Perhaps it would be a good idea to include a brief set of T&Cs when booking your freelancers, with something like:
If cancelled or postponed within (say) 3 days of the performance date 100% of the fee is payable. 
If 3-10 days 50%
More than 10 days notice means no fee payable. 
Presumably lots of people do this already?
Martin


---
Martin Bazley
0780 3580 727
www.martinbazley.com 

Sent from my iPhone

On 8 Dec 2010, at 13:14, "Richard Ellam" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> HI Jayne
> 
> I'm a freelance presenter of science shows who sometimes works in museums.  If you book me to do a day's show presenting then you and I have a contract, which essentially requires that I turn up at the right time, with the right equipment to present my shows, and that I am  in the right place in the museum to do the shows at the times appointed.  If I fulfil these obligations, you are then obliged to pay me for my time, even if no-one turns up to the shows.  This is right and proper, as I have done everything that I am obliged to under the contract, and it is not my responsibility to provide the audience.
> 
> How you then get the schools who didn't turn up to repay the money is up to you - but I would certainly expect that if I'd turned up and been ready to perform  that you'd pay me.
> 
> Now your 'freelancers' may be people who are employed on a casual basis to deliver sessions which are developed by the museum, and here things may be slightly different, not least because these people may actually not be self employed freelancers at all in law.  But, if someone has turned up to present a session that doesn't happen because the school doesn't show up then they surely deserve to be paid the full fee for soing that session.
> 
> If you employ people to present a series of sessions, then whether they should be paid for all of them, irrespective of whether you manage to get bookings for all of them is down to the wording of the contract between you. If the agreement is for them to present so many sessions of a particular activity within a defined timescale then you're pretty much obliged to pay them for doing this even if you can't get takers for all the sessions. On the other hand if you agree that you will engage someone to present UP TO a given number of sessions, subject to their being bookings for them, you can legitimately only pay the presenter for the sessions actually booked. But still, if a school cancels a booking at the last minute you'd have to pay the presenter.
> 
> Hope this helps
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Richard;
> 
> Richard Ellam
> L M Interactive
> Science Shows and Hands-On Stuff
> www.lminteractive.co.uk
> [log in to unmask]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 8 Dec 2010, at 11:39, Jayne Ambrose wrote:
> 
>> Hello all,
>> Just a quick query about paying freelance fees if a school cancels and/or no school actually books one of the sessions you've commited to. What do you do?  Our cancellation fee would not cover the cost of a day rate but is it really fair not to pay a freelancer their full day rate when they may have turned down other work to run your session? How do you balance being fair with keeping a sharp eye on the finances?
>> 
>> I'd be really grateful to receive any feedback.
>> 
>> Thank you in advance
>> Jayne Ambrose
>> Education Officer
>> National Coal Mining Museum
>> 
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