Timesheet / billing for general availability in lieu of a current task?

[bigrog]

Hey all,

Newbie here. Hard to articulate this question in the post title, but i'm working for a company remotely as a consultant, where they expect 8.5 hours out of me per day. I start a clock and record time spent on each task, but there are not enough tasks to "fill" the day. Needless to say, I don't fabricate tasks, so I am sometimes ending up with ~4 hours worth of actual "work done" per day.

Now my confusion: I am *still* sitting behind a desk for them, waiting for calls, tasks to drop out of the sky, etc. I'm synchronising my lunch hour with theirs, and general ensure i'm always online. Could I be (should I be?) charging a general availability / "standby" fee?

Many thanks for any advice

rog.

[ladymuck]

Is the time logging on each task a client requirement?

[SimonMac]

Do you log the time taken to log your time on the timesheet anywhere?

[northernladuk]

Time to speak to your client and clarify the situation.

[bigrog]

Is the time logging on each task a client requirement?

Yes - I have to show where the time is being spent.

[bigrog]

Do you log the time taken to log your time on the timesheet anywhere?

That sort of recursion will have me blow through the 8,5 hours in no time - problem solved!

[bigrog]

Time to speak to your client and clarify the situation.

You're right; I should just go straight to them - I guess i'm overly concerned with being scrutinised, as it's a decent rate.

Thanks for your time.

[PerfectStorm]

I made this mistake quite early on in my career thinking that people wanted timesheets completed with laser accuracy.

They don't. It's a finger in the air.

Roughly apportion the proportion of your day up and apply those ratios to the 8 hour day. You'll note that they probably also have told you that 12 hour days are also "8 hour days"

Literally everyone will be doing this, if they do it at all - there will be a great many 'difficult ones' who don't submit at all and you'll look like a A+ student compared to them.

[Lance]

work at half speed.
4 hours becomes 8 hours....


even better. Pretend to work at half speed and get half your day back.

[bigrog]

I made this mistake quite early on in my career thinking that people wanted timesheets completed with laser accuracy.

They don't. It's a finger in the air.

Roughly apportion the proportion of your day up and apply those ratios to the 8 hour day. You'll note that they probably also have told you that 12 hour days are also "8 hour days"

Literally everyone will be doing this, if they do it at all - there will be a great many 'difficult ones' who don't submit at all and you'll look like a A+ student compared to them.

Thank you for your insightful reply. I guess I am looking to be "beyond reproach" if this gets audited. I have a pretty cushty arrangement, and the idea is to milk a cow; not kill it. That's the ethos i'm working to, anyway. Perhaps this is naiive.