Any HR-ish people about? AIBU that they won't adjust how I'm paid?

[LoTeQuiero]

Genuine AIBU here. I've namechanged as if I were outed it would be fairly disastrous!

I started working freelance for a company at the beginning of the year. It wasn't supposed to be a freelance position but I couldn't do the office time they wanted so we worked out a pattern that we were all happy with. We agreed an initial pay scale which paid x amount for x amount of work (in terms of research and carrying it out). Fast forward six months and now I'm finding that each piece of work is taking around double the amount of research so my output is lower but time spent working is longer.

They now want me in the office 3 days a week. This is difficult for me because of childcare but it is do-able. However they now expect me to pay for my own travel and carry out the complicated pieces all based on the same pay scale. I have explained my position to the CEO (politely!) during a conversation with him and also to my first line manager via email but they have both said the same thing which roughly goes - tough, you agreed at the beginning and the requirements haven't changed. Except they have, the complexity of the pieces has increased and the amount of research has soared.

I am not an employee of the company and I just don't know if what I'm asking is reasonable (moving to a more time-based payment scale, i.e. contracted to, or an agreement for, x amount of hours in which x amount of pieces will be produced). I haven't been specific but I have listed my issues (in a non-combative manner) and they don't want to know.

If I turn it down I suspect they will start to phase me out but if I accept then I suspect that a) I will lose money and b) I will be incredibly resentful and feel like I've let myself down.

However if I'm BU then please, please tell me and I shall suck it up!

TIA x

[NoSquirrels]

No indeed, don't work for them if you are not remunerated properly!

If you're going to c+p that email that has the job contract offer, though, then you have to discuss the option of a contract with the CEO. My additions in bold.

---

Thank you for your email.

I understand the brand proposition and customer journey inasmuch as it has been explained to me. As far as I am aware, my work has been been up to the required standards of quality, as Jane mentioned in her email 12/10/15 where a change of role was first mooted :

"X and I have been discussing your role at XXX and wondered if you might consider a change of position. We have been impressed with your freelance work for us and would like to offer you a contracted role that would entail your presence in the office - where you would become more involved in the creative processes of XXX and other websites. We would be happy to offer you a salaried position, either on a full time basis (with some days working from home) or a part time position - pro rata - but in the office.

Of course, we would need to discuss the details fully, but, as a concept, we wondered what your initial thoughts were."

When I came into the office ON XX DATE our discussions were not about changing my position to a contracted employee but around continuing on our original charging structure but working from your offices.

As I've said, I'm happy to work from your office if you believe this to be necessary, but will need to charge appropriately.

The scope of the project has differed from the original agreement as it was set out on 27th April, as at that time, each piece was considerably less demanding in terms of research, and I priced my work accordingly. If you would like me to continue to work for you on a freelance basis, this now needs to be renegotiated in light of the increased volume of work per piece.

Please let me know how you would like to proceed.

[NoSquirrels]

Ha ha, X-post! Well done, LoTe. Sometimes stopping beating around the bush is the right thing to do.

[FlightofFancy]

Sounds like you're working for my ex boss! I'd bet good money that part of the issue is the 'manager' is covering herself by blaming an external contractor for something she's not doing (not briefing you properly and not briefing in enough work on time for starters).

I'd also be very wary of talk of monitoring time etc - even as an employee in a trust relationship I wouldn't expect to monitor what time people come and go from the office in this kind of role.

(Client isn't a London based university?!)

[pluck]

Your next reply ought to headline with what you explained about the subject matter. Not just that the subject matter has evolved, that it takes longer, etc., but the specific change from divorce to corporate distribution agreements.

Be blunt. They're welcome to get someone else to write on corporate distribution agreements for the same rate as about divorce, but not you.

Honestly, that last email from the CEO was just insulting (bold mine):
"The scope of the project has not changed. The reason I have requested you work from the office is to assist you in meeting the standard and quality required.

I am happy for you to continue to work from home provided that the quality of your work is at the requisite level and accords to our brand proposition and customer journey, which I have explained to you and which you have told me you understand.

Patronising fucker! He is saying you are crap, but he can help you along, and will pay you less. That's a ruined working relationship.

Sorry, but you absolutely cannot trust this company. They've already subjected you to mission creep once (and they'll do that again), AND they're attempting to downgrade your abilities. It's surprising how far they have pushed this. Most companies would have backed down, but the CEO's not left much space (if any!) to back down without losing face.

[skyeskyeskye]

You have had some good advice so far OP. As a self employed person, you need to be able to set your own rates of pay and the company either take it or leave it. That is the risk that you take, in that you may or may not get the work. You can charge mileage as a self employed person.

If the company do not like your terms then they need to get somebody else. But they cannot have you as self employed and then treat you like an employee.

And working somewhere 3 days a week would probably be classed as employment if it is regular hours and they have to tell you what to do and when to do it.

Obviously you can negotiate your rates per client if you wish to do so. I am a self employed bookkeeper/accountant and if a client doesn't like what I charge, then I don't work for them. If they can offer me extra work or recommend me to a friend, then I may do a better deal for them, but it is still up to me, not up to them, what I charge.

You are making a stand which is great and it will work out for you one way or the other! If you look for other work, then make sure that your status and terms are clear from the start. You are not an employee.

[LoTeQuiero]

Thanks everyone. It's never been a problem with anyone else! They come to me, ask me how much I will charge for X project, I say X amount and that's it! The trouble with this one is that it wasn't clear from the beginning. It's a HUGE project and I think they expect me to have a blanket rate for all of it, whereas actually it needs to be broken down into sections and priced accordingly.

Well, I've made my stand now and yes, I am fully prepared to be let go.

