I.T. Contracting - Work Ethics.

Feelgood

Hey folks,

I don't know how to highlight this one really. I've been contracting for a couple of years and have to listen to a lot of crap from a bit of an upstart team leader...

Just wondering if I am within my rights to tell him to go f**k himself or should I bite my lip?. Let me stress he is not my overall manager, has anyone had experience with this?. As a contractor am I not essentially my own boss?. Obviously I have to adhere to certain work practices though I get very cutting comments etc etc...

Its the usual story, he is a permie, I'm a contractor on twice his salary. Hence I'm the bad guy.....

mick.fr

Well at the end he is your customer.
So if you can't handle the guy anymore get a new contract the smoothest way possible.

Feelgood

mick.fr wrote: »

Well at the end he is your customer.
So if you can't handle the guy anymore get a new contract the smoothest way possible.

True, but there has to be somewhere to draw the line. Isn't there like a policy that contractors don't get involved in office politics?. I mean there has to be some sort of contractor rights?.

I like the role I'm in though Mick, as usual there is always someone that you will clash with.

mick.fr

Feelgood wrote: »

True, but there has to be somewhere to draw the line. Isn't there like a policy that contractors don't get involved in office politics?. I mean there has to be some sort of contractor rights?.

I like the role I'm in though Mick, as usual there is always someone that you will clash with.

You do not have any right as a contractor, you are just a supplier, so if you whine they will get a new one. Unless you can not take this guy anymore, I would recommended maybe to find somebody else to do your job with your company or find another contract.
Unless the guy his sexually harassing or insulting you you I do not see what you can do, this is usually a dead end.

Feelgood

mick.fr wrote: »

You do not have any right as a contractor, you are just a supplier, so if you whine they will get a new one. Unless you can not take this guy anymore, I would recommended maybe to find somebody else to do your job with your company or find another contract.
Unless the guy his sexually harassing or insulting you you I do not see what you can do, this is usually a dead end.

Jasus Mick, your just not installing me with confidence here....

There has to be some sort of work rights for contractors, I mean we are
human after all??.

BostonB

Feelgood wrote: »

...have to listen to a lot of crap from a bit of an upstart team leader......

Define a lot of crap...

Feelgood wrote: »

...There has to be some sort of work rights for contractors, I mean we are
human after all??.

See my first question.

mick.fr

Feelgood wrote: »

Jasus Mick, your just not installing me with confidence here....

There has to be some sort of work rights for contractors, I mean we are
human after all??.

What exactly is your issue with this guy?

Feelgood

BostonB wrote: »

Define a lot of crap...
See my first question.

Constantly getting comments about how my work isn't up to scratch, about how my not worth my daily rate etc etc. The usual type of resentment you get from permie people who just don't like contractors.

If it was warranted I would understand, but my daily rate reflects both my experience and skills in particular fields and everyone knows that working as a contractor you are expected to deliver high quality service and consulting which I do.

mick.fr

Feelgood wrote: »

Constantly getting comments about how my work isn't up to scratch, about how my not worth my daily rate etc etc. The usual type of resentment you get from permie people who just don't like contractors.

If it was warranted I would understand, but my daily rate reflects both my experience and skills in particular fields and everyone knows that working as a contractor you are expected to deliver high quality service and consulting which I do.

Well ask him to point you out to what is wrong exactly with the delivery of a specific task. What was the expected outcome and why is he disappointed.
Maybe try to do a planning worksheet before you do anything, write the expected results, provide test results etc. and get him sign the thing before and after.

What is your specialization by the way?

Feelgood

mick.fr wrote: »

Well ask him to point you out to what is wrong exactly with the delivery of a specific task. What was the expected outcome and why is he disappointed.

What is your specialty by the way?

IBM Hardware/Software mainly Mick...

AIX, OS400, iseries, pseries, Lotus Domino/Notes.

ntlbell

Feelgood wrote: »

IBM Hardware/Software mainly Mick...

AIX, OS400, iseries, pseries, Lotus Domino/Notes.

are you contracting for leaseplan?

eth0_

Feelgood wrote: »

Constantly getting comments about how my work isn't up to scratch, about how my not worth my daily rate etc etc. The usual type of resentment you get from permie people who just don't like contractors.

I had a team leader like that when I was contracting last year in the head office of a huge retail chain, utter swine, I was doing the work of 2 people and it still wasn't good enough for him, and this guy did NO work, he literally sat there surfing the net and ringing his mates. It really starts to grind you down. In the end I left a week or two before I was due to finish (got a perm job) and told the company I was working through that no one could be expected to work with someone like that.

I think you should ask for a meeting with him and outline your grievances, tell him if he has a problem with you after that he should contact the company you're working for and I guarantee you he won't. I think it's just jealousy that you could be earning more than him.

BostonB

Feelgood wrote: »

Constantly getting comments about how my work isn't up to scratch, about how my not worth my daily rate etc etc. .

Basically what mick.fr said. There should be a formal process for reporting AND resolving processes. Something as simple as a spreadsheet that lists the issues, time to complete, progress to date, completed and a signoff. Any issue of any kind goes on the sheet, and at a regular meeting you go through the sheet and get signoff. The sheet is distributed to all on the project so that people can't introduce last minute moans, and complaints to derail meetings and undermine the contractor.

I found doing this usually stops peoples unprofessional sniping and trying to undermine a project when you make them partially responsible for it, and you can put some metrics on the issues being raised. We included a column for time saved vs time taken to achieve in order to eliminate the fluff and grumbles from people with their own agenda.

