Independent Contractor Agreement

Like an employee, there’s the person’s compensation to think about. You can pay them a bi-weekly or bi-monthly (or some other schedule) fee, much like a salary. You could also pay them an hourly rate. You can even include bonuses and equity compensation (stock options, for example). But, usually independent contractors don’t have vacation or health benefits, and they are responsible for their own taxes and how they run their business. For example, you may want them to have their own insurance. You’ll also want to describe the work they’re supposed to do so everyone is clear from day one.

You may want to limit your contractor’s ability to compete with you while they work with you and after they move on. This is commonly called a “non-competition” clause. You may also want to limit your contractor’s ability to call up your customers, clients, or even your other contractors to ask them to do business. This is called a “non-solicitation” clause. In Canadian law, these are sensitive topics so we’ll guide you through what is more likely to be held up by the courts.

When a person works as an Independent Contractor, they’re generally responsible for their own work and business. So, the Independent Contractor is assuming the risk of their work. Whether you’re the client or the contractor, you’ll want to be nice and clear about business risk so you’re on the same page. Both parties generally want to limit their responsibility to things that are within their control. We’ll guide you through liability when working with – or as – an independent contractor.

An independent contractor relationship gives both parties some flexibility. You can work with others, run your own businesses as you see fit, and have more independence over how you work. But, your contract needs to be set up right for it or the law, and even the tax authorities, will look at you as employer and employee. We’ll take care of that in your contract.

The most frustrating projects are the ones where you just don’t even know where to start. We get that. When you click on Make My Document, our guide will walk you through how to set up your document with helpful tips at each step.

You can also save your document and continue later if you need to think about things. So, let’s go through it together step by step.