To expect more respect?

[Corkscrewbetty]

I'm on my own. I live in the middle of nowhere. I freelance as a translator and teacher. I'd rather not do the teaching, but I need to have a steady income coming in. The translation pays very well, but there can be some empty inbox days and I get a bit panicky. I work for a company based in Germany - giving online lessons. I live in France and declare my income here, pay social security contributions etc. I teach every morning while the baby is at crèche (heavily subsidised - I won't tell you how much I pay or you'll get cross).
A student can cancel or reschedule lessons. If they don't do this within six hours of the lesson, or if they don't show, I get paid the full hourly rate. They are now changing this to 33% of the hourly rate. To remain "competitive" in the global market. So, today, I had no shows. Two of them. Instead of earning 68 EUR, I'd get 45. I was sitting there, lesson prepped. They didn't show. So, how am I supposed to make that money up? I have to stay in the classroom for 20 minutes just to make sure they're not coming. I suppose I could do webcam stripping or something? Does that pay? bigsinglemummaswithsaggytits.com or something? ;-)
I'm just so cross that there's no way to fight these people. We don't get to meet any of the other teachers, have no negotiating powers, I don't even know where to begin looking things up in terms of the law. We have to be available for 15 hours a week, but have a zero hour contract. And now this. I feel totally powerless. Any tips on what I can do? Do I have a leg to stand on? I know this is a bit of a boring post. Tried to brighten up with the stripping bit. These bastards though! All teachers have to have a degree and and a teaching qualification. Where can I go for some tips on how to deal with this... or do I just have to put up with it?

That is very annoying, and I don't know what the answer is. I'd look into changing company but appreciate that you might not get a better deal elsewhere. Or can you just go totally rogue - set up your own website and have your own independently sourced clients? Then you could set your own t's and c's (but obviously would lose out on whatever this company is providing you with).

It must be extremely frustrating!

Yup. I think any effort I put in is going to have to be in terms of finding more translation work. I have some steady clients and won a new client last week, so fingers crossed that it will go somewhere. The company does provide a lot of hours. They're a big deal. That's the good thing. Whatever availability I give does tend to get filled. But, it's just so annoying not to have any rights or power to negotiate. I feel used. They just don't give a shit about the teachers. I think when the little one is ready for school, I'll have to go and find a "proper" job. There's nothing round here in the west of France. We'll have to go to a city. My house is virtually unsellable. I just get so worried about all of this. I want some level of security. I'm fed up with the sleepless nights. :-( I fluctuate between being a nervous wreck and wanting to take on the world. It's tiring.

Unfortunately, those are the conditions offered by the company who provide you with hours. If you don't agree, the only other way would be to find your own students and set your own cancellation policy (mine is less that 24 hours' notice = class charged).

The only other option is to be proactive and try to make up the cancelled hours by asking the students when they are available to make up their missed class.

It is a pain when you're banking on that money but I always take on more hours than I need so that I can enjoy the cancellations and actually have time for a coffee, lunch, catch up on paperwork, etc!

Who are you translating for? Have you approached any publishers?

I do a lot of translation. I work for agencies, direct clients and I have four novels published. But, the novels tend to come in once a year. Ideally, I should be working on contacting publishers, working on my online profile, tweeting and all the rest of it. I think that'll have to be my next step. I just can't face finding my own students. I think I'll have no choice but to sign these new terms and conditions and work on the translation side of things. I'll get there. Thanks for all your tips. :-)