Feelgood wrote: »

The usual type of resentment you get from permie people who just don't like contractors.

Have to say I've rarely experienced that attitude towards contractors, when I was contracting or where I worked as an employee.

No matter what happens be the professional, don't let it get personal. Its a good sub project in people management. Deal with it well and it will stand to you in the future.

Feelgood

ntlbell wrote: »

are you contracting for leaseplan?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - yeah right, not a chance my son. I could tell you stories....

Feelgood

eth0_ wrote: »

I had a team leader like that when I was contracting last year in the head office of a huge retail chain, utter swine, I was doing the work of 2 people and it still wasn't good enough for him, and this guy did NO work, he literally sat there surfing the net and ringing his mates. It really starts to grind you down. In the end I left a week or two before I was due to finish (got a perm job) and told the company I was working through that no one could be expected to work with someone like that.

I think you should ask for a meeting with him and outline your grievances, tell him if he has a problem with you after that he should contact the company you're working for and I guarantee you he won't. I think it's just jealousy that you could be earning more than him.

This sounds completely familiar alright. I don't understand it, I mean there is nothing stopping these guys from going contracting themselves?. In essence if they add up all their benefits we only make slightly more than permies.

It does really grind you down, especially when you have 10 years experience behind you and the guy is more or less just fresh out of college. I find there is also a huge divide between contractors and permies. Not just in my current role though in previous ones also.

Most of the permies tend not to like telling you how their infrastructure is built etc for fear that you are going to steal their jobs or something. Really gets to me sometimes..

Feelgood

BostonB wrote: »

No matter what happens be the professional, don't let it get personal. Its a good sub project in people management. Deal with it well and it will stand to you in the future.

I try BostonB, but sometimes receiving comments are very personal to the point where if it was a guy outside work that made them I would probably deck him to be honest.

The only thing is that I know he is waiting for me to saying something so he can immediately go to a manager to try and get me shoved off. Its like he is trying to provoke a response from me and to be honest I don't know how long I can hold off.

Only thing is that I have a really really sweet contract and I enjoy the work..

TheThreeDegrees

Are you going direct or through an agency?
If you get on with the agency maybe they can help you resolve this.

If you are direct you are even more so in business on your own.Its a dead end mate.Ive been through it many times and walked out for far less.

TBH if anyone dared pass comments to me as this prick has to you he'd be lying in the deep end!

Feelgood

TheThreeDegrees wrote: »

Are you going direct or through an agency?
If you get on with the agency maybe they can help you resolve this.

If you are direct you are even more so in business on your own.Its a dead end mate.Ive been through it many times and walked out for far less.

TBH if anyone dared pass comments to me as this prick has to you he'd be lying in the deep end!

Only option I can see really is to start being really secretive about work I'm doing and to implement high quality but complex solutions that he hasn't got a clue about, try to make him look like a fool at the weekly management meetings...

Extremely unprofessional I know, but I don't think I have met a bigger prick than this guy. It might be one way to teach him not to f**k with me without having to go into pistols at dawn...

TheThreeDegrees

Nah thats Ok i admire your approach.what goes around come around and if hes fooking with you hes gonna get it right back at him.
you know he may be picking on you not because of your contract but maybe because he has noticed you are far superior skilled than he is.
most contractors are;)

Feelgood

TheThreeDegrees wrote: »

Nah thats Ok i admire your approach.what goes around come around and if hes fooking with you hes gonna get it right back at him.
you know he may be picking on you not because of your contract but maybe because he has noticed you are far superior skilled than he is.
most contractors are;)

Thanks for the vote of confidence Three Degrees, much appreciated!.

BostonB

Being unprofessional will get you no where, and you'll just annoy yourself in the long run IMO.

dazberry

Feelgood wrote: »

Constantly getting comments about how my work isn't up to scratch, about how my not worth my daily rate etc etc. The usual type of resentment you get from permie people who just don't like contractors.

I've been both a contractor and a team leader. As a team leader it is not his place to worry about your rate - it is to worry about the quality of your work within the context of the team. If the guy isn't happy with your work, if you were to be paid half your daily rate - he still won't be happy. If he's not happy with your work he should either have you fired or work with you to reach the level of quality he does want. TBH it sounds like he's just bullying you and you should raise that as an official complaint.

Only option I can see really is to start being really secretive about work I'm doing and to implement high quality but complex solutions that he hasn't got a clue about, try to make him look like a fool at the weekly management meetings...

As someone who has had to pick up the pieces of rogue contractors a number of times during my career - I would advice you not to do things in an underhanded fashion. Just do your job within the scope and too the level that you've been asked to do - there are other ways of dealing with that fool.

D.

fatboypee

I was a contractor for oooooo... seems like a lifetime (and fook, do I still miss it), I've been all over europe in contract roles and would offer 1 piece of advice:

Think about the cash. Do your hours, do the best you can within those hours and when the hooter goes, RUAFO (rev up 'n F.Off)...

If he has issues with the quality of your work, address them professionally by requesting a daily task sheet which you can get re-checked after every operation (this will not last long, he will get rather fed up of the administration ).

In my very humble opinion, being a contractor does not mean selling your 'ass to a company, absolutely the opposite in fact, the result being, you are valuable to the company you are contracted to.

If no satisfaction is gained from the team leader, rise above him and talk to his boss about it, pointing out in no uncertain terms the issues you are having with him are, in your opinion personal (resentment) and this is hindering your efforts to be effective. No malice, no threats, plain and simply stating your position.

Thats wot I'd do anyhoo...

FBp.