Hey there, I am Bilal Afridi today I will discuss freelancers’ rights.Working as a freelancer brings you a magnificent amount of freedom. From choosing your timings to preferring your clients, you have to decide it out all by yourself. However, since no organization is serving as a middle-man, it sometimes becomes difficult to draw boundaries and to know what you deserve as a freelancer. This is more challenging to do if you are a beginner. Though top freelancing websites provide their users with a set of guidelines to follow, it still takes a bit of time to get accustomed to them and to comprehend them completely.
In this article, we will take you through some of your rights as a freelancer that you need to understand before signing up for any kind of freelance work:
Act Like An Owner:
You are not working under any boss while doing freelancing. Your client must know it beforehand that you will manage as an owner of the project and not as his employee. The client needs to be respectful in all his communications. There is no way he can manipulate you like a boss who treats his employees terribly in a 9-5 job.
Rate Decision:
You will be the one determining your charges. Do not let the client decide this. You know your value and your skill’s expertise level more than him. You can negotiate and reach a mutual settlement, but remember your expertise level while doing so.
Sample Provision:
It is all right if your client is asking for a particular sample to test your skill level. This helps in determining if you both are a good fit. However, if the sample is unpaid, it needs to be of 100-200 words in case of content writing, a single design in case of graphic designing and so on. If your client is asking for more, that is an alert of scam.
Deadlines:
Usually, the client provides you with this. However, they need to be flexible and humanly. There is no way you can produce 6000 words in an hour, right? So you should not commit to such deadlines too. If you find deadlines to be rigid, talk to your client and let him know. As a freelancer, it is your ultimate right.
Clear Communication:
As a freelancer, it is your absolute right to know every minor detail of the project which you are signing up for. For example, if you are designing a logo, you should know the color preferences of your client. If he did not mention it to you, you can request him. There is nothing wrong with it. Open communication will produce a better result.
Communication timings:
Yes, it is important to have clear communication. No, it is not okay for your client to call you, without keeping in mind your time zone. If your client is doing so, calling you at unreasonable hours, make it clear to him for you do not owe this as a freelancer.
Milestones:
It refers to the submission of some sections of the project at a time and receiving payment for it rather than getting paid at the end of the complete project. This ensures safety for both the client and the freelancer. The client decides the amount of payment and deadline for each milestone, however; it is your due right to negotiate and address if it does not appear fine to you.
Collaboration:
If your client hired you as an independent freelancer, he can refer you to some friend or a company that wants to hire you too. But he cannot force you to collaborate with them. You never signed up for this, and it is okay to say a no to your client.
Availability:
If your client demands you to be online 24/7, acknowledge his messages within seconds and to pick his call whenever he does so, then you should let him know that it is wrong.and he is demanding too high.
It is good if you reply to him at your earliest, however, you can make it clear at the beginning that he should expect a reply from you within the designated hours/days. For example, you can let him know that you will reply to him within two hours.
More Clients:
You can work with over one client at a time, with or without the knowledge of your current client. Your existing client should not have an issue if you are delivering him quality work at a time. It is your due right to decide the number of clients based on your time availability. And your pre-existing client cannot tell you otherwise.
Outsourcing:
If you have many projects to do in limited time, you can hire some other freelancer to do them for you. We refer this to as outsourcing. It is your due right, provided that you ensure that the quality of the work remains unaffected.
Timely payment:
It is your due right to receive your payments at the right time. If your client does not seem to be responsible enough to transfer it himself, you can ask him straightaway. You should not make any compromise on it.
Also, make sure that the client is transferring you the exact amount of money that he promised you at the beginning of the project. You can take legal actions if your client is not showing up or making clear excuses.
Revision:
We define it as checking your work again after submission and to correct any mistake highlighted by the client. You can provide him 2-3 revisions if no specific number was decided at the beginning of the project.
If you did the project at a very cheap rate, you possess the right to not provide any revisions. Similarly, if the project was done at a suitable price, you can do over 2-3 revisions.
Review:
A client should test and review your work. He should let you know what he thinks about your work and your overall attitude while dealing with him. He should also leave a star rating for you if the freelance website is providing the option.
You can ask him if he did not review the work. It is your right(freelancer’s rights) and there is no embarrassment in it. This will help you in future improvements and work. Good ratings will also help you land among more projects.
Conclusion:
We hope that this article will help you as a beginner know that it is fine to ask your client about certain things, draw certain boundaries, and there is no disgrace in it
