Travelling for client

**JamJarST** · 21 November 2012, 11:32

Originally posted by formant View Post

So, I'm about to start my first contract and will be sent to the US straight away for training. I'll obviously be discussing this with my agent shortly, but thought I'd ask here about what's 'normal' in this circumstance.

I'll be travelling on a Saturday (it's 15hrs travel in total each way) and returning the following Saturday. I'll be in the US office Mon-Fri. Can I expect to be able to charge a full day for travel days? What about the Sunday, when I'm abroad but not working? What have you done in this sort of situation?

Thanks!

What did you agree with the client when you discussed this trip with him? You did discuss it with him didn't you?

**Willapp** · 21 November 2012, 11:32

Judging from other threads, some people have charged travel costs on the basis of each 8 hour period representing one "business day", so your 15 hours of travel is pretty much 2 business days and you could therefore bill 2 * [your daily rate].

The Sunday I would say isn't billable since you won't be working and therefore free to sightsee/rest as you please. The usual working week is billable as normal and the same as above for the return trip.

Ultimately it comes down to what is agreed with the agency/client though and it's best to have an agreement upfront than surprise them with a huge bill after the fact.

**jmo21** · 21 November 2012, 11:33

I'm assuming you have checked your contract, and none of this is mentioned in there.

Hence, it is up for grabs, but get it sorted BEFORE you go.

I'd expect to be paid for travel days either side.

The Sunday is a bit different, but presumably you are going on the Saturday so you are not having to arrive late Sunday night and suffer from jetlag.

It wouldn't surprise me if if you get major push back from the client about billing those days however.

Coming back to the old "how they see you" debate, your manager (sorry NLUK, client co contact person) will just expect you to do what a permie would do and go, not kick up a fuss, and he would not have to worry about paying you extra days.

**Scoi** · 21 November 2012, 11:35

Training as a contractor? This sounds very suspect regarding IR35.

My current contract has had 3 trips.

UK based needed me to travel Sunday night. I booked 3 hours whilst travelling, they got the dinner tab and hotel bill and didn't charge them for the night away.

2 x Foreign trip needed a Sunday 12 hour flight (left house at 5pm + 1 hour car + 2 hours at the airport. Invoiced a day. Landed on the Monday afternoon and checked into hotel. Another day. Landed back at LHR 7am Saturday. Another day invoiced. So i was away for half of Sunday and half on Saturday + jetlag = 2 extra days invoiced but only worked for 3.5 days.

I'm sure you could argue that every hour not spent in your house or a hotel is bookable but I don't want to be seen as a greedy contractor when the renewal date is approaching.

I now have a travel policy that I give to clientco should they want me to travel for them.

**formant** · 21 November 2012, 11:36

Originally posted by JamJarST View Post

What did you agree with the client when you discussed this trip with him? You did discuss it with him didn't you?

I haven't had direct contact with the client since my interview. Aside from picking up my IT equipment, I won't be in the UK office before the trip, so all comms are going through my agency at the moment.

I do know that the trip is 'all expenses paid' otherwise, which is what mattered most to me. Just want to know what to expect. I'm used to travelling similar distances as a permie with at most a day off in lieu or maybe at a push 4hrs paid overtime.

**northernladuk** · 21 November 2012, 11:38

You're not pregnant and going to tell the client after you get per chance???

**formant** · 21 November 2012, 11:38

Originally posted by Willapp View Post

Judging from other threads, some people have charged travel costs on the basis of each 8 hour period representing one "business day", so your 15 hours of travel is pretty much 2 business days and you could therefore bill 2 * [your daily rate].

The Sunday I would say isn't billable since you won't be working and therefore free to sightsee/rest as you please. The usual working week is billable as normal and the same as above for the return trip.

Ultimately it comes down to what is agreed with the agency/client though and it's best to have an agreement upfront than surprise them with a huge bill after the fact.

Makes sense, cheers. As I said, I'll discuss all this with agency prior to departure. As I'm essentially starting my contract with this trip, I won't have client contact before I leave to discuss it directly with them.

**formant** · 21 November 2012, 11:39

Originally posted by northernladuk View Post

You're not pregnant and going to tell the client after you get per chance???

I think that thread was closed for a reason.

**Willapp** · 21 November 2012, 11:39

Originally posted by jmo21 View Post

It wouldn't surprise me if if you get major push back from the client about billing those days however.

Agreed. I think from the client's perspective if I was paying a contractor's daily rate on top of the cost of flights, I would expect the contractor to be working during the flight and if this isn't practical (i.e. it's a new contract so you don't have any work to do yet) I would probably not want to pay the full rate either. Perhaps in this situation you could negotiate one day's rate instead of two as a compromise.

I guess there are two ways of looking at it: #1 you're a business and they're requiring you to travel to the US for training so they should pick up the tab for everything including your rate. Or #2 you try and find some middle ground to keep them happy (as it's the start of a new contract) and providing they're paying business class perhaps agree not to charge your rate while travelling?

Really it's whatever you can agree with the client though, and you could always refuse to travel if they don't pay what you want, but in that case I wouldn't expect them to keep you for very long...

Travelling for client