Freelancer breaking contract

[saminizzle]

Hi,

 

I'm currently working on an event which is a shambles. No organisation and bad leadership resulting in unhappy patrons and long days trying to cover for mistakes that should have never been made in the first place.

 

I'm often working on projects which require long hours etc and I take pride in what I do but I feel I (and other staff) are being poorly treated. The pay is completely inadequate for the hours I have been working. I took the job to make some cash to pay end of year tax bill but I'm not happy about anything that is going on here.

 

ontop of all of this I have a job interview next week for a job I really want (but might not get) I will have to miss as I'm working here.

 

Is there a way as a freelancer I can leave the role without any ramifications, ie hand in my notice similar to a PAYE job?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

[richard]

As a freelancer you are usually being engaged as a company (even if just a company of one) for services, rather than being employed as an individual to undertake work. For this reason you should be able to swap yourself out for someone else if you need to - which would mean that you could get someone else to cover you for the time you are at the interview.

 

If you did the above it would be up to you (and at your expense) to ensure that this person is fully briefed and suitably qualified for the work.

 

However, it appears this may not be what you want - you are suggesting that you want to pull out of the contract. So the question here is what sort of contract do you have? Have you actually signed anything - if so this should contain some form of break notice, or do you just have emails offering you the work.

 

Usually if you do pull out there is little that the other party can do other than not pay you, if you give them sufficient notice to find a replacement then they shouldn't be too bitter, however from what you're saying they sound quite disorganised so they may find it harder. You should bear in mind that if you do leave early then you might find you get a reputation for not coming through on work so you might want to consider that carefully.

[saminizzle]

Thanks for this,

 

As a freelancer of 10 years experience I have NEVER been in this situation before (hence the post) and as such fell I have a very good reputation in the industry so I'm not too concerned about getting a bad rep.

 

I'm going to look into the replacement.

 

I was concerned that id have a Christmas legal issue to deal with!!

[Brian]

Are you really a freelancer? Given that there is no such thing (in law anyway)?

 

Is your 'employer' deducting PAYE and NI? Or do you issue an invoice which is paid gross? If the former, then you are an employee, albeit a temporary one, and could in theory simply hand in your notice.

[saminizzle]

Thanks for this,

 

As a freelancer of 10 years experience I have NEVER been in this situation before (hence the post) and as such fell I have a very good reputation in the industry so I'm not too concerned about getting a bad rep.

 

I'm going to look into the replacement.

 

I was concerned that id have a Christmas legal issue to deal with!!

 

I am not being paid PAYE I will be making all tax contributions.

[slipstream]

Where are you - I'm sure one of the crew here could busk a gig for a night without too much difficulty if the cues are set and script plotted

[Junior8]

Be careful - as Richard says it all depends on what sort of contract you have. Also the client may well be disorgansied but I have found in the past that this makes no automatic difference to how awkward they can be if it suits them. If you do put a dep in you really ought to tell them, and why too - no matter what you think of them. It puts you in the right.