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Subject:Re: Was: Bad Employers list From:Dave Whelan <agi259 -at- FREENET -dot- MB -dot- CA> Date:Fri, 2 May 1997 16:54:53 -0500
Joanne Grey aked for a real percentage on the number of no-pay (or
fight-to-get-paid) companies.
In 5 years as a freelance, working mainly for engineering companies, I have
never failed to collect payment due. Although with one client it was touch
and go for a while. I try to work only for reputable companies but a while
back, when work was hard to find, I took on a dubious client out of
necessity. The client was an R&D start-up. They were cash poor because they
were themselves waiting to be paid by their client: a larger, fairly
well-established, software development company. I collected, even though my
client didn't (and went belly-up some time later). The only reason I managed
to get paid was that I timed the project to get most of my money before I
handed over a critical deliverable.
Delayed payments can easily put small companies out of business, but
unfortunately some companies delay payments as a policy. It doesn't always
depend on size: even some large multinational conglomerates have a policy of
delaying payment as long as possible so they can avoid the business cost of
carrying charges. Sometimes you can find out about a company's payment
record by asking around on the local grapevine (or this list). It won't make
them a better payer but if you know what to expect, at least you'll be prepared.
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