Bank Holiday Blues…?

Woohoo! The sun is shining and I’m sitting in the shade of a pavement café in West London enjoying the frothiest of coffees, and watching the world pass me by. Bank Holidays, don’t you just love them?

Or do you? If you are a Freelancer or a Contractor what do you really think of Bank Holidays?

These days many employees in the private sector have no option but to work on a Bank Holiday; think of all those people working in retail today or the smiley waitress who brought me my coffee earlier. They won’t be paid any extra for working on this ‘special day’.

But as we know there are still many firms who close the doors completely and their employees will enjoy this 3 day weekend with their feet up and the same monthly salary hitting their bank account at the end of the month.

What if your current contract is onsite and your clients’ offices are closed today?

That’s one less day’s billing for you in August. Maybe you have an outstanding invoice with another client… It’s going to be tomorrow before you can call up and chase someone for it.

Estimates suggest that each bank holiday costs the economy around 6 billion in lost revenue, how much will it cost you?

A survey of PCG members in 2011 which asked ‘what do bank holidays mean to you?’ discovered that:

• 44.6% found them to be a mixed blessing with benefits
• 20.9% said it meant a welcome day off
• 18.1% said what’s a Bank Holiday, I work
• 16.4% responded that they were unwelcome costs

Contracting or Freelancing can bring lots of benefits; you’re your own boss and hopefully you’ll be working on projects of your choosing at a place and time that suits you. But will that time be Monday 27th August?

At QAccounting, we are often open on Bank Holidays, so please feel free to contact us.