Koya
Sophomore Member
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2008
- Professional Status
- Certified General Appraiser
- State
- California
A lot of people agree to a subcontract relationship in order to help the contractor avoid the cost and headache of establishing an employer/employee relationship and it's essentially a condition of the working agreement, but they have the habit of thinking like employees when they aren't.
If this were an employee relationship, it would be governed by labor law and you would have to be paid. A subcontractor is a business relationship with contractual obligations (whether written or handshake) and whether you should be paid depends on the understanding between the two of you and whether you should ask to be paid also depends on how important the business relationship is to you. Businesses with ongoing relationships do sometimes renegotiate deliverables and payment for a deliverables, ask for discounts, ask for clawbacks, ask for add-ons,and so on, when they feel the circumstances require it. As a subcontractor, you're also a business, and it's a business decision to accommodate or deny the request. The consequences of accommodating or denying the request will impact the business relationship and you have to make that call.
When I was working "for" my mentor, I never got paid until he got paid. That set the tone that we were more partners doing a fee split, rather than employer/employee. Another supporting factor was that it was always my choice if and when I worked and which assignments I took. A couple of times, we did get stiffed and he offered to pay me anyway, but I refused and told him we were in it together, although he did find occasional reasons to up my share of the split.
If this were an employee relationship, it would be governed by labor law and you would have to be paid. A subcontractor is a business relationship with contractual obligations (whether written or handshake) and whether you should be paid depends on the understanding between the two of you and whether you should ask to be paid also depends on how important the business relationship is to you. Businesses with ongoing relationships do sometimes renegotiate deliverables and payment for a deliverables, ask for discounts, ask for clawbacks, ask for add-ons,and so on, when they feel the circumstances require it. As a subcontractor, you're also a business, and it's a business decision to accommodate or deny the request. The consequences of accommodating or denying the request will impact the business relationship and you have to make that call.
When I was working "for" my mentor, I never got paid until he got paid. That set the tone that we were more partners doing a fee split, rather than employer/employee. Another supporting factor was that it was always my choice if and when I worked and which assignments I took. A couple of times, we did get stiffed and he offered to pay me anyway, but I refused and told him we were in it together, although he did find occasional reasons to up my share of the split.