Sick of it.
Matthew Knight
Chief Freelance Officer at Freelancing.Support / Independent Strategist supporting businesses like Klarna, EY, adidas, Google, P&G and more / Community host at Outside Perspective / YJ Freelancer of the Year / Dad.
I had the opportunity to speak to MPs about statutory sick pay yesterday, at a roundtable hosted by Nadia Whittome MP and Mind at the Houses of Parliament.
I was there to try and remind folk that when thinking about the UK workforce, we cannot forget the 13% of working people who are self employed - that’s us lot.
Unfortunately, there’s often an attitude towards freelancers which is unhelpful.
“You chose to work this way…” - 20-30% of freelancers didn't choose this way of working. Many are forced into self employment - perhaps as a carer, due to disability, sickness, neurodivergence, or simply a poor jobs market.
“They’re only freelancing because they couldn’t get a real job…” - most of us actively decided to work in self-employment to find more flexibility, focus on doing great work, and because employment is the only way.
And lots of times, the self-employed, I think, are just forgotten.
“Everyone in work” rarely means everyone, it mostly means employees.
We must, of course take some responsibility for our own wellbeing.
Many other countries have voluntary or mandatory contribution schemes which provide SSP for the self employed, so options are possible, but I think unlikely in the UK.
So for freelancers right now, prevention is better than cure.
Make sure you’re taking time off, resting when you can, building support networks, and taking care of the most important asset in your business.
You!
Matthew
(ps you can read a rough version what I shared here: https://www.freelancing.support/noodles/#2025-03-04-sick-pay), rooted in data from the Leapers Co. survey: https://www.leapers.co/research/2024/)
领英推荐
Freelancing Horror Stories.
We want to hear them. Ghosted? Late invoices? Zero Onboarding? No contracts? Or worse? We’re gathering stories, in order to produce a report on the treatment of freelancers, and develop a set of guidelines for clients to behave better.
If you’ve got a horror story, or example of a client behaving badly - let us know.
? Share your stories https://leapers.co/clients-behaving-badly
This Week…
From across the ecosystem
? Freelancers talk - Matthew writes in Design Week about clients behaving badly
? Pair Up - a new buddy / check-in system for creatives. Love this idea.
? 260% rise in use of freelancers in the US - might we see similar in the UK?
? Fiverr want to give you shares in their business
We love it when you share things you’ve found that make your freelance life a little easier, better informed, or just stupid stuff which made you smile. Share via chat or the comments.
That’s all for this week!
mk+sm
Ai to Deliver ERP Transformations | Driving Ai Adoption | Ai Training | Ai Automation ($300 a day) | Automating config, test & data for all ERP Applications | Delivering ERP Success | Over 50 ERP Projects Delivered
1 周Matthew Knight who would I speak to about upskilling people out of work?
Artist | Freelance Creative Project Manager | Official Midjourney Guide
2 周Well... that sums up my feelings after another week of being ghosted by recruiters. ?? Of course, I also had a fake offer/CV scraper in the mix, and they ghosted me too. I appreciate that you mentioned how many freelancers have been forced into this way of working for countless health reasons. That was one of the factors in my experience when my last PAYE role was made redundant three years ago. I have applied to numerous roles since then, but the job market is dismal, and so far, freelancing and self-employment are my only options.
Senior Copywriter | Content Designer| UX Writer | Award-winning creative | Neurodivergent (ADHD) | vinyl lover | Lots to share...just ask.
2 周You chose... 'real job'... the blood boils. Yet another example of the inflexible mindset of many that will have us dragging our heels, as they're the ones slogging it out, getting anxious and facing up to the vagaries of office culture. Thanks for sharing, Matt. We need more of you.
Copywriter for ??? educators, mentors, and creators | I can help you seduce your next clients
2 周love this! I know for myself, lack of sick pay is definitely a huge stressor on being freelance, especially when I got Covid a few years ago or when I have had to take multiple days off from other illnesses and needs to be discussed more!