[Gibson]

One thing I've noticed with a few clients is they want you as a freelancer to work "between 9 and 5" as opposed to saying to you "i want you to do 8 hours work today".

One view is that one of the whole points of freelancing is that you should be able to work the hours you want, in order to fit in with the rest of your lifestyle - that's the whole point of being "freelance", right? If you want to do those 8 hours of work as 4 in the afternoon and 4 late at night, that should be up to you.

How do you react to this? Do you for example think that for corporate clients we ought to get out of bed in the morning (after no doubt going to bed in the small hours) to fit in with their office hours? Or do they have to swallow the fact that we're freelance and not have the right to demand that of us?

Thoughts?

[pandadoodle]

If im contracted then I work the office hours. If its freelancing from the office then I work and dictate the hours I work not the client I can answer the phone and emails 9-5 but I may not be working as such, although I never answer the phone after 6pm if its business related ... not ever!

[roothost]

pandadoodle, on 24 September 2011 - 08:00 PM, said:

If im contracted then I work the office hours. If its freelancing from the office then I work and dictate the hours I work not the client I can answer the phone and emails 9-5 but I may not be working as such, although I never answer the phone after 6pm if its business related ... not ever!

I'm with Panda on this, to a degree. I am always up from 7 at the latest, regardless of the night before (kids see to that!) so, yes, I am around during normal office hours BUT I find I get the bulk of my work done between the hours of 7.30pm and 1am, that's just how I work.

I also tend to not deal with telephone and email enquiries outside the normal 9-6 day BUT I will meet with clients after 6pm as it is sometimes more convenient for them.....ok it means we can go for a quick beer!

[Spitfire]

I work a 9 to 5 during the day and do freelancing in the evening and weekends. Generally, I tend to stick to working from 6 to 10 during the weekdays (thanks to a very understanding partner who handles household chores) and around 10 to 4 in the weekend.

However, I do make this very clear when accept freelance jobs and reflect it in my pricing by charging more than most 9 - 5 freelancers.

[MikeChipshop]

I'm the freelancer, it's my business and I dictate my hours. End of story. I'll tell them the deadline I can get the job done in and then I do just that. If I wanna work at night one day then that's my call not theirs.

[Renaissance-Design]

What Mike said. You're your own employee, not theirs. If they cut up rough, point out that allowing them to set the times that you work could affect your IR35 status, which could then lead to both of you being investigated for disguising employment.

Yes, I'm evil.

This post has been edited by Renaissance-Design: 25 September 2011 - 10:20 AM

[brightonmike]

In other words

None of their bloody business!

[Gibson]

That's pretty comprehensive. All of you state the answer that's my opinion as well - as a freelancer you get to pick your own hours (obviously).

I have had in the past with a couple of corporate clents where they kind of tried it on with this - saying to me that they "expected me to work between" certain hours as part of our contract. It never actually happened like that, because I pointed out to them that I was freelance and this wouldn't be possible. Also, you might have a few projects on the go at any one time, making it impossible to fit into these hours anyway.
I think their explanation was "In case they wanted to get in touch with me". I simply explained that if they were to email me or phone, then they'd get a response within a certain period of time.

It seems to be another p*ss-take thing that clients "try on" with us. Along with paying to little, and trying to heap extra work in for free halfway through a project.

Interesting point about the IR35, Renaissance. That's a real clincher.

[oakleaves]

Gibson, on 24 September 2011 - 07:40 PM, said:

One thing I've noticed with a few clients is they want you as a freelancer to work "between 9 and 5"

I've found it to be a bit different for me.

I feel like I'm expected to be a 24hr call-out service, and if I don't deal with things immediately there is something wrong, no matter what hour of day it is.

[Renaissance-Design]

I've posted my hours on my contact page. If it's an emergency (ie, site down or something like that) I'll respond, but other than that they can wait til morning. I work overtime on my own discretion.

[pandadoodle]

Renaissance-Design, on 25 September 2011 - 03:38 PM, said:

I've posted my hours on my contact page. If it's an emergency (ie, site down or something like that) I'll respond, but other than that they can wait til morning. I work overtime on my own discretion.

Brave! I wount answer the phone "after hours" even the weekend unless its a client who is paying me to do so. Email on the other hand will get a reply as and when during the weekend or after 6 if I'm sitting here.

[icecube_media]

If you are a freelancer and work at night then it doesn't mean that your clients should call you at night. Isn't it? Clients like to call or email during normal working hours and expect replies within that time.

Moreover, its also good for your health to work at a particular schedule and have fixed time for meals and work. This way you will learn self discipline and in future too you won't have any problem running a web design company of your own because you work on fixed hours.

You can relax, take few breaks or even entertain yourself because you are the boss but I would suggest you to have a fixed schedule.