5 ms·

I'm a contractor, and I do pretty well. I bill by the day or by the hour. Client's choice. I even round down to the nearest even hour each day so I don't ever

I'm a contractor, and I do pretty well. I bill by the day or by the hour. Client's choice. I even round down to the nearest even hour each day so I don't ever have to have that icky feeling of "did I really bill them right this week?" which would just distract me. When I work 14 hours in a row, that's what I bill. If I'm in the zone I push it till I fall over. It's worth it for the client. If I'm having an off day, I go home early and bill 4 or 6 hours. If I'm billing by the day, I just bill by the day. Whether it's 14 hours of working or 4, it evens out and if I'm unsure, I'll bill half a day. The important part is that the work gets done. And if I work a Saturday, you bet it's billed. Now, why do I say all of this? Because when it comes to time off I vastly prefer my situation. Sick for months? I'm not worrying about whether my PTO qualifies or whatever. I just don't get paid. This has happened recently and when I was healthy again my clients were happy I was able to help again. This weird sorta dance around time off (sick days, PTO, government holidays, dealing with a manager under pressure for the quarter, etc) makes a bit of sense for the working poor, but I don't understand why so many software developers bother. Just bill what you work and if you want a day, week, or month off take it. I'm sure if more developers asked to work this way large corps would be happy to accommodate them.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
ipaddr 5y ago
That sounds like your situation but not general advice. Mortgages are required to be paid monthly a sudden loss of income would hit many hard.
- KptMarchewa 5y ago
  Obviously for this stuff to be workable you need to way more than what's needed to cover living expenses and have long term savings.
- mindslight 5y ago
  If you want to retain your freedom, don't sign yourself up for overwhelming debt.
josefx 5y ago
> I'm sure if more developers asked to work this way large corps would be happy to accommodate them. Oh, yes the penny pincers in accounting will just love the fact that their budget calculations for the next year will entirely consist of statements like "whatever our 1000 code monkeys feel like working even if it exceeds the amount you are willing to pay if they get into 'the zone', best case you wont have to pay them at all because none showed up".
- 3pt14159 5y ago
  I'm not saying your comment was in bad faith, but if you have a thousand developers working for you I'm pretty sure the law of large numbers brackets your outlay.
  - josefx 5y ago
    But setting a fixed amount and accounting for the few unavoidable out layers brackets it even more.
nickff 5y ago
It sounds like you're someone who is comfortable in dealing with uncertainty. I think most people desire certainty and stability, so they want employers and the government to 'guarantee it' (even when the guarantee is illusory).
nkohari 5y ago
I hear this, but when I was a consultant, I found it difficult to take any time off. When I took time off, I wasn't billing, and when I wasn't billing I was leaving money on the table.
lmm 5y ago
The whole point of being an employee rather than a contractor is to have a stable income and not run the risk of e.g. suddenly having no money because you're sick for months. (Speaking as a European who would expect legally protected sick pay as a matter of course)
HWR_14 5y ago
> Sick for months? I'm not worrying about whether my PTO qualifies or whatever. I just don't get paid. How is that different from quitting or taking an unpaid sabbatical and hoping the job still exists? I mean, your clients may have found a new contractor in those months.
flurdy 5y ago
I am a contractor/consultant, and I do occasionally consider going back to permanent employment. What stops me every time is the dread of returning to just 25 days off. I don't do much dynamic hours like above as I work with/manage others but I do take 40ish days off a year. 2 weeks at Christmas and Easter, 3 in the summer, and 3-5 days off for some of the kids half term holidays. I prefer just informing the clients when I am unavailable and that is it. Never had an issue since going solo 9 years ago. There are many downsides to being a contractor, but time off is an upside, if you can afford it.
- 3pt14159 5y ago
  Exactly. I hadn't even considered kids because I'm childless. I imagine it would be so much fun to actually spend some real quality time with them in the summer or during the holidays.
- grepfru_it 5y ago
  What would happen if you negotiate leave as part of your employment?

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

ipaddr 5y ago

That sounds like your situation but not general advice. Mortgages are required to be paid monthly a sudden loss of income would hit many hard.

KptMarchewa 5y ago
Obviously for this stuff to be workable you need to way more than what's needed to cover living expenses and have long term savings.
mindslight 5y ago
If you want to retain your freedom, don't sign yourself up for overwhelming debt.

josefx 5y ago

> I'm sure if more developers asked to work this way large corps would be happy to accommodate them. Oh, yes the penny pincers in accounting will just love the fact that their budget calculations for the next year will entirely consist of statements like "whatever our 1000 code monkeys feel like working even if it exceeds the amount you are willing to pay if they get into 'the zone', best case you wont have to pay them at all because none showed up".

3pt14159 5y ago
I'm not saying your comment was in bad faith, but if you have a thousand developers working for you I'm pretty sure the law of large numbers brackets your outlay.
- josefx 5y ago
  But setting a fixed amount and accounting for the few unavoidable out layers brackets it even more.

nickff 5y ago

It sounds like you're someone who is comfortable in dealing with uncertainty. I think most people desire certainty and stability, so they want employers and the government to 'guarantee it' (even when the guarantee is illusory).

nkohari 5y ago

I hear this, but when I was a consultant, I found it difficult to take any time off. When I took time off, I wasn't billing, and when I wasn't billing I was leaving money on the table.

lmm 5y ago

The whole point of being an employee rather than a contractor is to have a stable income and not run the risk of e.g. suddenly having no money because you're sick for months. (Speaking as a European who would expect legally protected sick pay as a matter of course)

HWR_14 5y ago

> Sick for months? I'm not worrying about whether my PTO qualifies or whatever. I just don't get paid. How is that different from quitting or taking an unpaid sabbatical and hoping the job still exists? I mean, your clients may have found a new contractor in those months.

flurdy 5y ago

I am a contractor/consultant, and I do occasionally consider going back to permanent employment. What stops me every time is the dread of returning to just 25 days off. I don't do much dynamic hours like above as I work with/manage others but I do take 40ish days off a year. 2 weeks at Christmas and Easter, 3 in the summer, and 3-5 days off for some of the kids half term holidays. I prefer just informing the clients when I am unavailable and that is it. Never had an issue since going solo 9 years ago. There are many downsides to being a contractor, but time off is an upside, if you can afford it.

3pt14159 5y ago
Exactly. I hadn't even considered kids because I'm childless. I imagine it would be so much fun to actually spend some real quality time with them in the summer or during the holidays.
grepfru_it 5y ago
What would happen if you negotiate leave as part of your employment?