Hourly Payment Method

[Dr D]

So after reading the following, from AdamTierney's Freelancing document, I got to wondering..


"It should go without saying, but never lie about the hours you put into a project. Even if you're working hourly and finish up early, take advantage of that extra time and see if the developer has another project you can move on to. It's easiest to keep your integrity because the every time you lie on your hours for some extra cash, less will be holding you back the next time and if discovered, such practice can ruin your career."


So I feel kind of embarrassed asking this question, but I simply do not know how it works.

'How do employers keep track of the amount of time you're putting into your art?'

Working out of your home, supplying art for an employer is a fine thing, but when it comes to payment, I'm a little clueless. I understand one of the common methods is hourly pay. But even with legal documents, it seems there's no real way for anyone to know how much time you're putting into your work, unless you video-record it all, but that is highly ridiculous.

So, do you just tell them how many hours you worked, and they'll pay you based on an established hourly rate? Seems like it would be easy to lie. Not that I would, but my point is, it just doesn't seem secure enough.

If I were an employer, I wouldn't use this method of payment, if what I know is correct.

Can anyone who's worked this way, or even an employer, provide a little insight?

Is there not a more full-proof way to guarantee that the employer is handing out the proper amount of payment to the correct amount of hours of labor?
Will he not be concerned with his employees simply wasting their time doing other things after they're complete, and state they worked more hours than they really have, to drain more money out of him?

[Jakten]

They probably pay you for a full-time work week and expect a certain amount of work to be completed by the end of each week. If you waste time you have to make up for that time with your free time. They can probably tell if they give you too small of an amount of work, if you are good you might come away with a good amount of free time which is probably where Adam is telling you it would be good to inform the employer you finished early.

I personally have only been payed in piece-work. I tell the employer how long it roughly takes to do which ever piece and they give me enough work to fill a couple days.

[Holymonkey]

Hi guys,

I've used this method alot for freelance work and this is what I like to do (the people paying for the work seemed to like it just fine too.

1)  It starts with them sending you an email giving you as good of a description of what they need from you they can manage.

2)  You carefully and thoughtfully read the email and come up with as many useful questions as you can.  By useful, I mean the answers will allow you to begin mocking up artwork AND will allow you to come up with an estimate.
     NOTE:  I like to make sure I understand the product as thoroughly as possible, get my head around the gameplay, plot, and most importantly, visual style before i even think of mocking up art.  I often ask them to send images that they think best represent the visual style they'd like to see.  They usually have an easy time suggesting other games, comic books, or other artists work that they would like you to...err...emulate.  Its especially easy if its a franchise or liscence for a preexisting product.

2a)  a few more emails back and forth migt be needed to make sure you AND the customer know exactly what you are expected to produce.

3)  You submit an itemized estimate for all art needed.  You give an hourly rate and state a realistic range of time for each required art asset... IE. This character portrait will take between 8 and 12 hours.  IMPORTANT:  you guarantee that you will not charge beyone the outside estimate... in this case, you promise that even if you take longer, you will not charge more than 12 hours worth. (the stipulations being A: if they suddenly require an abnormal amount of iteration, you'll have to charge them for it. and B: the first art asset will be used as a reality check to insure that you are right for the project and the project is right for you.)

4)  Once they agree to your estimates, you pick a first task with them and make a clear mock-up...establishing size, format, style, color-use and so forth without taking a long time to clean it up.  Good producers/designers/directors will be able to see from the mock-up if you're going in the direction they want...this will help avoid further iteration and the pain of redoing stuff that you spent countless hours polishing.


5) The first mock-up is aproved and or changes are requested, and you make the changes and clean it up... therebye presenting the first potentially finished asset.

6) they react to it.

From then on, you know how things are going to go and so do they.  You'll see if they communicate well... you'll see if your estimates were within reason...if not, you immediately send an email explaining either you had underestimated the workload OR (more rarely) overestimated and adjust the future estimates and if necessary, bow out of the agreement as early as possible.


This has always worked well for me.  I've never had to bow out and usually finish all the tasks with a little hourly time to spare, which I do indeed relate to the customer. You get paid fairly, they pay less then the worst case scenario of your estimate... Everyones happy.

Once or twice a customer has suddenly asked for something not agreed to or previously mentiond.. just sort of though it was "assumed" or "slipped their mind".  They never had a problem paying extra because  TA DA, it wasnt on your estimate list.     This is hugely important protection for your time and sanity.

I hope this was helpful...sorry for all the typo's..tired....

[Dr D]

I see, that clears up much. Thanks for the reply.

Might be a bit of a problem if you work slowly or aren't great estimating, though.

Would it be wrong or rude of me to ask for extra money if the employer asks for something that wasn't originally on my to-do list, provided he doesn't suggest himself that he would pay extra?

[Ryumaru]

Dr D, if the employer asks for some slight modifications to your work for them to be satisfied, then it would be a bit rude to ask for extra money, and sometimes even with major modifications you just have to bite your tongue because they probably wouldn't pay you anyway. But if they ask you to do say, another animation, or another sprite, or some more tiles, then yes you should ask for more money( possibly at an hourly rate ).

[Mathias]

Dr D, if the employer asks for some slight modifications to your work for them to be satisfied, then it would be a bit rude to ask for extra money, and sometimes even with major modifications you just have to bite your tongue because they probably wouldn't pay you anyway. But if they ask you to do say, another animation, or another sprite, or some more tiles, then yes you should ask for more money( possibly at an hourly rate ).

(haven't read thru this thread yet, but thought I'd point this out)
In the world of freelancing and billing are minor and major revisions. Revision requests are extremely common. They should be billed for differently. Typically, the freelancer will offer 1-3 minor revisions for free, should the client ask, and they will. Minor revisions only include tweaking the existing work to better fit the client's needs. If you do much freelance, you'll eventally run into those revision-happy clients that always want changes. So, offer unlimited changes for free and they'll waste enormous amounts of your time, and get away with it. Issues like this are dangerous for you because they eat into profits and are a killjoy.
Major revisions are, just like they sound, big changes, even conceptual changes, that may involve totally reworking something. Always charge for these.

Oh, and always have a contract. Always. Even if the client is a friend. It's a protection for both of you. This way, you both know the clear terms of the project and it becomes a go-by for what's proper involving your time and their money; should minimize/eliminate disputes.

[skw]

It also depends on your company's policy.

In the one I'm working for---as far as hourly payment goes---if there are some modifications/revisions needed, you still count it in and take into consideration when maintaing your worklog.

A worklog is a report you're conducting in the course of your work.  You write how many hours you spent a given day on a given task; then (e.g. by the end of a month) you send it off.

Sometimes, given the previous experience, it's easy to say that the task X takes Y hours, roughly.  E.g. a building tileset (9 x 32x32px) should take you, say, 3-4 hours.  Sometimes you can tell a person is just wasting time and lying; sometimes you can tell they take their responsibilities even a bit more seriously by putting a bit too much effort and time into something.  One of the most important things to remember anyway is that in the first phases of any work, everything takes more time than you would say it will -- but, as the time goes by, you get used to work and become faster, more efficient and productive!

Even though it may be a bit of a romantic viewpoint -- for me it's all a matter of loyality and honor.  If they pay you a considerable amount of money for the time you spend on their project, I see no point in fucking them from behind and lying.