[rainydaygrey]

Good for you OP. Remember, it's not just them letting you go - it's also you letting them go. You don't walk into M&S and say you want this and that, but it's not that great and also you don't want to pay so much. Neither should they.

[LoTeQuiero]

Well I've had my most recent piece returned to me now it's been assessed (I have to do some coding on it) and there was only ONE thing they wanted to edit. ONE. And it was a tiny thing that I'd been told I had to do for the last six months . But the point remains that they don't seem able to find fault with my work. Interestingly, it didn't come from the CEO, it came from the other lady, but his comment underneath said that it was basically exactly what he wanted.
No direct reply from him though..........

[pluck]

So he's either not backing up his staff or failing to get them to be productive (the business of not getting work out to you)?

[AyeAmarok]

I think your "not working for two hours and being paid for one" was great OP.

I think this is a very snide company though, they are taking the piss, given what was written in the first email and then what the CEO has written.

He is trying to cut you down in confidence, and then take you on cheaper, basically. That's really horrible.

[LoTeQuiero]

OK, this was the reply from the CEO this morning:

"Thanks for your email.

I will not be able to combine working in the office on a set-rate, with
working freelance from home. We have to do either one or the other. If you
let me know what your day rate would be for office work then I will
consider it as an option. We would need three days due to the volume of
work.

We clearly have a disagreement over the brief - I really do not see that
what we need now is any different to what we needed originally - we just
need to sharpen up on how it is being written and go over what you wrote
originally to ensure it is all on brand.

Thanks"

[pluck]

The first paragraph isn't too bad.
*
However, his second paragraph indicates that he won't admit the justness of your point about the difference in the subject matter.

Sorry, I don't think he can be trusted, so couch your refusal in terms of the difference between divorce and "corporate distribution agreements," as I think that's very telling, very specific, and quite hard to continue arguing about!

Maybe they'll even come back to you in time, at which point you'll be in a hell of a better position because of your stand now.

[LoTeQuiero]

It's difficult to do that Pluck because next week the subject matter may be something different again. I really have to hammer home the time point, which I have by saying twice that he's expecting the double the research for the same word count and that's not something I can do. I also told him my hourly rate as a freelancer which their rate falls far short of.

Anyway, we shall see..............

[NoSquirrels]

Can you work on a day-rate every day you work for them? e.g.

In the office 1 day per week - day rate of £250 (or whatever)
From home = day rate of £200 (or whatever)

So then you can set your rates to accommodate the research, and agree to a set amount of pieces per week, rather than being paid per piece? That avoids the time/research argument, and also his argument about not being able to combine in the office with from home.

I think his second paragraph is annoying on a few levels - the one that jumps out to me though is "and go over what you wrote originally to ensure it is all on brand" which sounds to me like he wants to argue that your work in the beginning was of a lesser standard (and therefore that you don't "deserve" to have been paid at the higher rate for "easier" work).

I agree with Pluck that you should state the case about the sorts of things you're being asked to research/write - they may change next week, but you can give a few examples of the divorce vs corporate agreement type, just using them as examples of the difference in subject matter.

I may be overly invested in your fight at this point!

[MovingOnUpMovingOnOut]

I think this is more likely to be a big misunderstanding and a communication issue. There are at least three people involved in the discussions so it's quite possible. Particularly when you consider the difference between what the two people and the firm have been saying and that the CEO was unaware you were being asked to do less work.

Specific examples of what has changed is good so an objective comparison can be made.

I still think emailing is making this much, much harder and a phone discussion is better for persuading someone to see your point of view and clear up any misunderstandings. One of my clients (who is brilliant and I really like) just doesn't get stuff sometimes because some of the things that happens she just can't imagine because it hasn't happened before or it's so stupid that logic prevents it being a credible situation (we work with another client who occasionally bodies things up as they are human and dealing with massive volumes but are generally absolutely fantastic). She is also juggling multiple projects so she just isn't as into the detail on my part of the project as I am. I just ring her for anything that falls in that sort of situation and repeat what's happened a few times slowly while she says "ffs! Why have they done that?!" and I say "I don't know why but this is what I've done to fix it and it has incurred approx £XXX extra cost so you may get some push back from the client" and then she says "well they should have set it up properly in the first place!".

I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable that we might be egging you on based on our genuine experiences of piss taking clients and that you might not actually have a piss taker situation at all.

[TendonQueen]

Other people here are better at putting actual emails together, but my feeling at this point would be to 1) make the point again and in detail about the difference in research 2) reiterate that there has been no need to 'bring your work up to scratch' and that was not at all the message ever given before, and 3) give a 'final call for flight LTQ' and say if agreement can't be reached, you will be moving on. He's hoping to wear you down.

[TendonQueen]

Fair point from MovingOn. Could you steel yourself for a face to face?

[Stormtreader]

It all rather sounds like he's still treating you like an employee asking for a raise. Its not up to him to decide if the brief has changed, it needs to be agreed by both/all of you. You're either happy to continue working for them under the agreed terms, or you're not. They are also getting your work at the old rate while all this drags on.

I think at this point I would be responding with actual numbers, something like:

"An office day rate is £350 per day.(or whatever would offset the inconvenience of travelling)
The home working rate is £50 per article.
I would be looking to get these new rates confirmed and an agreed start date for them no later than x date. I wont be able to continue with the current rates past x date.

I'm available to come into the office between x dates for an in-person discussion to finalise this if required."

I do tend to be rather blunt in these situations though so it might need prettying up a little by other posters who are more skilled at negotiating :p

[TendonQueen]

I agree that putting a date for the resolution of all this is a good idea. As it is the whole thing is dragging on and as storm says, it's them treating you like an employee.

[rainydaygrey]

Yy they are treating you like an employee.

[Stormtreader]

Any update OP?