Independent-contractor agreements
Engage someone to provide services on their own account: scope, fees, who owns the work and how it ends.
Set the terms of work with an independent contractor.
- Business / Legal document
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Key features
Scope and statements of work
Services described so both know what is included, what is excluded, and further work added only by a signed written statement.
How the contractor works
The contractor decides how, when and where, uses its own equipment and may work for others.
Fees, invoices and expenses
Fixed, hourly, daily or milestone fees, a cap you can set, invoice contents and payment time, and pre-approved expenses.
Ownership and confirmations
Who owns what the contractor creates, the contractor's pre-existing material staying theirs, and confirmations about licences and not breaching another agreement.
Standard of work, insurance and ending
Care and skill, putting work right, insurance evidence, notice to end, immediate ending after an unresolved failure and a mutual non-solicitation blank.
About this document
An independent contractor agreement records that a client engages a contractor who carries on business on their own account. It covers the services and what is outside them, how work is defined and dated, how the contractor works, fees, invoices and expenses, people the contractor may use, who owns the work, insurance, standards and how the engagement ends.
The form states the parties' intention that the contractor is not an employee, and says neither party is advising the other about how the engagement is to be treated. That intention is not decisive: whether a worker is a contractor or an employee for tax, wage and benefits purposes depends on the real working arrangement and differs by state and by agency, so ask a lawyer if the line is unclear.
Is this document right for you?
Useful when
- You hire a freelancer or consultant for a defined job
- You are a contractor wanting scope, fees and ownership recorded
- You want a statement of work attached for each project
Commonly used by
- Businesses engaging specialists
- Self-employed contractors and consultants
- Agencies engaging subcontractors
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Alternatives
These are separate documents, for different jobs.
- Freelance agreementsSet the scope, fees and terms of freelance work.View document
- Consulting agreementsSet the terms of a consulting engagement.View document
- Contractor termination noticesEnd an arrangement with a contractor in writing.View document
- Contractor classification supportWork out whether someone is a contractor or an employee.View document
When to use this
- A company engages a designer for a six-month project
- A contractor agrees milestones and an hourly cap
- A client adds new work by a signed statement of work
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More in Service & Vendor
- Vendor agreementsSet the terms for buying from a vendor.View document
- Client service agreementsSet the scope, fees and terms of work for a client.View document
- Consulting agreementsSet the terms of a consulting engagement.View document
- Construction ContractSet the terms for a construction project.View document
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Questions
About the independent-contractor agreements
No. How the law treats a worker depends on the facts of the working relationship, not what the agreement says, and differs by state and by purpose. This is a common area of dispute, so get advice if the arrangement is close to employment.
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