Mary Williams Edgar, the moderator of reports on the psychology of freelancing and self-employment
	Busy, very busy...

Mary first started freelancing, as an independent contractor, in the early 1980s. Prior to that she was on short term staff contracts. She looks back to the time when freelances were regarded with suspicion by permanently employed staff. In fact - what's changed? But where exactly is the grass greenest?

I first began life as a freelance in the broadcast television industry in the early 1980s. In those days freelancing was looked upon as a testament to a successful career. My union had negotiated a twenty five per cent basic uplift in fees over the staff rate for the job. This was to take into consideration the lack of benefits for the freelance - job insecurity, no sick leave, no pension rights. There were holiday entitlements, usually carefully specified in the contract, and those usually ended up being taken as payments in lieu. It was a busy life.

You were always advised to build up a reputation for your skills on permanent contract, before making the leap to freelancing. So when you did pluck up the courage to make that leap, your colleagues would generally regard your reputation as well-established. There was personal and career kudos in freelancing. You could move from company to company - not have to get involved in internal politics, and you were generally treated with more respect than comparable staff - just because they were the more familiar animals. You were never there long enough to be treated with the disdain accorded to the familiar.

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As a director I always preferred working with freelances. Freelance cameramen, for example, would push that much more to get the shots you wanted. If you're freelance, your next job depends on it. The lack of security meant you just worked harder. To be honest, some staff were so secure that they seemed to be just hanging around to get the pension. As long as their work was passable, their position was secure.

On my first freelance contract as a director I was given a space in the company car park. Several female staff came to seek me out. 'We heard there was a woman freelance director in the building!' I had arrived.

But then the climate changed. While re-engineering and downsizing became the buzz words in business management, television discovered multi-skilling. In-house staff training programmes which equipped you to establish expertise disappeared in favour of schemes for taking on college leavers with little experience, for little and often no money. Suddenly, it was out of the warm bath into the cold rat race in which other freelancers competed not only on the basis of their skills, but on what terms and conditions they were willing to accept.

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Contracts began to change. There was a time when contracts were viewed as a simple securing of your basic (mainly favourable) terms and conditions. Now they began to use phrases like 'buyout'. This usually meant that to get the contract you had to agree to work any hours requested, often at short or no notice, and with frequently no extra remuneration for that work. In the new climate, people signed.

I signed several contracts at this time which included the statement that I would waive all moral rights over my work. I thought at the time that this must mean that I couldn't refuse to work on subject matter which I found offensive. I didn't know it was about giving total rights to my work to the main contractor. I still signed. When you work as a freelance director you rarely meet another director on the same programme. And when you do, everyone is so concerned to appear well-paid and busy that discussing worrying terms and conditions, least of all poor rates of pay, would be unthinkable. How many self-confessedly underemployed and underpaid consultants have you met recently?

I also signed contracts that said that the employer owned all rights to any work I did during the contract period - even in my time off. I questioned that one, to be assured that 'it didn't really mean that, precisely'. But it does.

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That was all a good few years ago now. But it was the beginning of the new working climate. A climate in which I, like many others, feel so insecure about work prospects that I dread having to quote my rates. What if it's too high, and I don't get the work? What if it's too low, and I identify myself as not worth having? And I'm sure it's not only me who feels like this. There can't in reality be that many well-paid and over-employed 'consultants' around.

And now contracts commonly have restrictive clauses that stop you taking work in the same area for (usually) two years after the end of the contract. That might not affect me. In my work content is the main material. And content changes from programme to programme. But what if I designed computer games? On paper the ramifications are horrifying.

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This is a bleak article. In fact most of the articles at the beginnings of are the same. They say - 'stay in permanent employment, with legal rights and job security - it's cold outside'. But we all know that, even if, professionally, we are reluctant to say it. And yet our experience is set to be the future of work.

But there are ways to combat the bleakness. Ways of negotiating contracts and agreeing terms and conditions which can strengthen the position of the independent contractor. But they depend on sharing knowledge and experience and ending the awful conspiracy of silence that weakens the independent's position.

Marc Belanger has made a start with discussing how unions might address the new climate of work. Jeremy Solomons' second article workers have choices in defending their rights is beginning to address what the independent contractor can do to fight back. And John Salmon's contracts workshop points towards demystifying the whole situation. As a contractor you don't always have to submit to what Rory McPherson describes as The Power of the Economic Bully.

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As gains momentum we are going to work towards developing a best practice contract for freelances and independent contractors.

We are going to throw into the ring our collective positive experiences so that next time you have to decide what you want from a piece of work you don't have to feel disempowered by your isolation. But we need also to share our worst (and best) experiences, so we can develop strategies to counteract the negative side of being a freelance or independent contractor.

to share your own concerns.

As a start, I am inviting you to send extracts from your own contracts. What are the worst clauses you have felt forced to sign up to, just to secure the job? As progresses towards the best practice model contract we will attempt to answer your worst fears first. A sound psychological principle.

Send your contract nightmares to mail@criticalpath.co.uk

We won't publish any personal details you wish withheld - as our articles suggest, the vindictive employer is not an unknown phenomenon. But we have to start talking to one another....next...

Mary Williams Edgar is the moderator of and can be contacted at mary@criticalpath.co.uk