Why We Should Stop Working for Free
Two things have made my blood REALLY boil this week and they are both part of the same conversation; the financial value of our time, skills and expertise:
1. My friend and author, Jen Gale, has been asked to speak at an International Women’s Day event for NO payment. You know who it was for? The multi-million dollar group, Soho House - a group of private members clubs aimed at media-peeps and creatives. Founded by a billionaire.
2. Another friend has been asked to hand over her slides for a workshop she has created and presenting so that the client can run it again, without having to pay her. I won't name them as she is being paid to run the first workshop which is coming up. They are a charity, but they are funded and have well-paid executives, who do not work for free.
I was so angry about both these requests, not least because I do not believe they would have made the same requests to men or a bigger organisation. My friends are both ‘one-woman-companies’ and therefore what, don’t need to earn anything?
When people ask us to work for nothing, there is this underlying assumption that we should be grateful to be asked, thankful that we are worthy of the ‘exposure’. Ask your bank if you can pay your mortgage with exposure. It’s just disrespectful. Sure, we can all make what we do look easy, that’s the benefit of investing in years of training and gathering experience.
This lack of respect for our skills, experience and time is prolific and it will only stop if we stop accepting it. That means we need to stand together as small business owners, entrepreneurs and women to raise our standards and demand higher standards from others.
It’s actually, really simple;
Support women in business and pay them, on time 👍
Support small businesses and pay them, on time 👍
Jen handled her request really well I thought, and wrote a very tactful but firm email in response. She’s written about it in detail on LinkedIn and I encourage you to read it here.
Here’s a short excerpt from her piece:
“International Women’s Day, a day that is part of the ongoing fight for women’s rights, including presumably the right to be valued and paid for the contributions we make. The theme for this year’s IWD is ‘collective individualism - how our individual actions, conversations, behaviours and mindsets can have an impact on our larger society.'
So by saying 'yes' to this event, by accepting the underlying implication that my time and expertise has no financial worth (to this particular company), without being overly dramatic and worthy, I'm complicit in this story that women's voices aren't of value. If we ALL stood up for ourselves, and asked to be paid, our individual actions might just start conversations, and ultimately change behaviours and mindsets.”
- Jen Gale, Sustainable Living Author
Journalist and author, Jack Monroe addressed similar requests on twitter last week and I might frame it:
"I'm afraid I haven't budgeted for any unpaid work this period.
— 🌈👩🍳📚Jack Monroe (@BootstrapCook) February 12, 2020
I don't need exposure, YOU approached ME.
If it's a misunderstanding and this is an appropriately renumerated gig, I'll grab my diary.
My rates for this are £XX, plus agreed expenses.
Hope we can make this work!"
What if I want to work for free?
I get that there are times when you will want to offer your time and expertise for free, because it’s a cause you believe in or a situation you want to support. That’s ok if it’s your choice. I know Jen does a lot of free talks and workshops for local councils, schools and charities.
I volunteer for parkrun Deutschland - I give some of my time every week to support them with their communications because it’s a charitable organisation that I really believe in. My involvement as a participant has been life changing and I am happy to give something back.
When you decide to give your time it should be because you choose to and you believe in what you are supporting and you are able to do it because you are financially stable from paid work too. Not because of ‘exposure.’
We need to stand together on this and demand the respect of payment. We owe it to ourselves and each other. #IWD