世界滿是坑: 自由職業者怎樣避免白乾活

Dear Annie: After losing my job in 2011, when my department was eliminated in a restructuring, I decided to go out on my own and do web design and SEO consulting on a freelance basis. It's been great, except for one big problem. Over and over, I do the work, the client is happy with it, everything's cool, but I end up waiting and waiting to get paid -- and, in a couple of cases, have not been paid at all despite repeated, polite reminders.

親愛的安妮：2011年的公司重組撤掉了我所在的部門，我也因此丟掉了飯碗。我決定自謀職業，做一名自由職業者，提供網頁設計和SEO諮詢服務。這種工作模式很不錯，但是有一個大問題。很多時候，客戶對我的工作非常滿意，一切都進展得很順利。但是在最後結賬時，我卻得一等再等。有些時候，儘管我反覆委婉地提醒對方，但有些活我最終還是沒能拿到報酬。

I've been lucky enough to get most of these gigs through my network of friends, and friends of friends, so I don't want things to get nasty. (For example, I really don't want to take anybody to court.) But I have bills and expenses like everyone else, so the suspense over when, or whether, I'll get paid is making me crazy. Is this a common problem for freelancers, or am I doing something wrong? Do you have any suggestions? — Broke in Boston

我能通過朋友和朋友的朋友獲得大多數工作，這一點非常幸運。所以，我不想把事情弄糟。（例如，我真的不想把任何人告上法庭。）但是，和所有人一樣，我需要支付各類賬單。總是擔心付款時間以及能否付款，這幾乎把我逼瘋了。這是自由職業者面臨的普遍問題嗎？還是我哪些地方做錯了？對此您有什麼好的建議嗎？—— B.B.

Dear B.B.: I'm sorry to report that your dilemma is not at all unusual. One recent study of self-employed people in New York state, for instance, found that 316, 000 of them (about 35%) were paid late at least once during the preceding year, and some 214, 000 (14%) did work for one or more clients who never paid them at all. Total lost wages in the Empire State alone, over a 12-month span: More than $3 billion.

親愛的B.B.： 我很遺憾的告訴你，你所面臨的窘境並不罕見。最近在紐約州開展的一項針對自由職業者的調查發現，有31.6萬名（約35%）受訪者在上一年度經歷過至少一次付款延遲，約21.4萬名（14%）受訪者曾經遇到一個或多個客戶沒有付款。僅紐約州一年的工資損失總額就超過30億美元。

"Delays in payment usually aren't deliberate on the client's part, " notes Sara Horowitz, who founded and runs Freelancers Union, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit association that offers health insurance and other resources to the self-employed. "It's just that your invoices get lumped in with all the other accounts payable -- and, especially since the recession, more companies are pushing those out beyond 30 days to 60, or even 90."

位於布魯克林的自由職業者聯盟（Freelancers Union）是一家爲自由職業者提供醫療保險和其他資源的非盈利性協會。聯盟創始人和運營人薩拉•霍洛維茲指出：“很多情況下，客戶不是故意延遲付款。只是因爲你的發票與所有其他應付款項的發票集中到了一起。特別是自經濟衰退以來，許多公司把付款週期從30天延遲到60天，甚至是90天。”

Intentional or not, she agrees with you that the damage to individuals' livelihoods is "not acceptable." In response, the Freelancers Union drafted a bill called the Freelancer Payment Protection Act, now wending its way through the New York State legislature, that would give the self-employed many of the same remedies for non-payment that regular employees now have, including the right to file grievances with the state department of labor.

無論客戶是不是故意的，霍洛維茲都認同你的觀點——它給個人生活造成的傷害是“無法接受的”。爲此，自由職業者聯盟起草了《自由職業者報酬保護法案》（the Freelancer Payment Protection Act），目前正努力通過紐約州立法。這樣一來，自由職業者就能享受許多與正式員工相同的解決方法，包括向州立勞務部投訴的權利。

With the U.S. freelance population now at 42 million and growing, Horowitz expects that other states will eventually adopt similar measures. In the meantime, though, and before you hire a lawyer or a collection agency, Horowitz -- who, incidentally, wrote a terrifically useful book calledThe Freelancer's Bible — has six suggestions.

美國現有4,200萬名自由職業者，而且人數還在不斷增加。霍洛維茲希望其他州今後也會採取類似的措施。但是，在你聘用律師或收款中介機構之前，霍洛維茲【她曾寫過一本非常有用的書，名爲《自由職業者聖經》（The Freelancer's Bible）】還給出了下面六條建議。

1. Include payment terms in a written contract up front

1. 事先把支付條款寫入書面合同

If you're getting most of your assignments from friends, maybe you aren't formalizing contracts in writing, but you should. (Freelancers Union's web site has a free customizable contract you can use.) "Negotiate a time limit. If their policy is 90 days and yours is 30, maybe you can agree on 60, " says Horowitz. "The contract can also specify a late fee, usually a percentage of the total amount."

