How would you have paid me?

[Halloweenbecominglikehristmas]

Asked last week to work this week daily fir a couple of hours during school holidays. Set time every day from X to X, fixed amount of hours and my price given. Organised working week, prepared for the work etc.
Today told only needed for half that time for today and tomorrow they have an appointment they forgot about.
Very pleasant person, paid for the hours i'd done

Would you, or would you pay for whole week as it was you who changed the days/time needed very last minute.

I’d offer to pay in full and have done the same in the past. Eg we asked our babysitter to go home after 40 mins when our plans fell through last minute, but we paid her until the time we’d expected to come home as that was the time she had set aside for us. I think it’s the right thing to do. I also hope it encourages her to keep sitting for us, as she is lovely!

If it’s cash in hand then you don’t really have anywhere to go - just chalk it up to experience and don’t work for them again.If you have a contract then have a look at the ts & cs

Sorry but that’s an appalling attitude and not very honorable if someone has booked another’s time and then cancelled at v short notice. I don’t know many people who have time to throw away either.

I would have paid in full for today and offered you the option of not working tomorrow.

I am Self Employed and my contracts all say I get full pay for 24 hours cancellation or less

I 100% agree with you. It’s not honourable. It’s an appalling attitude. It’s still business

Honestly, no, if you're freelance and we had no contract, I wouldn't pay you for hours you didn't work. It's shit being in this sort of role, so I do sympathise a lot. Put a contract in place next time, even if it's just an email agreeing the hours, rate of pay and what happens if one of you cancels.

I personally would have paid you. We pay our cleaner when we are on holiday because it’s not her fault I don’t need her that week. If I cancelled tomorrow’s nail appointment now I would owe full price as it’s less than 24hrs etc.

I would have paid you as id inconvenienced you and you may have turned down other work/commitments to accomodate my requirements, so even without a contract i would have honoured the arrangement. I think im unusual though.
I paid my cleaner in full through covid although ahe couldnt work,she said i was the only person who paid her a penny.....

I pay my "services" if I cancel - e.g. my dog was out of action for 2 weeks following surgery with no notice, I still paid the dog walker for those 2 weeks. I also pay my sons swimming and music teacher if we are on holiday. They're all self employed. None of them actually expect this, in their contracts (they all have 24hr cancellation policies) but they are all valuable to me and I dont want to lose any of them! It feels morally right to do, but its a long term relationship.

A one off job, id offer to pay what was reasonable.

I would have paid, but from experience (and other stories I have seen), it tends to be those without as much that would pay and those with no financial issues are less likely to. Possibly as they wouldn't be impacted as much so don't realise the effect it can have. Or they just don't see the need to if you aren't doing the work.

However, you have allocated your time according to the original agreement, and made an agreement for an amount of work and compensation for that which made sense to you. A shorter day may not have been worth the travel time etc.

As you didn't have a specific cancellation policy, you could ask for the amount originally agreed but there is no guarantee they would pay and you can't make them. If they want to use your services again, they might though. You may have to take it as a lesson learned, not work for this family again, and ensure you state terms for cancellation/changes up front before agreeing the work in the future.

It is frustrating, and it isn't fair. It may well come back to bite them (it sounded like childcare offered, and I definitely wouldn't want to upset someone who gave good, reliable childcare to my children).

Only told you today! That’s really out of line.

i would have paid as agreed. You can’t fuck people over like that.

I pay my cleaner when we are ill and infectious and she can’t come, for example.

Apart from the ethics, that’s how I keep an excellent cleaner.

I would have paid as I had asked for your time. Really crap not to pay really, but this thread just shows that we are not a high trust society, the norm now seems to be to look out for you yourself, if no paper protection we will just treat you like shit. Remember that when you are in a similar position, sorry you were treated badly.

I use informal childcare so no contract. If I cancel at short notice I will always pay regardless. It’s basic courtesy.

I would have paid you for the originally agreed time.

If I were you, assuming you value the relationship and would like future work from them, I would take the time to explain, maybe when they book you next, that you will bill for the agreed time as you are blocking yourself out of bookings and potential earnings, prior to confirming/accepting.

Chalk this one up to experience, but let them know where they stand in the future.

I would have least offered to pay. You could have for other work if you had been available.

If the work had been booked last minute with no contract, I might not offer. I would if it had been booked more than a week in advance and you were likely to have turned other work down. ETA If I cancelled on the day, I would definitely pay you!

Did you or client mention anything about payment when they said they didn’t need you for what was originally booked?

Yes I would pay you.

I would pay for the time booked, the person doing the work has presumably planned in having that income and shouldn’t be penalised by me being flaky.

I get this all the time. People ask the price based on a certain number of hours and I give them an hourly rate. Then, when I'm just about to start the job they try to reduce the hours.

I now respond with an email stating that the rate was based on x number of hours and we need to stick to the original agreement or cancel completely. No-one has ever cancelled, which just goes to show that when you push back against peoples cheeky behaviour, they almost always back down. They're just trying it on.

Push back a bit.

I'd pay for the hours i'd booked - as its on me that I no longer need them/had double booked.

I would pay you for the hours i had originally hired you to do. That was the agreement. I would not be happy if someone changed the agreement at the last minute so I wouldn't do it to someone else.

Woah, thats fucking sly and cheeky.

That was deliberate, so that you didn't have the opportunity to say no.

Look, sometimes we get cheeky customers, sometimes we even get customers that don't pay! all we can do is learn from it and move on. Yes she should have paid you but she didn't. Not much you can do about it now.

I would have paid the agreed amount.

But also, in your shoes I'd have smiled and said, 'Oh don't worry. I'm afraid I'll still be charging the full amount as agreed, as I've rearranged my schedule and booked you for that time'.