22nd September 2011, 03:05 PM
Jack Wrote:Yep they do.
Also I'm not sure people (maybe me too) understand where the issues surrounding 'can't tell me what to do coz I'm self employed' and 'standard contracts' come from.
From experience I've seen all sub-contracted digging companies (on big construction projects) being told to follow the over-riding rules of the project (under the constraints of CDM regulations)also some projects have set hours on site/ Health and Safety rules always have to be follwed and stick to they all sign contracts. Some were also on daily rates rather than lump sum for the job. Lots of them got told how to do what task they were doing by the engineers and managers of the company that hired them etc. etc......
Its a falicy that a self-employed subby has special powers of freedom.
There's a world of difference between a company taken on to carry out work as a sub-contractor and an individual 'self-employed' archaeologist, which is what this seemed to be really about.
The company is of course going to agree to some things as part of their contract, in order to fit in with how the site is being run if nothing else - no point saying you'll all get there and start work at 7am if it's not accessible until 8 after all! Have you really seen archaeologists being told 'how to do what task they were doing'? That sounds a little unlikely as presumably the 'engineers and managers' wouldn't have a clue!
A self-employed individual can do whatever they like, by definition, especially they don't really have any real agreement with their employer. Obviously it is in their interests to do what is expected as they might find employment opportunities disappearing very quickly.
I suspect that only self-employed 'subbys' in archaeology have no special powers of freedom, although it does seem to be a trend in other professions to make people 'self-employed'.