Q. How do I ensure that I am not part and parcel of the client organisation?
A. It is essential that a contractor is clearly independent of the clients orgainsation. A contractor should not be on any internal lists or have business cards with the clients company name on them.
A contractor should not be entitled to any employee benefits such as holiday pay, sick pay, overtime or performance bonuses. The use of staff only facilities should also be avoided (i.e. gyms).
It is important that a contractor does not have to report to any members of the clients hierarchy, they should only liaise with members of the clients staff over the provision of the services.
It is also important that a contractor does not have any line management duties. It is vital that a contractor is not involved in performance reviews, salary reviews or any disciplinary and grievance hearings.
The contractor should at all times be clearly identifiable as independent and not treated the same as employees of the clients hierarchy.
Having been a contractor for many years, I cannot remember a single assignment when I have NOT had to report to a member of the client’s hierarchy.
Yeah, they’ve also missed some bits out: You will also need to:
1) You can’t park the same street.
2) Do bring your own desk and chair.
3) You should bring your own laptop and hack it into their LAN (they won’t mind).
4) Wear platform shoes, luminous orange vest and hard hat with a flashing beacon.
5) Avoid the main/employee entrance.
6) Walk in via the loading bay.
7) Do bring own sandwiches, flask and personal air supply.
8) Avoid company corridors and carpets, just climb in and out of the windows.
9) Stand on one leg in the smoking bay
10) Bring your own bog roll and sh** outside.
11) Ignore all company staff in case they think you are reporting to them.
12) Sign on unemployed – that way you can’t be working for them can you?
Hi Glyn,
To what extent do you report to a member of the clients hierachy? Has a member of the clients organisation acted as your line manager? Or are have they merely just been a contact that you liaise with throughout the provision of the services?