how do you structure a temp-to-perm contract?

[Liza Boyd <elizabethxyboyd -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

Hoping for a little advice from my more seasoned
colleagues on how to structure a two-month
temp-to-perm contract.

A small/medium start-up wants to take me on for 60
days and then perhaps hire me FT. (For various
reasons, they don't want to commit to a FT tech
writer right now, even though they know essentially
need one.)

In the meantime, the specific deliverables are
undefined. As the only tech writer, I will essentially
function as if they'd hired me as a regular employee
-- I will scope out their documentation needs, develop
a documentation plan, start working on whatever pieces
get the OK, and do whatever other tech writing needs
come up in the meantime.

=> How would you structure the terms of this contract,
where the deliverables are so unclear, so that both
sides have clear and mutually satisfactory
expectations about what work will be accomplished?

=> How do you convert from a salary into an hourly
contracting rate. Eg: if normally I would earn
$50K/year for this job as a FTE, what hourly rate do I
charge as a contractor?

=> What do you do about stock options? If I later get
hired as a FTE, presumably I will get stock options.
Should I be penalized now for the fact that they're
not ready to commit to FT, or can I write terms into
the contract, such as, if I do get hired, the vesting
period for any options is the start date of the
contracting period, OR should I ask for pro-rated
options now?

Thank you in advance,
Liza



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