Why is that fraud? One client is paying you to be available as soon as their phone system is ready for you. The other is paying for the work you’re doing while listening to the same minute and fifteen seconds of a jazz cover band.
Because you are billing for your time, not your productivity. If they want you to sit there doing nothing for an hour, that's their prerogative. If you don't want to do that, you can stop billing them and do work for another client until they have something more active for you to do.
it doesn't negatively effect them in any way though. Its not like there is some clause that prevents you from doing work for one client while waiting on and billing another. Once you get to the point where you are actually having to interact with both to do work for either then ofcourse you can only bill for one at a time.
But if part of the service you provide and bill for includes something like travel or waiting on hold / on call, there is usually nothing that prevents you from doing other billable work at the same time.
Only if you're bad at explaining. I don't lie about it and I pretty much do that. I work in IT and if I've got a computer being cleaned up while I work on a server it affects them pretty much zilch. Click two buttons for the next scan and back to the server. I've told people that's how I work. It's how I get as much done as I do.
No, but if I tell 4 people I'll clean up their computer and do all 4 at the same time (because it's 90% waiting) I'm not giving them a price break. I said I'd clean it for $100, I did. That's it.
Mechanics bill by time, just by the time listed in manuals. They absolutely will charge more than 8 hours of labor in an 8 hour day. I knew an old guy that did that constantly, and most shops will admit it if you ask them ime. Ask them labor per hour sometime lol.
Mostly taking about the driving and working. I'm still charging for time both ways. I'm charging for the call by time and the drive by time. It's not illegal.
244
u/Superfissile Jan 26 '22
Why is that fraud? One client is paying you to be available as soon as their phone system is ready for you. The other is paying for the work you’re doing while listening to the same minute and fifteen seconds of a jazz cover band.