亲爱的安妮：2011年的公司重组撤掉了我所在的部门，我也因此丢掉了饭碗。我决定自谋职业，做一名自由职业者，提供网页设计和SEO咨询服务。这种工作模式很不错，但是有一个大问题。很多时候，客户对我的工作非常满意，一切都进展得很顺利。但是在最后结账时，我却得一等再等。有些时候，尽管我反复委婉地提醒对方，但有些活我最终还是没能拿到报酬。

    我能通过朋友和朋友的朋友获得大多数工作，这一点非常幸运。所以，我不想把事情弄糟。（例如，我真的不想把任何人告上法庭。）但是，和所有人一样，我需要支付各类账单。总是担心付款时间以及能否付款，这几乎把我逼疯了。这是自由职业者面临的普遍问题吗？还是我哪些地方做错了？对此您有什么好的建议吗？—— B.B.

    亲爱的B.B.：我很遗憾的告诉你，你所面临的窘境并不罕见。最近在纽约州开展的一项针对自由职业者的调查发现，有31.6万名（约35%）受访者在上一年度经历过至少一次付款延迟，约21.4万名（14%）受访者曾经遇到一个或多个客户没有付款。仅纽约州一年的工资损失总额就超过30亿美元。

    位于布鲁克林的自由职业者联盟（Freelancers Union）是一家为自由职业者提供医疗保险和其他资源的非盈利性协会。联盟创始人和运营人萨拉•霍洛维兹指出：“很多情况下，客户不是故意延迟付款。只是因为你的发票与所有其他应付款项的发票集中到了一起。特别是自经济衰退以来，许多公司把付款周期从30天延迟到60天，甚至是90天。”

    无论客户是不是故意的，霍洛维兹都认同你的观点——它给个人生活造成的伤害是“无法接受的”。为此，自由职业者联盟起草了《自由职业者报酬保护法案》（the Freelancer Payment Protection Act），目前正努力通过纽约州立法。这样一来，自由职业者就能享受许多与正式员工相同的解决方法，包括向州立劳务部投诉的权利。

    美国现有4,200万名自由职业者，而且人数还在不断增加。霍洛维兹希望其他州今后也会采取类似的措施。但是，在你聘用律师或收款中介机构之前，霍洛维兹【她曾写过一本非常有用的书，名为《自由职业者圣经》（The Freelancer's Bible）】还给出了下面六条建议。

    1. 事先把支付条款写入书面合同

    如果你大部分工作都来自朋友，那你可能没有正式的书面合同。但是，你的确应该把合同正式化。（你可以免费使用自由职业者联盟网站上的定制版合同。）霍洛维兹指出：“商定一个期限。如果客户的付款期限是90天，而你的期限是30天，则可以把期限商定为60天。此外，合同还可以明确占总费用一定比例的滞纳金。”

    2. 要求在项目完成前获得部分款项

    为了帮你平衡现金流，而且考虑到你提前付出自己的时间和精力，霍洛维兹建议，签合同时收取 “预付款”，或在项目的约定时间（如工作完成一半时）收取部分费用。客户通常愿意支付部分款项，同时它还相当于提前向你发出了一个警告：没准你已经浪费了大量的时间。试想，如果（有约在先，）而你的工作都已经进行了一半，却还没有拿到支票，你还愿意继续干吗？

    Dear Annie: After losing my job in 2011, when my department was eliminated in a restructuring, I decided to go out on my own and do web design and SEO consulting on a freelance basis. It's been great, except for one big problem. Over and over, I do the work, the client is happy with it, everything's cool, but I end up waiting and waiting to get paid -- and, in a couple of cases, have not been paid at all despite repeated, polite reminders.

    I've been lucky enough to get most of these gigs through my network of friends, and friends of friends, so I don't want things to get nasty. (For example, I really don't want to take anybody to court.) But I have bills and expenses like everyone else, so the suspense over when, or whether, I'll get paid is making me crazy. Is this a common problem for freelancers, or am I doing something wrong? Do you have any suggestions? — Broke in Boston

    Dear B.B.: I'm sorry to report that your dilemma is not at all unusual. One recent study of self-employed people in New York state, for instance, found that 316,000 of them (about 35%) were paid late at least once during the preceding year, and some 214,000 (14%) did work for one or more clients who never paid them at all. Total lost wages in the Empire State alone, over a 12-month span: More than $3 billion.

    "Delays in payment usually aren't deliberate on the client's part," notes Sara Horowitz, who founded and runs Freelancers Union, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit association that offers health insurance and other resources to the self-employed. "It's just that your invoices get lumped in with all the other accounts payable -- and, especially since the recession, more companies are pushing those out beyond 30 days to 60, or even 90."

    Intentional or not, she agrees with you that the damage to individuals' livelihoods is "not acceptable." In response, the Freelancers Union drafted a bill called the Freelancer Payment Protection Act, now wending its way through the New York State legislature, that would give the self-employed many of the same remedies for non-payment that regular employees now have, including the right to file grievances with the state department of labor.

    With the U.S. freelance population now at 42 million and growing, Horowitz expects that other states will eventually adopt similar measures. In the meantime, though, and before you hire a lawyer or a collection agency, Horowitz -- who, incidentally, wrote a terrifically useful book calledThe Freelancer's Bible — has six suggestions.

    1. Include payment terms in a written contract up front

    If you're getting most of your assignments from friends, maybe you aren't formalizing contracts in writing, but you should. (Freelancers Union's web site has a free customizable contract you can use.) "Negotiate a time limit. If their policy is 90 days and yours is 30, maybe you can agree on 60," says Horowitz. "The contract can also specify a late fee, usually a percentage of the total amount."

    2. Get a portion paid before the project is finished

    To help even out your cash flow, and since you're committing your time and effort in advance, Horowitz recommends charging some "earnest money" when the contract is signed, or payable at an agreed upon point in the project -- say, when the work is half complete. Not only are partial payments often more digestible for clients, but they give you an early warning that you may be wasting your time on a deadbeat: If you don't see a check at the halfway mark (if that was the deal), are you sure you want to finish the job?