Do you charge "breaks" ?
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- Louno
So, im doing some photoshop work, extremely boring and tedious, for a client. Not only is it boring but it is extremely long... They need it for Monday so ive worked all weekend on this, which really sucks... I dont know why I said yes but thats another story, it was during a meeting last friday and it was on the spot, I know i should never say yes to anything on the spot but too late...
The thing is, this job sucks so much i find myself taking breaks every hours or so... everytime i finish one "step" i go get myself a rum&coke before going to the next step...
Of course i keep track of all the time im spending on this but, i was wondering should i include some of those breaks in the final price ?
I mean, when you work in an office, breaks are paid, sure youre only allowed 2 or 3 per day but, in my case this works suck so much and has ruined my weekend, if i didnt take any breaks at all maybe i could have done it completely saturday, but thats not the case, with all the breaks ( some are longer than others ) ill be finished in about an hour today ( sunday )... I dont think no one would be able to do this kind of work without taking breaks, they would shoot themselves after a while... I hate everything about this work, the way the client organized the content i need to insert is so stupid, i have to flip through 6 different word document just to do 1 item... argh so much time wasted...
sigh... ok back to work now...
- gentleman0
you dont.
but you make sure the mark up you charge on having to do a rush job and weekending it .. covers it.
- doesnotexist0
yep, ^ don't charge your breaks, but you should have an extra fee for rush/weekend rates.
- Machuse0
bill the breaks. Are they under 20min avg? If so, count it - especially if they help bridge blocks of time.
Whats the difference between 50min per hour spent actually working when your talking 15 hours another hundred dollars? Bill it for being dilligent
- ...or not dne and gentlemen are technically right.
Machuse
- ...or not dne and gentlemen are technically right.
- doesnotexist0
^ this is an odd method and doesn't lend your client to trust you - you always charge for WORK, not thinking time, or breaks. so charge appropriately and if it's the weekend I hope you've discussed a bigger fee.
- by thinking I hope you don't mean thinking about the project. if so you are losing money.silentseven
- If it was Design of course you would charge thinking time.... that's what you are being paid for, to solve problems.Amicus
- Louno0
Well, i didnt mean, should i charge all the breaks i took, just some of them...
The thing is, ive got a special agreement with this client since i get work from them very often we have kind of like a flat rate thing going on, and i feel that if i charge them more by the hour they will not like that as i should have at least mentionned it before because of the rush/weekend thing...
This brings me to another question, what do you consider "rush" ?
Is it 1 week or less for delivery ? 2 weeks ?Id be tempted to put in 3 weeks, because i often get client asking me rush things and if i get 2 or 3 of those at the same time then its freaking hell...
Also does rush fee apply regardless of the job type ? if it takes you 1 hour to do or 2 days to do the job doesnt matter, its how soon you need it ?
- rush for me usually is if I have no time to do it in, or it's the weekend.doesnotexist
- it's a judgement calldoesnotexist
- if you're not working, don't charge breaks. that sounds really weird to me that you're charging for breaks.doesnotexist
- Machuse0
^ not to nitpick - cause you are correct.
But if I took a 10min break or was thinking for 10 min even 15 - most people would usually bill that and not even think of it. Every time you looked up something for 10min or had a problem with your computer for 10 then had to spend 5 min getting back into the swing of things.I doubt you even rembered to not bill the time. So its not dishonest, its just a normal workflow.
15-20+ min might be pushing it . but were humans not machines.
- Nairn0
"Don't charge for thinking time"? I disagree - I wouldn't necessarily charge for each of the hours and hours of idle meandering thought that I put into a project - but I would bill the fair amount of that time which I am actively engaged, as a premium.
Your lawyer wouldn't just charge for the time her pen was put to paper, nor your doctor for the time her stethoscope was upon your chest...
(I'm not saying this lightly - I've wrestled with this question for a while myself)
- i agreeMachuse
- "true work time", this does include thinking, but not resting.doesnotexist
- Louno0
well lawyers and stuff actually might not charge these little things such has breaks and thinking, instead they freaking charge you 120$/hour for each MINUTE they work for you... this mean talking on the phone, faxing a paper etc...
I still have the receipt from the laywer we had to hire... god... im not calling this guy ever again...
- Nairn0
My point exactly, Louno - businesses don't just charge for materials and exact time on the job. They charge for admin, for overheads, for excess and insurance ... for profit.
Just be honest with yourself when you work it out - you want to be able to confidently look your client in the eye and explain to them exactly why you're charging what you are.
Personally, I'd suggest that downing rum and cokes in your breaks isn't exactly conducive to efficiency, but hell - I have to smoke pot after x hours working, so perhaps I should just shut up!
- hmmyeah when i finish this im going to roll a huge one mwheheheLouno
- dMullins0
"if i didnt take any breaks at all maybe i could have done it completely saturday"
You answered your own question. Sounds like you're the one dragging it out.
I think if you're just honest with yourself about the time you spent working on the project, you should be able to come up with a price that satisfies both you and your client.