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I think you need to have a straightforward talk with whoever hired you and set up the terms. Say something like “I’m contracted for 2 hours a day. Therefore I can be available from 10am - 12pm [or whatever hours] daily. I have other commitments I’ll be taking care of outside of that time. If you’d like to move to a day rate instead and have me available all day, I’d be happy to discuss that.”
Run away from that company.
It’s only legal if you agree to it. Put your foot down.
If they’re holding me for 8 hrs a day then they’re paying me for 8 hrs a day. Period.
Pro
That isn’t normal for freelance in advertising, especially in NYC. If you’re expected to be “on call” 9–5, that’s functionally an “employee” schedule and you should either have a day rate or weekly retainer that covers your guaranteed availability, not just the active hours you work.
Freelancers bill for time worked or for guaranteed access to their time.
No way
Only take day rates.
Ah I get that. I guess it depends how good your day rate is.
There is something going on in the industry where agencies have severely limited hours on freelancers for many projects. The expectation that we should get everything done with a lot less hours is BS. It can be done but you’re not going to get quality work from that type of structure. And they also forget that KO meetings, research time, creative think time, internal presentations take up time as well. Say we are given only 10 hours for a concepting project. The KO is 1 hour. Ok, now the creative team Zoom/chat time takes about 2 rounds about 3-4 hours. Then there’s the first presentation which is about 1 hour or more. Then there’s the constant email and text back and forth with your partner or core team. So now we are left with 3 hours to assemble well-thought out ideas that are supposed to be campaign busters and set the tone for the industry.
There’s something very wrong here.
For reference, I’ve never specifically been told I have to work 9-5pm - it’s more implied. I have internal calls throughout the day that I’m expected to attend.
Then stop working for that company. You’re not only being unfair to yourself for giving them free work but you’re setting a precedent for future employees. Tell them you terms that 2 hours a day is not going to cut being expected to attend meetings whenever they like.
And you should be billing for all those meetings anyway. Billing does not only happen when you get on your computer and work. Phone/zoom calls, research, KO meetings, internal presentations are billable.
Dude what
It depends…
Small agency that *respectfully* requests flexibility in your time available and for you only to charge for time worked (because they simply can’t afford to pay more)? Up to you. Personal choice if you enjoy working for them and see potential. But don’t limit your potential earnings from other projects because the agency is limited.
Bigger agency that is demanding it? F no. Boundaries.
#Selfrespect