Freelancing advice
amanda j (35 pencils) | Fri, 2007-11-16 08:42Hi Folks, I have now registered my own company here in Spain. For the last 13 months I was employed, putting together a monthly magazine and in my employer´s office 9-5 Mon-Fri. I am now invoicing him for this job. Guess I am not really freelancing any more as I am now legally a company - problem I now have is this:
Am I still required to be at the x-boss´s offices 9-5, or be there while I am doing the job? Previously there were many times when I had nothing to do. I have now given him an invoice that he was happy with and he paid on time (yeah) that stated "design of magazine 1st October to 31st October".
We have not had a discussion regarding my presence in the office with the exception of yesterday when I said I would be leaving at 4. Had nothing else to do for the last hour the office was open. His comment was that perhaps my other work (clients) might be interfering with my time at the office.
I need to sit down and go over this with him, just wondered if any one could give me some guidance in this issue.
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It's simple. All depends on your contract. If he pays per hour, you have to stay full hours. If not, he has no say whether you stay or leave. But then of course, you need to maintain a good relationship.
That´s what I was thinking Ivan. He pays per project not hourly. Its how to bring it up without ruining the "good relationship." When employed by him I never answered the phone etc as my Spanish is lousy so when my work is done then I should be out of there. Will have to ruminate how to bring this up and what to say.
'Work for hire' is the term used when employees are paid by a company. In this situation the company owns the copyright on everything employees create for the company.
Being freelance is very different and a contract dictates the agreement between the company and designer. If this is the case you ARE NOT required to be at any office but your own from 9-5.
I'm not sure of the employment rules in Europe but in the U.S. contractors have to be extremely careful about working at a customers office on their equipment. I forget the cutoff but after a certain point it is considered 'Work for Hire' and technically you are deemed a part-time employee of that company.
If the understanding is that you no longer 'work for' this company but contract graphic design services be very careful working at their office. The best option is to take the work to another location but if you must work there I'd recommend bringing in your own laptop. Read up on the employment law in your country. The way you describe the situation it sounds like you're still an employee of the company.
You need to terminate any regular hours at the office. Your ex-boss is now a customer of your freelance business and his office should not be your regular place of work. Establish a new location for your business and do the majority of your design work there. You can visit clients to discuss projects and deliver work but avoid using their equipment. (Discussed above)
The key is separating your location from this past employer. (You do not work for him any longer)
Write a contract outlining the work you will preform on a monthly basis and the price for your services. Search this site for freelance contracts as I remember them discussed.
Best of luck.