What to do when you lose your freelance gig

You might be entitled to more than you think.

By Eilidh Duffy

If you’re already a paying subscriber to 1 Granary, it won’t come as news that working in fashion sucks right now. One of the most pervasive and exhausting changes, it seems, is that companies now rely heavily on a freelance workforce. Thus it’s become impossible to find security in your work, never mind those things that were once seen as common, normal accoutrements to your employment, like holiday pay, sick pay, maternity leave or a redundancy package. As a freelancer, though, you may be entitled to more than you initially think. Here, we have compiled a list of tips and tricks for the recently sacked – think of it as a checklist in order to figure out how much you can get out of a bad situation.

Normalise making written agreements!

Do you have a freelance contract? No? Well, you absolutely can. It is your right to ask for a contract for every job. Although in some cases clients can be quite avoidant. In these cases, or in cases where you’re worried about being too pushy, an email stipulating the terms of your arrangement will do. We got some stellar advice on what should be in your contract from three photographers here.