Please note that the information provided herein is not legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only.   If you need legal advice with respect to finding an independent contractor lawyer or attorney, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).  We have Ontario independent contractor agreement lawyers registered on the website who can assess your business needs and help you draft, understand, negotiate, and resolve disputes involving an independent contractor agreement or contract – I should know, I’m one of them!  If you want to speak with me directly, you can contact me at michael@dynamiclawyers.com.

In this blog, I’ll be discussing some nuances when it comes to drafting independent contractor agreements and contracts.  Be sure to check out my previous 2 blogs about independent contractors: the basics and a general template.

Description of Work
In this part of the agreement, the parties will be able to easily outline the terms under which the independent contractor will do work.  A description of work is merely a standard document that is attached and incorporated into the agreement which allows the parties to agree on what work needs to get done.  The description of work will typically include information about the services to be performed, the start date and end date, compensation, a payment schedule (if any), required status reports (if any), the client’s special conditions of acceptance, (if any), etc.

Character of the Relationship
It is very important that the parties spell out what the nature or character of their relationship is going to be.  Granted, they want to be independent businesses working at arm’s length with each other.  But the realities may dictate otherwise (e.g. the relationship may be that of employer-employee, joint venturers or partners, trustee and beneficiary, etc.).  Hence, it’s important that the agreement state clearly that the relationship is one of independent contractor and client.  The realities must also reflect this.  There are many factors which courts and other triers of fact will use to determine what exactly the relationship is – including control, ownership of tools, ability for the alleged independent contractor to make more money or make a loss, supervision and management of the work, training, payment type and method of payment, hours of work and length of engagement, etc.  It’s best to try to address these factors in the agreement so you don’t end up leaving it to a court to determine based on the totality of factors.

Expenses
The independent contractor agreement should make it clear who is responsible for expenses incurred in the course of the independent contractor offering the services.  Such expenses include travel, accommodation, meals, equipment (which includes costs associated with acquiring, maintaining, replacing, renting, transporting, insuring, and disposing of equipment), etc.

Personal Information and Privacy
Many people may forget to include provisions about this in their independent contractor agreement, but it’s essential to have: the independent contractor should consent to the disclosure and use of their personal information and should also acknowledge that they may become, in the course of their engagement, aware of personal information about others.  Hence, the independent contractor agreement should stipulate that the Independent Contractor agrees to follow the company’s policy/code/rules and the applicable privacy legislation with respect to the collection, use, disclosure, etc. of personal information.  Finally, there should be a provision in the indemnification provisions dealing with breaches – either real or alleged – of privacy legislation or of this section of the agreement dealing with personal information.

Conclusion
Remember, if you need to consult with a lawyer about independent contractor lawyer or attorney about drafting, understanding, negotiating, etc. your independent contractor agreement, be sure to make a post on Dynamic Lawyers or contact me directly at michael@dynamiclawyers.com.

In case you’re a Client and looking to engage the services of an Independent Contractor in Ontario, look no further:

Independent Contractor Agreement (Client) – No Schedules

This Agreement can be used by a Client who wants to engage the services of an Independent Contractor (e.g. a consultant, a professional, a general worker, etc.) without creating an employment relationship. The “Client” means that this Independent Contractor Agreement favours the Client – for example, through notice, termination, standards of care, and restrictive covenants, etc. The “No Schedules” means that there are no schedules in this particular Independent Contractor Agreement – although some have a Statement of Work or Description of Work, etc. This one does not. There will be different versions of this agreement which favour both the Client and the Independent Contractor and which may include Schedules. Schedules aren’t absolutely necessary. They’re just one way of having an agreement instead of writing things out in the actual agreement, you simply modify the Schedule. Here’s the sample Video Guide that comes with this Independent Contractor Agreement (Client) – No Schedules:

All of Dynamic Lawyers‘ legal forms are lawyer-prepared, simple to read, easy to customize, and only a fraction of the price a lawyer would charge. Also, each legal form comes with a FREE VIDEO GUIDE (watch a useful example of how this legal form can be customized), a FREE DL GUIDE (read helpful information about this legal form), and another FREE DL GUIDE that sheds valuable insight into how legal forms can be challenged. What are you waiting for? Best of all, if you DO need a lawyer and need some legal advice, simply make a post and get FREE quotes from Ontario lawyers focusing on the area of law you require!

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