Acceptable time to wait to be paid as a locum

RE: Acceptable time to wait to be paid as a locum

Leah Zykin — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 09:37:31 GMT

[quote user="Sal the 1st"]

thats handy to know - I think a lot of people think locums must be rolling in money but the reality is if you are just starting out as a locum, until you are established it can be a very hand to mouth existence and a prolonged wait for money you have worked for can cause serious hardship

[/quote]

Absolutely! The first time I began locuming I lasted probably less than year and maxed out my credit card. That prolonged wait to get paid combined with all the bills coming out put serious strain on my finances-I was always playing catch up but could never actually catch up. Thankfully I locumed for a practice I loved and happily accepted the full time head nurse role they offered me after 3 weeks and was able to get debt free but it took a lot of time to get there.

RE: Acceptable time to wait to be paid as a locum

Alison Clare Hickman — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 08:18:17 GMT

totally agree, Sal... hence my rule that I get paid weekly and have a contract. Clearly neither can prevent a determined non-payer/tardy payer but they certainly reduce the risk/exposure to lengthy non-settlement.

RE: Acceptable time to wait to be paid as a locum

Sal the 1st — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 07:42:00 GMT

RE: Acceptable time to wait to be paid as a locum

Alison Clare Hickman — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 22:22:51 GMT

fyi

https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money

RE: Acceptable time to wait to be paid as a locum

Sal the 1st — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 20:16:58 GMT

I have only ever had one seriously late payment - I am talking months late, and I was sick of hearing excuses - the thing is when you are working flat out as a locum you don't always have the time to chase up the offenders as effectively as you might otherwise.

I was self employed and my money might not have been much to Mr Corporate but it was to me. I was going to go the legal route but in the end I reckoned it would end up costing me even more.

I took a more satisfying approach and accepted another locum job they offered me, waited till the Friday lunchtime and said if the money from the previous job wasn't in my account within 2 hours they had no nurse on Monday morning. As if by magic the money appeared - but come the Monday morning I didn't. I think they got the message - they never came back to me with more work

RE: Acceptable time to wait to be paid as a locum

Alison Clare Hickman — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 11:52:38 GMT

I always ensure I invoice weekly / make arrangements for weekly pay and chase up if I haven't received anything 7 days past due. Makes the cash-flow less critical in case of delays (and protects my bank account - although I keep a reserve savings account of 2-months pay in case of sickness/strife, as a back-up)

My contract with all placements states my expected settlement date. No messing!

Order of attack if needed for settlement delays:

1. 7 days past due: Enquiring and polite

2. 14 days past due: Firm and polite

3. 28 days past due: 'Small Claims Court' ultimatum - and I will act on it.

There's also a term in my contract that allows me to charge for costs relating to delayed payment (acts more as a warning than anything else).

Having said all of the above, only experienced 2 delayed payments; one was a genuine error on the part of the practice owner and settled with apologies abound and much embarrassment on their part plus a huge box of chockies and bunch of flowers and more work if I could, please please please? (Yes, faith restored). The other, settled within 20 days but not without vigorous effort on my part. Would I work for them again they asked - NO. (Other reasons why not as well, I might add...)

All in all - my message is to stay on top of your settlements and don't take anyone's cr*p!

RE: Acceptable time to wait to be paid as a locum

Steph Worsley — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 09:09:06 GMT

I had an issue at one practice I was locumming at for a few months, the umbrella company kept telling me they hadn't received payment from the practice. But I knew they had as I had posted a lot of the cheques myself. Luckily I was on good terms with the practice and spoke to them, found out the umbrella company wasn't sending the invoices over on a regular basis, and sent proof the cheques had been sent and cashed, I ended up having massive rows with the umbrella company as I ended up incurring lots of unpaid DD's because they failed to pass the payment on to me...

RE: Acceptable time to wait to be paid as a locum

Leah Zykin — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 08:38:10 GMT

In my experience it depends on the practice. I submit my timesheet through my umbrella company and they invoice the practice immediately. Some practices wait until they do everyones pay, so generally get paid at the end of the month, others will pay me separately straight away.

I'd give them til the end of the month.

Occasionally I have to chase payment, if I used a locum agency I chase through them, if not I drop the practice an email (usually to whoever arranged my placement) just asking if they received the invoice, this usually nudges them:)

I wanted to go self employed and not use an umbrella company but half the practices I locum for won't take on self employed nurses anymore (I'm part time and would only have gone sole trader not Ltd) Luckily my umbrella company works really well for me and so far no issues.

RE: Acceptable time to wait to be paid as a locum

Sal the 1st — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 06:57:04 GMT

It depends - I would be asking the umbrella company if they are paid weekly or monthly? or if it was through a locum agency what the payment arrangements were? ie was it a weekly or monthly settlement - if it is monthly you may not get paid until the end of this month or it might not be until May. The thing is an umbrella company is not going to chase it too hard because at the end of the day they have a less urgent need of the money than you do - this is another really good reason not to use an umbrella.