Question for contractors not employees

[bitznpcz]

Quick couple of questions for anybody who contracts their services to schools rather than being employed by them...

 

I run my own limited company providing IT Support to schools. I am still doing bits for the schools remotely and via email and telephone so cannot furlough myself.

 

If you're in a similar situation, are you still charging schools the same amount as pre lockdown?

 

If not, what percentage are you charging them?

 

Are you planning on going back into schools from 1st June (social distancing permitting).

 

Appreciate your answers and guidance on this.

 

Thanks,

 

Kevin

[Edu-IT]

Not quite answering your question but it may help. We agreed with our provider to keep paying them 100% throughout and have had remote support and a few quick site visits. We don’t gain anything by seeing the small business go bust. We’ll get our time back in other ways in the future I’m sure.

 

So you could approach your clients to discuss this.

Edited May 22, 2020 by Edu-IT

[hardtailstar]

I used to contract at a few schools before getting employed by another.

 

You have a business to look after and to pay yourself and any employees if you have them.

 

You are still providing support to them even though its from home/office. Its not your fault that you are in this situation.

 

No matter how good your relationship is with the schools it will be tough to discuss the money side.

 

My opinion is to carry on charging them the same. At my school im not going in on the 1st June as we are not starting back then

[bitznpcz]

Not quite answering your question but it may help. We agreed with our provider to keep paying them 100% throughout and have had remote support and a few quick site visits. We don’t gain anything by seeing the small business go bust. We’ll get our time back in other ways in the future I’m sure.

 

So you could approach your clients to discuss this.

Thanks for that. It really helps. I've spoken to a couple of heads and they said they'll still pay.

[bitznpcz]

I used to contract at a few schools before getting employed by another.

 

You have a business to look after and to pay yourself and any employees if you have them.

 

You are still providing support to them even though its from home/office. Its not your fault that you are in this situation.

 

No matter how good your relationship is with the schools it will be tough to discuss the money side.

 

My opinion is to carry on charging them the same. At my school im not going in on the 1st June as we are not starting back then

Thank you. I hope my schools see me as one of the team and not just a contractor as I try to do what I can for them.

 

There's only me in the business, but I do have a family to support and ongoing business expenses to pay for.

 

Derbyshire have just announced that schools will not be going back on 1st June as social distancing measures will not be in place by then.

[Edu-IT]

I would hope schools continue to pay. That is certainly the guidance from the DfE, or was in the beginning anyway, to suppliers who may otherwise be at risk.

[bitznpcz]

I would hope schools continue to pay. That is certainly the guidance from the DfE, or was in the beginning anyway, to suppliers who may otherwise be at risk.

Thanks. I've been a governor in the past so see it from both sides. I'll have a chat with the heads, but these posts have given me extra confidence.

 

Thank you [emoji106]

[elsiegee40]

Thanks. I've been a governor in the past so see it from both sides. I'll have a chat with the heads, but these posts have given me extra confidence.

 

Thank you [emoji106]

 

Start from a position of confidence that it’s business as usual.

 

Don’t give them reason to think there’s an excuse to stop paying you.

 

So the conversation starts “With schools reopening how can I support you best?“

 

If they say they want you in, then you turn the conversation to what H&S equipment, etc you need.

[bitznpcz]

Start from a position of confidence that it’s business as usual.

 

Don’t give them reason to think there’s an excuse to stop paying you.

 

So the conversation starts “With schools reopening how can I support you best?“

 

If they say they want you in, then you turn the conversation to what H&S equipment, etc you need.

Thank you. That's brilliant. I'll compose a letter to go out next week ready for them reopening after half-term.

 

I've found the government guidelines recommending that schools continue to pay suppliers so it's further support documentation (PPN 02/20).

 

A massive thank you to everyone for replying. It's been a tough couple of months, but let's hope we can all soon get back to doing what we do best [emoji106]

[TwistedHelixis]

The Government are still giving the schools the same amount of money and have actually told them to keep paying all services at the same rates.

[TwistedHelixis]

Also in same position as you but my workload has gone up since this all started, even been working until 10pm some nights, realistically they should be paying us more

[bitznpcz]

Also in same position as you but my workload has gone up since this all started, even been working until 10pm some nights, realistically they should be paying us more

It's a tough one as I've been working school holidays which are normally outside my contracts. PPN 02/2020 does hopefully cover our normal contract rates [emoji106]

 

I work for some LA and some Trust schools but I think it applies across the board.