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For most of my working life I was a Contractor. Meaning I wasn't a full-time employee of any company, but rather, hired myself out to any company that may want my services for a stated period - usually 6 months or more.

I was in the Computer Software industry, so contracts were easy to come by.

This rule - reflects a Contractor mentality........ which I'd describe as:

	Pay me a Gross amount - I'll handle Social Security, Insurance, Holidays, Pension, Tax and other deductions.
	I am selling you, my time, and for me, any given hour, is no different from any other (this is my personal feeling - other contractors wouldn't agree) - so I charge you $ X per hour, regardless of whether the hour is a Saturday, Sunday, Public Holiday, middle of the night etc...

What a lot of employers do is to tell you:

	At interview time - what duties you will perform and what a great company this is
	Just before contract signing time - what the remuneration will be - e.g. $ 2,000 per month
	During the first few working weeks - that they've noticed you leave work around 18:00, whereas older employees always stay until 19:00 or beyond
	That you are expected to come in to work every other Saturday morning
	That you don't get overtime pay for the Saturday work
	That there is no overtime pay - even for Public holidays
	That you are encouraged to take your Holidays
	But when you request 3 days off next week - sorry its a very bad time, so you cannot have that time off
	That the end of the holiday year is fast approaching and any untaken holidays will be lost/forfeit

Recognise that companies will screw you, so get contractual terms and conditions in writing, before starting work - and make sure you get paid for every hour you work - otherwise you will become depressed/dissatisfied - and that's no good for anyone!

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Last update - May 20, 2009 - email to djmikecurley@gmail.com