216
votes
How do I stop getting all of this work placed on me?
When your manager asks you to perform a task and you don't have time to do both that task and everything else you've committed to, tell him that. You can inform him of your workload and still be ...
- 5,229
201
votes
Accepted
Is it common business practice to consider constructive break times as billable for consultants?
Here's a counter question. If he thinks of a solution on the drive home, can he bill you because he was working on the problem?
Programming is THINKING not typing. If you try to nuance this you ...
- 160k
176
votes
California employee being misclassified as a contractor, what can I do about it?
It is perfectly fine to be hired as a contractor, provided that (a) you are treated as a contractor, not an employee (basically: nobody can tell you what to do, and you can at any time get a ...
- 170k
151
votes
Accepted
How to ask for employment terms in writing without coming across as not trusting?
A written contract for an employee is just normal. You don’t have to be afraid about asking. Don’t even make an issue from it.
Don’t ask IF there will be a contract as that might really trigger some &...
- 3,148
132
votes
Accepted
No one else in my team cares about optimization, what should I do?
Since this is an in-house production my employer is also the client
and they are happy with the end-product so should I just forget about
the problems and mark the project as complete?
There's a ...
- 385k
102
votes
Why would employee be paid less than contractor?
I have no experience in Switzerland, but in Germany, being taken on board as an employee for just 20% less payout would be an amazing offer.
Take into account that you get paid days off that you ...
- 145k
97
votes
Accepted
Recruiter wants me to take a loss upon hire
Keep in mind that if you are moving from a contract position to a permanent position, your salary almost always will be less than your contracted rate. Here is a good comparison for why. If it's only $...
- 111k
94
votes
Accepted
As a contractor, how do I ask my employer for a new laptop?
@Tymoteusz Paul's answer is good and I agree with him. I'll try to offer a different perspective, though.
As a general rule of thumb, if you're a contractor, you need to supply your own tools (i.e. ...
- 5,497
91
votes
Employer is forcing me to change from a contractor to an employee
They are stating that it is not an option and I must do it.
What will happen if I refuse the new employment agreement? Can they
terminate me for this or will I be laid off?
If you refuse the new ...
- 385k
89
votes
California employee being misclassified as a contractor, what can I do about it?
Bring this question to a lawyer.
If you believe that any laws have been broken, simply quitting could get legally messy since it is unclear what your employment classification is. A labor attorney ...
- 699
88
votes
I'm being "forced" to put a company magnet on my personal car
I'm assuming this is essentially just there to ID the car as belonging to a contractor in order to allow the client to manage parking?
If so, would it be feasible to display the magnet inside the car?...
- 108k
83
votes
Customer told me to stay out of discussion regarding status of my delivered product
Officially, person 1 is in charge but I also work with person 2 so he is semi-officially in charge.
That means person 1 is in charge. Person 2 is not.
Getting additional compensation for redoing ...
- 31.5k
78
votes
How to not burn bridges when rejecting an offer after I said I was ok with it?
How can I minimize bridges burned with this staffing agency?
After your clarification in comments I think this is no situation you should be much concerned about.
They quickly mentioned the job via ...
- 83.3k
72
votes
Accepted
How should my company deal with contractors that ignore our technical guidance?
we won't be able to reach the project's goal without resolving that issue
This isn't picky at all. Delivering working software is the entire point - if developers are delivering software which doesn'...
- 114k
66
votes
Customer told me to stay out of discussion regarding status of my delivered product
The first mistake was in working on an ambiguous task. What did the written contract say you had to deliver? That's what you deliver - no more, no less.
The second mistake is to have multiple bosses. ...
- 33k
58
votes
Accepted
Is my employer paying me fairly? Going from 1099 to W2
Prior to this conversion they were paying a flat $20.00 per hour for your services. Now they're paying $20.00 per hour and additionally paying things like workers compensation, health insurance, 401k, ...
- 48.1k
55
votes
I'm being "forced" to put a company magnet on my personal car
I'd like to be diplomatic about this, but I can't think of a solution
to suggest to my boss. Any advice?
Ask if you can affix the magnet to the inside of a window, facing out.
I've done this with ...
- 385k
54
votes
How do I stop getting all of this work placed on me?
This first part is ALL you. You're complaining, but how many breaks do you take each workday? I'm guessing that it's zero. Eating lunch at your desk -- who made the decision to stay and work ...
- 44.4k
53
votes
No one else in my team cares about optimization, what should I do?
and they are happy with the end-product
As a contractor, you need to learn that while your client might do all sorts of dumb things, the decision to do those dumb things is ultimately their ...
- 111k
51
votes
Employer is forcing me to change from a contractor to an employee
What will happen if I refuse the new employment agreement? Can they
terminate me for this or will I be laid off?
The good part is that you cannot be laid off as you are not an employee. But they ...
- 35.8k
46
votes
I'm being "forced" to put a company magnet on my personal car
Park your car elsewhere, and walk to the office.
If the magnet is simply used to identifier contractors' cars, why not park in an adjacent lot (where nobody is looking for magnets) and walk to the ...
- 2,988
44
votes
Training went longer than expected due to equipment not working. Should I invoice the extra time?
Yes as you worked an extra hour. That hour was not due to your fault.
- 16.9k
43
votes
Accepted
How common is it for external contractors to manage internal teams, and how can we navigate this situation?
The management of your company seems like its in utter chaos.
8 experienced out-house developers who created the software were going replaced in a month by 3 new in-house developers with no experience,...
- 14k
41
votes
Is my employer paying me fairly? Going from 1099 to W2
There is a difference, but it typically goes the other way. When you are a 1099 you pay both halves of the FICA and Medicare taxes. When you are a W-2 your employer pays half. Additionally, you ...
- 4,609
38
votes
Employer is forcing me to change from a contractor to an employee
Question you did NOT ask: What should I do right now?
Run the numbers and figure out what offer would be acceptable to you and what isn't. Contractor compensation works often very differently from ...
- 124k
36
votes
How should my company deal with contractors that ignore our technical guidance?
There is a key point that needs to be addressed regarding your technical guidance. That is:
Does the software actually work and do what you asked them to do, in terms of the actual response to user ...
- 86.3k
33
votes
Accepted
Training went longer than expected due to equipment not working. Should I invoice the extra time?
Should I invoice for the extra time?
If you are an independent contractor, you should invoice for the entire time you spent.
If you work for a contracting agency, you should ask your boss. The agency ...
- 385k
33
votes
Why would employee be paid less than contractor?
As I have worked in Switzerland as an external contractor being paid by hour and got full time I feel I can answer this better than the other answers.
As a contractor you get to pay the "national ...
- 17.9k
32
votes
Asking for things outside of contract - how to end working relationship as quickly as possible?
What is it that I can do to end this relationship as quickly as possible?
It depends on how much money is outstanding and how badly you need the payment. If it is not significant, just ignore any ...
- 79.6k
31
votes
Is it common business practice to consider constructive break times as billable for consultants?
You pay humans to do work, not machines. This is an important factor to take into consideration. Some people take a break and produce much more work when they return vs. trying to push through. ...
- 8,614
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