Re: Charge for Travel Time?

[Suzette Seveny <sseveny -at- PETVALU -dot- COM>]

I have just recently accepted a permanent position, but worked as a
contractor for five years (up until a couple of months ago).  The comments
entered reflected my policy as a contractor.

Amrma Hakohen wrote:
<snip>
> If a contractor works mostly off-site
> should he/she charge for travel time
> to/from the site?
<end snip>

No, I did not charge for travel time within a 50 km radius.  I did, however
charge a minimum of 3 hours time for onsite work.  If I was called in for a
meeting or whatever, and it ended up being less than 3 hours, I charged my
minimum.  That prevented clients from calling me in for trivial matters.

Other associates of mine allow for 30 min. travel each way, and bill full
rate for any time over that.  I didn't like this as much because I didn't
want to penalize companies that were not located close to me, I wouldn't
want that to be a deciding factor for future work considerations.  I played
around with my minimum time, the farther away the company, the greater my
minimum time for onsite, and vice versa.

<snip>
> What if he/she works half onsite,
> half offsite?
<end snip>

Same as above.  I avoided half days because there was no benefit to that
for me, but sometimes worked one or two days onsite per week, and the rest
offisite.  I did not charge for travel in these cases.

<snip>
> Who pays for the learning time?

Welcome to the world of contracting - you do!  But it's probably to your
benefit in the long run.  If the tool is not well used in the market, you
might approach the company for partial payment of your time. It's worth a
shot.
<end snip>