Disadvantages of being a contractor sometimes....

[psychocandy]

Really hit home recently when wife has been ill in hospital the last week.

I'm lucky that my gig is close to home, and client have been pretty good. 10 mins away from hospital so its been possible to pop back and forth. 20 mins from home so its been possible, just about, to sort out childcare.

But, she's been ill for a month or two now and I'm starting to get the feeling that they're getting a little tired of having to be flexible. Fair enough - they've got a business to run and, as a contractor, I'm a resource, not a permie who they have to look after.

Would be much worse, of course, if I was away from home working etc. Probably would have cost me a lot of missed days.

Thats the thing if this had happened as permie - leave days, free days at managers discretion etc.

Oh well, one advantage, of course, though was that paying for a private consultation wasn't an issue. (dont get me started on how crap the NHS are!)

Not going to help for wifes current condition (existing illnesses and all that) but, recent experiences have been a very good advert for private heath insurance (signed up yesterday). Something else I bet a lot of us dont bother with that we might have got as permies....

Not going to get me or my kids into that tulipehole NHS hospital....

[Troll]

Not going to get me or my kids into that tulipehole NHS hospital....

How did your kids come into this world - tulipehole NHS hospital or private?

[Ketchup]

Really hit home recently when wife has been ill in hospital the last week.

I'm lucky that my gig is close to home, and client have been pretty good. 10 mins away from hospital so its been possible to pop back and forth. 20 mins from home so its been possible, just about, to sort out childcare.

But, she's been ill for a month or two now and I'm starting to get the feeling that they're getting a little tired of having to be flexible. Fair enough - they've got a business to run and, as a contractor, I'm a resource, not a permie who they have to look after.

Would be much worse, of course, if I was away from home working etc. Probably would have cost me a lot of missed days.

Thats the thing if this had happened as permie - leave days, free days at managers discretion etc.

Oh well, one advantage, of course, though was that paying for a private consultation wasn't an issue. (dont get me started on how crap the NHS are!)

Not going to help for wifes current condition (existing illnesses and all that) but, recent experiences have been a very good advert for private heath insurance (signed up yesterday). Something else I bet a lot of us dont bother with that we might have got as permies....

Not going to get me or my kids into that tulipehole NHS hospital....

Sorry to hear about that and hope your wife gets better soon.

But being a contractor would allow you to take x-months off to look after her if required.

[psychocandy]

How did your kids come into this world - tulipehole NHS hospital or private?

True enough. But doing one thing adequately does not excuse subsequent sub-standard performance.

Thats the problem with the NHS. No accountability. They do some things right admitedly but a lot of things wrong.

[psychocandy]

Sorry to hear about that and hope your wife gets better soon.

But being a contractor would allow you to take x-months off to look after her if required.

Of course, all depends on each persons individual financial circumstances. I agree with you though that, generally, financially we're all better off than permies.

But like I said, permies can take leave, blag a few days off at managers discretion. Contractors generally can't.

But, just to keep NLUK happy because he seems to think I'm always moaning about my client - client have been pretty good about it to be fair. And like I said, lucky that my client is fairly local and I've been able to bill for most days. If I was going the mon-fri thing then I'd have had to can that for the last few months.

[original PM]

True enough. But doing one thing adequately does not excuse subsequent sub-standard performance.

Thats the problem with the NHS. No accountability. They do some things right admitedly but a lot of things wrong.

actually they do a huge amount of things right and very few things wrong...

problem is when they get it wrong the consequences can be quite serious

hope your missus gets well soon.

[MyUserName]

True enough. But doing one thing adequately does not excuse subsequent sub-standard performance.

Thats the problem with the NHS. No accountability. They do some things right admitedly but a lot of things wrong.

You're lucky. With my daughter they almost killed her and my wife and with my son they messed up their paperwork and sent her home several days early but they were so negligent in their care that when they realised she refused to go back.

[d000hg]

But being a contractor would allow you to take x-months off to look after her if required.

IF you have already got to the point of having a warchest... the whole point of a warchest is sometimes you spend it!

Also, you might be able to take time off. But time off AND a lot of expensive private treatment is a different story... even the wealthiest of us could start to get worried how fast the money disappears.

[SandyD]

Oh well, one advantage, of course, though was that paying for a private consultation wasn't an issue. (dont get me started on how crap the NHS are!)

.

Not at all, most permies have a free private medical insurance - all covered even existing illnesses.

When I went contracting first thing I did is to sign up for a private medical myself.

[d000hg]

Not at all, most permies have a free private medical insurance - all covered even existing illnesses.

No they don't. Perhaps on your planet, or in the USA.