Unit 9 AO2 Freelance Jobs

Task 4

Freelancing Job Roles

Freelancers are not actually known as a legal definition under job roles. One of the differences between a freelancer and a normal employee would be Tax rates. Freelancers don’t pay the typical PAYE (Pay as You Earn); they pay their own tax in bulk because they work for different people. This would be seen as one of the disadvantages of being a freelancer because they might not be ready for when their tax bill comes. All tax is decided on how much you earn. Normal employees have their tax deducted from their wage before they receive their pay slip so it is automatically done every month.

Freelancers are not full time employees; they are only called in on an ad hoc basis. This means they are called in to work for the BBC only when they are needed. BBC’s main employee has to work for them every day whereas freelancers are only called in if more people are required.

Freelancers are not directly connected to a company, they work for themselves. Different freelancers have different skills that get them their jobs. They are all connected to the people they have previously worked for and can be called back anytime to do work. Freelancers are basically their own company. Just like you would hire a company to complete a job for you, a freelancer would do that too. They have all the equipment to work with; they just need material to work on.

Just like with any other job done by someone external from the business, CRB checks need to be done and a contract needs to be signed from both parties. When working for the BBC, they will have to sign a standard contract stating agreements between themselves and the BBC.

Disadvantages of a freelancer:

§   Not entitled to sick pay or maternity leave. They only get paid when they are working. When they are sick or ill they are losing out on a day’s worth of work and are not getting an income.

§   By supplying themselves with their own equipment, Freelancers are stuck with the costs of all the equipment. When the software or systems need updating or if they have crashed, the freelancer has to pay for the technical issues because it is their technology.

Advantages of being a freelance worker:

§   Freelancers have the ability to change jobs because they work for themselves. They are never permanently working at a company. They are only hired for one job and could be called back for more.

§   They can go on holidays whenever they want because they work independently and can choose to have a break whenever they want. It is recommended that they don’t go on very long breaks because they will have no money to fund themselves when they come back. It is always safe to have some money put aside for incidents like this.

§   Even though this is stated in the disadvantages as well, having their own equipment lets them complete work with their own software, have all their work in one place, not having to rely on others for software or resources and being able to complete work within their own time.