如果你大部分工作都來自朋友，那你可能沒有正式的書面合同。但是，你的確應該把合同正式化。（你可以免費使用自由職業者聯盟網站上的定製版合同。）霍洛維茲指出：“商定一個期限。如果客戶的付款期限是90天，而你的期限是30天，則可以把期限商定爲60天。此外，合同還可以明確佔總費用一定比例的滯納金。”

2. Get a portion paid before the project is finished

2. 要求在項目完成前獲得部分款項

To help even out your cash flow, and since you're committing your time and effort in advance, Horowitz recommends charging some "earnest money" when the contract is signed, or payable at an agreed upon point in the project -- say, when the work is half complete. Not only are partial payments often more digestible for clients, but they give you an early warning that you may be wasting your time on a deadbeat: If you don't see a check at the halfway mark (if that was the deal), are you sure you want to finish the job?

爲了幫你平衡現金流，而且考慮到你提前付出自己的時間和精力，霍洛維茲建議，籤合同時收取 “預付款”，或在項目的約定時間（如工作完成一半時）收取部分費用。客戶通常願意支付部分款項，同時它還相當於提前向你發出了一個警告：沒準你已經浪費了大量的時間。試想，如果（有約在先，）而你的工作都已經進行了一半，卻還沒有拿到支票，你還願意繼續幹嗎？

3. Practice prompt, preventive invoicing

3.實施迅速且帶有預防性的發票措施

"You should send invoices right away, while everyone's in love with your work," Horowitz says. "No love? All the more reason to bill them and close the books." Invoices should be sent "in triplicate," she adds. "Send each invoice by snail mail, email, and with a phone message saying the invoice was sent. If this is what you do on Round One, let them imagine what Round Two and Three will be like."

“客戶對你的工作感到滿意的時候，立即遞送發票，”霍洛維茲指出。“如果客戶不滿意呢？那就更要立即遞送發票和結賬了。”她還補充道，發票要“一式三份，分別通過郵寄信件、電子郵件和手機郵件（告知發票已寄送）形式發出。如果這是你的第一輪做法，讓他們設想一下第二輪和第三輪會是什麼情況。”

4. Get acquainted with someone in accounting

4. 結識會計人員

"You'll glean information about their procedures and get to know someone in a position to help if there's a delay," says Horowitz. "It's also helpful for keeping your primary work contact unsullied by the money thing." When starting each new gig, she advises, say something like, "I know you're busy. Is there someone in accounts payable I could reach out to?"

“收集有關會計程序的信息，結識幾個能在付款延遲時爲你提供幫助的人，”霍洛維茲說。“這也能幫助你避免因爲賬款問題給主要工作關係帶來不良影響。”她建議，每次開始新的項目時，可以這樣說：“我知道您很忙。在應收賬款方面，我可以聯繫哪位會計人員？”

5. Consider delegating your billing to the cloud

5. 考慮把賬單上傳到雲端

"This is one time when making things less personal can really help," says Horowitz. "Documentation is nine-tenths of the collection game, so think about hiring an online service to track your time on projects, send invoices for them, including late-payment follow-up, and handle payment transactions." You can find these services by searching under "online invoicing" or "online billing."

“讓事情公開化，而不是私下處理，確實會有所幫助，”霍洛維茲稱。“證明文件是決定‘收款遊戲’成敗的關鍵所在。所以，考慮使用在線服務追蹤你的項目週期，遞送項目發票，包括付款延遲追蹤和處理支付業務。”你可以通過搜索“在線發票”或“在線賬單”找到這些服務。

6. Have a follow-up system

6. 制定跟進機制

"Start with an email, friendly but firm, pointing out that your invoice hasn't been paid," says Horowitz. "If there's no response, a more formal notice could be next, recapping the billing information and saying, 'This payment is now however-many days, or weeks, late. Please contact me to discuss this serious matter.' Keep your tone professional, factual, and solution-oriented."

“首先發送措辭友好、但語氣堅決的電子郵件，說明尚未付款，”霍洛維茲指出。“如果沒有得到迴應，可以發送更加正式的通知，重新描述賬單信息，同時指出，‘這筆款項已經延遲了數日或數週時間。請與我聯繫，討論這個嚴重的問題。’要讓你的措辭更專業，以事實爲基礎，而且重在解決問題。”

It's important to keep track of every contact with clients, she adds: "If you and the client work out a payment plan -- where, for example, you agree to accept the balance due in installments instead of all at once -- summarize it in an email for the record. Keep copies of every letter and email and a phone log. You're building documentation for possible use in court, or to hand over to a collections agency, if it comes to that."

重要的是，要記錄與客戶的所有聯繫情況。她補充說：“如果你和客戶制定支付計劃——例如，你同意接受分期付款，而不是一次性支付欠款——在電子郵件中進行總結，作爲正式記錄。要保存每封信件和電子郵件，留存通話記錄。如果事情發展到一定程度，可以在法庭上使用你留存的證明文件，或將文件轉交給收款中介機構。”

Making sure you get paid may sound like a second job on top of your regular work, which is why many freelancers put off dealing with it, but that's a mistake. "Don't procrastinate on follow-up," Horowitz says. "The older the debt, the harder it will be to collect." Good luck.

或許，確保勞有所得聽起來像是固定工作之外的第二份工作，這也正是許多自由職業者推遲處理付款的一個原因，但這種做法是錯誤的。“不要延遲跟進，”霍洛維茲指出。“欠款時間越長，就越難收回。”祝你好運。