To want to force this company into liquidation even if it means friends losing jobs?

[solidgoldbrass]

It's a magazine publishing company that I do a lot fo freelance work for -and they never pay on time, payment is 40 days after the end of the month of publication (ie about 5 months after the work is done) and it is never on time, weeks late, etc. They say they have no money at the moment, yet they are still commissioning work (and this has been going on for about a year, they pay weeks late after threats...) I have just threatened them with the fact that I am legally entitled to charge them £40 per late payment, and they still haven't paid up. If I take legal action against them for trading while insolvent and shut them down, then the editorial staff (most of whom are longstanding friends and this is not down to them) will be out of work - and I won't get paid anyway because freelances are at the back of the queue for money when a company goes down... Has anyone else had a similar situation?

You will forgive me for being forthright SGB but this whole situation is ridiculous. A perfectly intelligent and literate and articulate woman like you should not be fannying around with marginal magazines, Avon, Provident loans and assorted nonsense. You need some serious career planning.

Amen Quattrocento!

Quattro: at my age (and in the current economic climate) career planning not really an option. I am 44 and have been a freelance/portfolio career type in a fairly specialist area for a good 10 years, which makes me all but unemployable. ('Overqualified'/No relevant experience is always the response).

Couldnt you set up your own toy shop?

Yes but this niche area isn't paying the bills, is it? It's having to be supplemented by Avon and temping and market research and stuff. Time to draw a line under it and channel your energies and talents - which are many and evident - into something else.

I don't think you are over the hill at 44 - people of our sort of age have another 20-25-odd years of work to look forward to.

We're done with childbearing - sure there's the childrearing thing to be getting on with - but essentially our minds are free to get on with our careers.

As to what you could do - why lots of things. You could teach, train as an accountant or lawyer, start your own business, become an employed journo ... Lots of stuff. You're at the peak of your life woman. Don't go around sounding down beat.

solidgoldbrass - you are not getting paid at the moment. The firm owes you money. In the current environment anyone not paying is in financial difficulty. Put down in writing what they owe, add the £40 late payment premium and give them 10 days to pay as wel as notify them that you will pursue the matter through the courts. Either file a claim in the Small Claims Court or make a petitiion for bankruptcy. Make sure you add the court costs to the fee you are claiming. Represent yourself.

They will pay if solvent. Forget your friends, they are getting paid ahead of you and that is not fair. Are any of them going to bail you out? No thought not.

I do sympathise SGB becuase it is tough out there. I used to be a copywriter, worked in advertising agencies then freelanced, and then tried to get a full time copywriting job in my early 40s. This was five or six years ago when there was no recession. No luck at all - I felt I was hitting an invisible wall.

In advertising at least, IME lots of agencies don't like to employ you full time if you are in your 40s. It is outrageous. My old art director returned from New Zealand in October, just when everything was getting bad. She is an established freelancer, has won lots of awards, worked for big agencies, had a great website full of her work. She couldn't even get an interview! I phoned up agencies on her behalf, as well, and I was gobsmacked by the rude, offhand answers I got, even from NABS -(the ad agencies' own charity organisation who are there to offer support and advice).

My friend is now changing career and applying for courses in the medical profession - nursing, counselling etc.

As for me, when I couldn't get another ad agency job (and tbh, my heart wasn't in it anymore when I hit 40), I found work as a communications person in the public sector. Much less age discrimination definitely and I like my job a lot. It's not perfect but I can live with it. Any chance your journalism experience would equip you for communications officer or press officer roles? Have you looked into this?

Speak to whoever commissions your work at this mag and tell her the problem. If you don't get anywhere then only take this work as a hobby - concentrate on working for firms that do pay and on getting another job.

There are plenty of alternative careers as others have said - get off the ship if it's sinking.

ABetaDad is correct. You could refer to this guide online to help you through the process, but just google "make your own small claim" to get more background.

Other claimants are irrelevant. They will have no idea what you have done unless you tell them. If the a/cs dept of the co blabs to anyone else about it (though they are probably dealing with claims every day if this is their cashflow improvement method)just refuse to discuss, it is your private business.

Oh, and your claim will be embarassingly minute in relation to the co's other costs, so don't have any qualms about it. Cynically, freelancers are utterly feeble about asking for their money compared say to a landlord wanting rent. Therefore, freelancers go to the bottom of the list.

Thanks to everyone for help and advice. I was feeling really shitty about everything last night, but it's not as bad as it sounds in that I do have a meeting on Tuesday with some people who may be about to offer me some proper (properly paying) work... In a way I always find I feel worse just before things improve.
I am going to kick this company's arse again on Monday, anyway...

Good luck for your tuesday meeting SGB, hope things will improve for you. You always come across as entirely sensible (even though I dont always agree with you ) and you are very knowledgeable and articulate, heres to hoping your skills will be put to good use and a decent price tag put on them!

Good luck with your arse-kicking efforts on Monday and work meeting on Tuesday