I don't usually write anything political, and I'm not starting now, but I have to note something to make a point. This from Wednesday's Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), quoting The Guardian:
"At PMQs Boris Johnson said that there were “500,000 more people in paid employment now than when the pandemic began”. Not only is this untrue, according to Full Fact, the fact checking website, Johnson has now stated this falsehood 10 times in parliament.
"According to ONS figures, there were 33,073,000 people in work between December 2019 and February 2020 - before the pandemic. The most recent figures, covering December 2021 to February 2022, show 32,485,000 people in paid employment - almost 600,000 people [fewer] than before the pandemic."
According to Full Fact, who covered this when he made the claim for the ninth time, the half a million figure, is for people on payrolls; however, according to Full Fact there are 800,000 fewer people self-employed, which I think gives you an idea of how perilous it is at the moment.
As someone in this perilous state — I have been freelance for most of the past 35 years — I can tell you that the main cause of freelancer going under is late payments. A recent study from Barclays bank said that most small businesses are being impacted by late payments from clients. I can say that I'm definitely in that category. Liz Barclay (no relation), the government's Small Businesses Commissioner was recently quoted as saying: "“Repeated delays and excuses, and extended payment terms of 90/120 and even 360 days are common. Uncertainty kills small and micro businesses as well as freelancers and sole traders."
I have seven invoices outstanding for recent work with two companies, one from January for work done in 2021 for a book that came out in March.
Here are a few more stats: "75% of the self-employed say late payments have caused them concern, with 45% saying it creates significant stress or worry and 65% say that having to chase those late payments causes additional stress.
"Chasing late payments takes up an average of 20 days a year for freelancers (IPSE, 2019). 26% of SME business owners stress about late payments even when they are not at work (Pay UK 2019) with 21% of freelancers spending time while on holiday chasing late payment (IPSE 2019)."
Last quote: "17% say that payment delays undermine their own confidence in their ability to run a business and 16% worry about the issue every working day. 66% report that late payments make running a business less enjoyable with one in ten business owners considering professional support to help with their anxieties over being paid late. (Pay UK)"
I can say in all honesty that I've lived with the uncertainty for a long time, but for the most part I enjoy what I do. There are disappointments along the way when a book doesn't do as well as I'd hoped, and I do find it frustrating that some projects fall by the wayside or are delayed for ages while I try and sort out my finances. But late payment is the biggest frustration of all. If I have been given a deadline and got the work in on time, why can't the client have the courtesy to make sure that I get paid in a timely fashion.
On Thursday I was told that my January invoice will be paid next week. We shall see.
I know exactly whereof you speak. When I first started freelancing for IPC, my invoices were sent for processing on receipt of the work (acceptance). This normally took around 10 days, sometimes only a week (if I remember correctly) - certainly never more than a fortnight. When Robert Maxwell bought the IPC Youth Group, freelancers were paid 'on approval', which meant that invoices weren't sent to the accounts department until editors had time to check out the work. Whatever the reason, payment then took at least 30 days, but usually twice that. What's more, if you submitted 3 or 4 invoices on the same day, you'd be lucky if you were paid for one of them 30 days later, but it wasn't unusual to have to then wait another 30 days for the next payment, etc., etc. A terrible way to run a business.
ReplyDeleteThings have certainly got worse over the years. And it's not the fault of editorial staff, who are the point of contact for freelancers. Thirty years ago, pre-internet banking) I worked for a firm whose boss would sign fifty cheques and then leave the office. If your contributors weren't amongst the lucky fifty selected by the office manager (who might also have electricity and other utility bills to sort out), you'd have to wait until the boss next came in. a week or a fortnight later.
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