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Caveat: I'm in NJ, so the labor laws may be different.
That said; if you are working for a contract house (i.e. third party from
the actual client), that is a huge red flag and you need to renegotiate. A
legitimate contract house should be able to pay you within a week of
billing.
If you are working directly for the client company, that is, unfortunately,
a typical situation. I've worked on a Net 45 in the past on a corp-to-corp.
I've also had a Net 30 contract company pay their invoice within 2 hours
(that was a really nice surprise, and I loved working for them).
If the company is small-ish, and you can walk the invoice directly to the
Accounts Payable department (or whoever signs the checks), and explain your
situation to them, you may get paid sooner than your contract states. If the
company is very large, you may be stuck in their bureaucratic processes,
but you will get your money eventually.
If this is a brick-and-mortar gig, where you need to be on-site for part of
all of it, the odds of you collecting your money are decent. If this is a
gig that you found online and you will be working remotely, and you haven't
had experience with the company before, I strongly suggest you offer
different terms to them: a downpayment of 1/3 to 1/2 of the total project
fee, and balance due on delivery of final product, copyright transfer to
occur AFTER final payment has been made.
If you are working directly with the client company, your rate should also
be 30-50% higher than the rate through a third party.
Good luck,
Wendy
On Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 8:14 AM, Trish Robertson <
trish -dot- robertson -at- comcast -dot- net> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I just received a contract for a six- to eight-week gig on a 1099 that
> states these payment terms: "$X per hour billed bi-weekly and payable net 30
> days." I am very uncomfortable with that delay. Not only do I need money
> sooner than six weeks, but, potentially, I could complete my contract
> before seeing any money--and who knows whether they will pay.
>
> Previously, when working on a 1099, I was payed within two days.
>
> I believe that in Massachusetts, permanent employees must be paid
> bi-weekly, but are there any rules governing the timeliness of payment to
> consultants/contractors?
>
> Does anyone have any insight about this issue?
>
> Thanks, Trish
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