Hello I've started doing a bit of freelance work for a small local company, it hasn't being going well and I'm not sure if I'll carry on with the contract (still unsigned) after holidays.
One of the issues is I have the company phone usually which can go off maybe 6-12 times a day with calls, texts and emails which I know isn't very busy but that together with the other odd jobs and visits I've been doing should approx be about ten hours a week work which is what I've been billing. The director isn't happy about this saying that is too much hours even though that's what I agreed with his partner before I started.
He suggested when I start up again after holidays instead of billing them per hour that I work on ad hoc I should have a daily stand by fee for holding the phone of £5 or there about a day. My hourly rate is £13.50 but he feels that this stand by rate should reflect how small the company is. I have no idea about what is reasonable for stand by rates and whether the company size and their profit should have anything to do with it but my feeling is it's too much hassle to be checking my phone, pulling over the car to answer phone, that being the first thing I look at in the morning of my incentive is a fiver? He said him and his partner were happy to be doing this before I started and when I explained it was their business and of course they would be happy to be doing unpaid work he said I wasn't a team player.
Nursery fees are £350 a month for the two short days my youngest is in, there is holiday club on top of that for my eldest but obviously isn't regular. But since I was just getting over £500 it was just about making it worth while, with cuts to this after I've made commitments and settled my son into nursery I'm a bit annoyed I'll be making a loss unless I can get an additional contract asap
So what's your on call rates? Especially if you work in a small company!