or more in advance? How much flexibility should they reasonably expect from me? I feel like as most of my time is spent working there, I am not expanding my horizons like I wanted to.
3 - A lot of the employers seem to work late, and makes me feel a bit guilty when I slope off a bit earlier - should I be expected to stay late and do overtime? They also wanted me to work over the last weekend which I made up some excuse that I had a trip booked, so couldn't - as a contractor couldn't I just tell them no I don't work weekends?
All in all it's great that I have found this job, but at the same time I don't want to get sucked into another 9-5 office routine that I was trying to escape. I'm finding it difficult to know where the obligations of an employee start becoming mine, and which ones I can negotiate out of. How do others manage this kind of situation? They seem pretty desperate to have me working there, which makes me feel a bit bad when I don't put the extra time in, but on the other hand I feel I would be a fool not to work any less for them as the hourly rate is good!
Hope this makes sense, and any help on this would be appreciated!
EDIT: reading this back makes it seem like I'm an ungrateful sod who will only do the minimal amount of work, and expect to be paid loads for it - it's not the case, I'm a hard worker and have been working long days, I just want to know where I stand and how the system usually works for contractors!
This post has been edited by mrchristoph: 19 September 2011 - 02:07 PM
