Forced to travel

Caelus said:

you get the same rights as perm members of staff after 3 months or so..

All they need to do is not renew JTs contract on its next renewal date (typically every 3 to 6 months if he is a freelancer / contractor. There is no need to justify it legally

Unfortunately this type of role means he is considerd a service or a resource, not a person so he will be dropped if he becomes difficult or inconvenient in spite of his value to them. I've seen it happen on quite a few occassions.

Unless JT as a unique skill set then the chances are there are hundreds of other contractors with his skill set in the market place who won't have his demands so the employer has no duty to renew his contract - they just go through a recruitment process (the agents supplying the contract candidates filter the applicants to a manageable batch), the employer has to spend a day or so doing interviews and then there will be a period while the new hire gets up to speed.

JT said:

I'm thinking about an article to confront this discrimination

As a contractor you have signed away most of your expectation to be given the same protections as an employee and certainly the industry attitude is that they don't want to deal with this sort of headache (of your needs) with contractors.

Legally I very much doubt you will have a leg to stand on and the industry doesn't care about you as you will be seen as well paid for the hassle, even if that has been less of a differential in recent years.

In practical terms I think contractors are treated like a prostitute - we sell out services, get used to do a job and make the customer happy and don't expect to be asked to stay the night and have breakfast made for us.

If that is your expectation then you should be looking to be a permie.

Nothing personal JT, I'm just highlighting what it means to be a contractor from both the employers and contractors side of things.

yeah you get the same rights as perm members of staff after 3 months or so... so they actually do have to make adjustments, they sound like any company who are banking on breaking the laws without you knowing the law or challenging them.

So update; I've been sent. Formal email stating I have to travel to London again or they won't hire me again.

I requested they make appropriate adjustments but their HR team came back and said they don't need to because I'm not a perm member of staff. I've been working there for over 8 years

I'm in shock of how firms are willing to treat people who are loyal and hardworking.

I'm thinking about an article to confront this discrimination

I think you are being a bit paranoid. I don’t think it’s got anything to do with the Tories or any other political party.

What I do is quite specialist so I still rely on London quite a bit for work. I'm trying to pull myself away from it and find some local opportunities but it's tough out there atm

JT said:

Feels like a Tory mandate to me, force people back and we the Tories will give you firm a tax break?

I think you will find this is all driven by the companies themselves. The majority of employees work better in a co-operative environment so this is what employers push for. This applies to NTs and NDs equally so they are being inclusive.

It doesn't suit us but we are a small minority and suffer disproportionately, so the only chance we have is to present out diagnoses, ask for the reasonable adjustment of more work from home time and hope this is accepted.

eesh 4 hours travel.... yeah i wouldnt bother myself with that, i only look for work in a 5 mile radious of where i live so that if my vehicle breaks i can still get a single bus or train, or i can perhaps walk.

4 hours travel, thats what id call holiday distance lol i wouldnt do that for a every day thing...although in america they have a big travel culture so any americans reading this would think im strange as they likely travel thousands of miles just to do their basic grocery shopping

It is.

Being that everyone is different I can't believe cmanies dotn give the option to staff.

At the same time firms talk about inclusivity, ND & NT minds, but then fail to identify variation in anything.

Feels like a Tory mandate to me, force people back and we the Tories will give you firm a tax break?

JT said:

Was it a lottery win or years of if saving that helped that?

It was learning hw to renovate property and make a sequence of 3 profitable house flips over 5 years while holding down a day job.

That and a side line of buying / renovating / selling IT kit from a major office move too.

Basically working 16 hours a day for 5 years give or take.

Hi JT 

I dod know how you feel. 

My work became 100% remote during the pandemic and I took the opportunity to move out of London. The logic, for me, being that 'we don't need to be shackled to an office any more!' I felt so free. The whole company felt so free. 

Over the years now they've started making certain days in-office days and encouraging people back, etc. It hasn't always gone well. People will come back when there is a reason (eg. a free lunch) but otherwise, people want to work from home. That's the end of the story. 

Now my company have made it mandatory for everyone to work 2 days from the office and for higher level employees, 3 days. At this point we're literally losing staff because they won't bend on this rule. 

The clear message is nobody wants to be in the office so forcing people back is bad for everyone. That's before you factor in mental health issues, disability, fatigue, travel problems, cost, etc. 

The whole thing is a nightmare. 

Thats a good idea, if they allow that for freelancers I will see

Good on you for leaving. I'm certainly looking elsewhere atm, hopign something comes up

Dont think they will listen as I am freelance, but I have asked if their policy considers the disabled. I await a response

If only I could afford to retire! I'm pleased you were able to. Was it a lottery win or years of if saving that helped that?

Rhey are basically saying, work here or we will hire other people who will attend

Im considered a PAYE worker, but that is a freelancer today in my industry. It just means they pay less tax I think.

I still have little to no rights as far as I know. Even though I've worked for them for 10 years, I'm relying on loyality from the Creative Director who is a good guy

I effectively retired, not entirely voluntarily, age 38 rather than go back into the rat race and I was only doing a 3 day week in my last job.

JT said:

I don't understand why, given the climate crisis we are in, plus the pivot to home working that was so successful, that companies are requiring staff to commute 100s of miles a week again?

The reason is twofold:

1 - Bosses like to see their minions so they can check they are working - also see if they are struggling so they can help or see if they spend the day messing around in which case they can get that sorted out.

and more importantly

2 - NTs work better collectively. In spite of the moans about meetings being a waste of time etc there is a strong benefit to NTs in collaborative working, socialising and being in a shared working environment.

Much of this goes to the pack / tribe mentaility of humans but the improvements to management are tangible which is why they want to do it.

We are the outcasts by and large - the unsociable ones so we don't like it and actually function better when on our own.

The kicker is that this is seen as a perk to the others - why is JT allowed to work from home when we are not? It's not fair etc statements from the team who don't understand the adaptations that you would need to carry on working from home.

I hope that explains the mechanics behind the decision.

For what its worth I too would have liked to carry on working from home and that is why I retired at age 54 rather than go back into that rat race.

If they're dictating where you work from they're treating you as an employee, not a freelancer, which means they need to start paying you holiday pay and a whole bunch of other expensive things. Ask them if that's really what they want.

If you genuinely are a freelancer doesn’t that mean you can choose how, when, where etc to do your work? Or are you not really a freelancer and should be paid under PAYE?