#FairnessFirst: Freelancers, are you getting paid enough and on time?

Freelancing is a career move many aspire to, yet others fear. It means the freedom of working from home, or from a coffee shop, or anywhere with Wi-Fi, really.

It means working when inspiration strikes, around set office hours. It also means isolation, self-doubt and undercharging for your services. And freelancers aren’t exactly rolling in the money.

Laura Rawden, then-chair of the South African Freelancers’ Association or Safrea explained last year:

The average earning of a freelancer in South Africa just doesn’t match up even to the baseline wage of the average worker in the country. Freelancers are earning in the vicinity of R10k a month, whereas for the average South African employee it is at just over R18k.

In fact, just last week, News24 reported that local arts and fashion writer Malibongwe Tyilo vented on Instagram about German publishing house, Gestalten, which allegedly failed to pay him for his contribution to a chapter on African fashion in their book, Africa Rising, over two years ago:

View this post on Instagram

Typically, I prefer to deal to with serious drama privately and not on social media, but hopefully this will be a cautionary tale for another writer. Over two years ago I contributed a chapter on African Fashion to this book by German publisher @gestalten, and two years later I'm still fighting to be paid as per our contract, and the book is still on sale at bookshops and online. It is ridiculous that the people behind a book that claims to celebrate African creativity refuse to pay for the very African creativity that makes the book possible. I've certainly learnt my lesson: while there's nothing wrong with collaborating globally across borders, we have every right to tell our stories and assert ourselves wherever we wish, but we must watch out for these people that come thru claiming to be about us, but actually continue the same old culture of extracting from and exploiting Africans, with no intention of fair exchange. Shame on you @gestalten

A post shared by Malibongwe Tyilo (@malibongwe) on Oct 8, 2018 at 3:03am PDT

How much to charge for freelance work

Last week, independent public relations consultant Marisa Louw of eMlo Communications shared the following to Facebook:

It highlighted the fact that many still aren’t sure what to pay for freelance work done on a per project basis.

The client is often wary about paying a deposit upfront as you haven’t yet produced any work, but the freelancer often struggles for months after to secure payment once the project is complete.

It’s a real catch-22.

How to get paid for the work you’ve done

That’s where the Gentle Reminders Club comes in.

Similar to the Hello Peter customer service ratings of red angry face and green happy face, founder Scott Cundill explains that Gentle Reminders Club is using emoji ratings to encourage businesses to quickly pay their invoices. Unlike Hello Peter, joining Gentle Reminders Club is free...

Instead of constantly hounding the accounts department for money, the Club sends out weekly letters, notifying both parties that their public rating, which is broadcast on their website, is happy, grumpy or indifferent. The system effectively speeds up the collections process in a gentle and mostly, uplifting way.

The creditor registers, chooses a letter template from the various options available and The Gentle Reminders Club sends it off to the debtor. Only the creditor can then change their emoji status and the payment status, which are publically reflected on the website.

If you’re a freelancer, join the Gentle Reminders Club and Safrea. Click here for Safrea’s tips on how much to charge for freelance work.