Date:         Sat, 15 Sep 2001 19:50:52 GMT
Reply-To:     lpogoda <lpogoda@HOTMAIL.SPAMFREE.COM>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         lpogoda <lpogoda@HOTMAIL.SPAMFREE.COM>
Organization: Excite@Home - The Leader in Broadband http://home.com/faster
Subject:      Re: Slightly offtopic: SAS billing per hour

Christian F.G. Schendera wrote in message
<000701c13de8$9a3a3ee0$6f2836d5@notebook>...
>How many minutes are meant by "per hour" in SAS and related business? For
>example, a company charges *$50 per hour*. So, how many minutes are meant
>per hour, e.g., the notorious academic hour (45min.), or a standard hour
(60
>min.)?
>Do different hour conventions differ in including pauses, preparation,
etc.?
>Best,
>Chris

For me, an hour is 60 minutes.  I tend to regard an hour as "billable" if
it's spent at the client's site - only very occasionally do I have billable
time spent off-site.  Travel time at the client's behest between sites
during the workday is billable - mileage for such travel is billable, though
not all clients agree, even if they pay mileage to their employees.  Travel
to and from the client site is not (but I don't take jobs beyond a
reasonable daily commuting distance).

Normal daily activities - going to the bathroom, reasonable breaks, (stuff
that regular, full time employees get paid for) are billable.  Daily lunch
time is not, but a company sponsored lunch that everyone's expected to
attend is - but I always ask first, and if the answer is that the company
will not pay for the time, I don't attend (once, at the client's behest, an
afternoon baseball game was billable time).

Billing is in quarter-hour increments (I work through agencies, and that's
their policy).  Personal business is kept to the minimum possible and if at
all possible conducted during "slack time", when I'm ready, willing, and
able to work, but the client either does not have work for me to do or is
not able to have me do it (the computer/network is down).  When a phone call
is necessary (to make an appointment, for example) it's generally brief.  I
follow the policy of the client - if regular employees are allowed to make
such calls, I regard those few minutes as billable.  Time spent off-site
attending to personal business (like keeping that appointment) is not, even
if regular employees are granted such time with pay.

Absences due to holidays, vacations, inclement weather, sickness, etc. are
not billable.  I don't bill for after-hours time spent talking about a
client problem or searching for a solution with colleagues or my spouse, or
searching the web for possible solutions, but web searches during the
workday are billable.