DM2021: Freelance
Survey on pay. Guidance on preparing invoices. Campaign on freelance rights in Ireland.
Conference agreed that the union would give freelance members more help in preparing invoices and would conduct a survey to gather information on the problems members are experiencing.
A Brussels branch motion said company invoicing systems often caused delays in freelances being paid. The Freelance Industrial Council has been tasked with working with other unions to “conduct a survey into differential rates of pay for similar work in the freelance sector, with a view to raising awareness of the issue among both freelance members and employers and encouraging better practice in ensuring equal pay for women doing equal work”.
The union will draw up guidance for freelances (especially those starting out) on how to produce an invoice, the ideal format, deadlines for payment, and warnings about late payment and interest charges.
The union agreed to work with branches and chapels in Ireland to “promote the rights of freelances vigorously when negotiating house agreements, and to resists cuts in freelance budgets proposed by employers”. The motion noted that while gains had been made by the 2017 amendment to the Competition Act in Ireland, freelance conditions have not much improved.