Sooner or later, the column that began as a favour — 800 words on a Friday, a nod from an editor you like — turns into a conversation about contracts. And that conversation usually arrives with a question attached: do you want to come on staff, or stay freelance? Both answers can be right. They simply trade different things: money, security, rights and freedom. What follows is a plain comparison, written for someone who is good at writing and less sure about the paperwork.
What each contract actually is
A staff columnist is an employee. You sign an employment contract, you are paid a salary through PAYE, you accrue holiday, you get sick pay, you are likely to be auto-enrolled into a pension, and you have a notice period. In return, the publication sets your schedule, expects you at meetings, and usually owns the copyright in what you write as part of the job.
A freelance columnist sells columns one at a time. An editor commissions a piece, you agree a fee, a length and a deadline, you file, you invoice, and you handle your own tax. Somewhere between the two sits the retainer: a fixed monthly fee for a set number of columns, often with a notice clause. It is the closest thing to security you will find without a payroll number.
Pay: the arithmetic nobody does at the time
A staff salary often looks modest per word and generous per month. That is the point. Employer National Insurance, pension contributions, paid holiday and paid sick leave sit on top of the figure in the offer letter, and none of them appear in a freelance fee. For a fair comparison, take the salary, divide it by the hours you will genuinely work — including the commute, the meetings and the reading — and treat that as your hourly rate.
Freelance fees are more transparent and more misleading. A fee per column is not your income from that column. Out of it comes pitching time, the pieces that never get commissioned, invoicing, bookkeeping, tax, your own holiday, your own sick days and your own equipment. A discipline that works: double your target annual income on paper, then work out how many columns you must sell, at what fee, to reach it. If the number looks absurd, the fee is too low or the plan is too optimistic.
Payment terms matter as much as the fee. Thirty days is common; sixty is not rare, and late payment is the freelance columnist’s recurring irritation. Agree terms in writing before you file, invoice promptly, and chase politely but persistently.
Security, and what happens when the editor leaves
On staff, security is real but bounded. There is a probation period, then notice, then — depending on how long you have been there and what your employment status is — statutory rights if things go wrong. Those rights turn on length of service and status, so if a situation becomes difficult, speak to Acas or a union adviser rather than guessing at your position.
Freelance security lives entirely in your address book. A change of editor can end a column that has run for six years, with no notice and no appeal. You can blunt that: ask for a retainer with a month’s notice on either side, keep three or four outlets warm rather than one, and refresh your pitch list every quarter so you are never starting from nothing.
Rights: the small print that outlives the column
Under UK copyright law, the person who creates a work generally owns it — unless they assign it, or unless they created it as an employee in the course of their employment, in which case the employer usually owns it. That single sentence explains most of the difference between the two contracts, and most of the argument you may end up having.
Freelance contracts frequently ask for an assignment of copyright “throughout the world in all media, now known or hereafter devised”. For a 900-word opinion piece, that is a large request. A licence limited by time, territory and medium often covers the publication’s real needs. Clauses worth reading twice:
- Copyright: assignment or licence? If assignment, can you keep the right to reuse the piece in a portfolio or a book?
- Exclusivity and non-compete: does it stop you writing for rival titles, and for how long after the commission?
- Syndication and archive reuse: do you share in the money if the column is resold?
- Moral rights: UK law gives you the right to be identified as the author and to object to derogatory treatment, but both can be waived in writing — and contracts often do exactly that.
- Indemnity: you may be promising the piece is original and not defamatory. Check that you can realistically carry that risk.
- Kill fees: what you are paid if the column is spiked after you have filed it.
Contract and employment law turns on detail, so if a clause worries you, have it looked at before you sign. The NUJ advises members on contracts, and a solicitor will usually cost less than the rights you might otherwise give away.
Editorial freedom is not the same as writing what you like
Staff columnists get a platform, a sub-editor, a lawyer on tap and colleagues to argue with. They also get house style, a brief, meetings and a voice that has to sit inside the title’s. Freedom grows with trust; the first year is largely about proving you can file on time without causing the desk a headache.
Freelance freedom is front-loaded. You choose your subjects and your angle at the pitch stage, which is where the real creative latitude sits. After commissioning, though, the editor can cut your opening, rewrite the headline, hold the piece for a fortnight or drop it entirely. Ask early: who edits, who writes the headline, will you see proofs, and what happens if you disagree with a change. Editors rarely mind being asked. They mind being surprised.
Practical steps before you sign
Whichever way you lean, the same handful of moves will protect you:
- Ask for the contract in writing before you agree a start date or a fee, and read it in one sitting with a pen in hand.
- Compare the whole package, not the headline number: pension, holiday, notice, expenses, fee, payment terms.
- Negotiate. Fee, copyright, kill fee and notice are all regularly moved, and asking is normal.
- If you stay freelance, set aside part of every payment for tax and quiet months, and keep a simple record of pitches, commissions and payment dates.
- Keep copies of everything — contracts, commissions by email, filed drafts, invoices.
If you want both, a part-time staff column plus freelance work elsewhere is a workable middle. Check the exclusivity clause first, and clear outside writing with your employer rather than hoping nobody notices.
This is general guidance rather than legal, tax or financial advice. Before you sign anything containing a rights clause, or set up as self-employed, spend an hour with an accountant, a solicitor or your union. It is the cheapest insurance a columnist can buy.
Photo: freephotocc / Pixabay
