How Much Do Proofreaders in the UK Get Paid?
Proofreaders in the UK are generally paid at a set rate per hour, which is agreed between the proofreader and his or her client.
The Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) every year sets out minimum recommended rates for freelance proofreaders and those in related professions. Their recommended minimum hourly rates for 2008/09 are as follows:
Proofreading, simple indexing -- 19.25 UK pounds
Copy-editing, creative indexing (paper) -- 20.75 UKP
On-screen copy-editing -- 22.50 UKP
Substantial editing and rewriting -- 26.00 UKP
Project management -- 28.00 UKP
These rates include an extra element of 7.7% as holiday pay.
SfEP points out that these recommended minimum rates do not have any force in law, but they can be used as a starting point for negotiations. See their website at www.sfep.org.uk for further information.
In practice, many large publishers and other major employers of freelance proofreaders (e.g. government departments) routinely pay freelances at the SfEP recommended minimum rates as a matter of good practice. Proofreaders with specialist skills and experience -- e.g. those who can read music or mathematical formulae -- can often negotiate higher rates.
At the other end of the payscale, some organizations engaging freelance proofreaders pay less than the SfEP recommended minimum rates. This can apply especially with local newspaper and magazine publishers -- which are often run on a shoestring budget -- and in cases where freelances are employed via an agency.
It should also be noted that these rates apply only to self-employed freelances. Proofreaders who are employed full-time or part-time are typically paid at lower hourly rates, but as employees they enjoy a range of rights (e.g. sick pay) that freelances do not. In addition, employed proofreaders do not have to pay for overheads such as telephone, internet access, and so on. Employed proofreaders normally work from their employers' premises, although they may be able to do some or all of their work from home.
Finally, proofreaders are quite often asked to quote a fixed fee per job. They are then paid this regardless of how long the job actually takes. When quoting for work, a freelance will normally assess how long the job is likely to take and multiply this by her target hourly rate, remembering to make allowance for possible unexpected contingencies. If the job actually ends up taking her less time than she budgeted for, she will in effect be receiving a higher hourly rate. Of course, if she under-estimates the length of a job, the opposite is also true.
About the Author: John Hamilton is Course Leader for the Professional Proofreading & Editing Course, the leading correspondence course for freelance proofreaders and editors, run by Maple Academy (UK). For full details see http://www.mapleacademy.com/maple.nsf/Courses/Professional+Proofreading+Course
More articles by John Hamilton
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