Time off, and quiet weeks
Holiday, breaks, and the weeks when no work arrives — which of those are anybody's responsibility but yours.
Is any time off paid, or do I just not earn?
The law where you areDo I have to ask, or only tell them?
What you signedWhat happens in a month with no work in it?
Only what happensDoes turning something down count against me?
Four questions a person in this position actually asks. One of them has no answer anybody can give in advance, and nothing here fills a blank with a guess. Two of these have findable answers and two depend entirely on the people involved.
Taking Time Off
In most independent arrangements time off is unpaid and unapproved: you lose the income and you also do not have to ask.
Asking, or Telling
The habit of requesting permission arrives without anybody imposing it, and it changes both how the arrangement feels and how it reads to anybody looking.
Rest, Breaks and the Long Day
Limits on working time apply to some categories and not others, and where none applies the only limit is one you set yourself.
Turning Work Down
Declining work is a normal feature of the arrangement and the thing people in it find hardest, usually because of a risk nobody can measure.
Working for Somebody Else as Well
Whether you may take other work is a term you signed and a question about the shape of your position, and the second matters more than people expect.
The Holiday You Did Not Take
Where a category carries paid time away, it is frequently unclaimed because nobody tells you it exists or how to take it.
Available Without Being Paid for It
Time held open for one client cannot be sold to anybody else, and the expectation of readiness is usually unpriced because nobody names it.