With the emergence of technology, millions and millions of talent are now accessible at your fingertips. However, just when we thought things were getting easier, they actually got trickier. With a lot of contractors to choose from, it gets more and more challenging to find the perfect fit! But when you do find the right candidate and are now ready to start inking that legally-binding contract, you might want to consider a few things first before it starts becoming your nightmare.
Today, Helen Kay—a contracts lawyer and a repeat guest—is back by popular demand in Part 4 of our mini-series ‘Protecting Your Trade Business From Legal Risk’ to discuss with us the difference between a contractor and an employee, some of the risks that you need to weigh before getting into a contract with someone, and the practicalities when hiring a contractor.
Make wise onboarding decisions and start forging contracts with the right people by tuning in to this episode!
Disclaimer: This podcast episode contains information that resonates specifically with the Australian legal system. If you are offshore and have inquiries about your market, please seek legal advice from qualified attorneys in your country or state.
Resources:
- Come and visit my website at (https://www.thesiteshed.com/)
- Check my latest podcast or listen to the previous ones (https://www.thesiteshed.com/podcasts/)
- Join our Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheSiteShed)
- Tradie Web Guys (https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/apply)
- Employee/Contractor Decision Tool (https://web.archive.org/web/20230301202204/https://www.ato.gov.au/Calculators-and-tools/Employee-or-contractor/)
- Check other episodes in this series Protecting Your Trade from Legal Risks with Helen Kay
What’s Discussed In This Episode:
- What is Rise Legal? [03:45]
- Legal disclaimer [04:47]
- What makes today’s topic timely [05:14]
- Don’t rush into it [06:35]
- Overview of today’s topic [07:26]
- Why you need to get necessary legal documents in place [09:53]
- What is a contractor? [10:28]
- Identifying a contractor and an employee [11:45]
- Hiring contractors vs hiring employees [12:40]
- If 80% of your worker’s income comes from you, you should pay the employee benefits [15:08]
- The best thing to do is to err on the side of caution [16:19]
- Six factors that determine whether your worker is an employee or a contractor [17:25]
- Contractors can delegate their work [17:34]
- Contractors get paid based on a quote; Employees get paid based on work hours [17:44]
- Contractors provide their own assets, employees don’t [17:55]
- Contractors take commercial risks [19:22]
- Ways to draft a contract with a contractor [20:07]
- Deliberate on the legal and insurance risks before signing a contract [23:55]
- It’s essential to get a legal advisor to review your contract [26:08]
- Subcontracting on a small-scale business [27:09]
- Any contractor should have a tailor suit template for all subcontractors [28:05]
- Clauses you need to include in as-and-when contracts [29:01]
- The tendering process for contractors [30:50]
- The practicality when hiring contractors [32:15]
- Grab a copy of their insurance [33:18]
- Trust your gut [34:00]
- The human element is still essential for all types of industries [35:33]
- You can’t build human touch points into tech-related automation [36:57]
- Bullet points to remember when hiring contractors [37:06]
About Our Guest
Helen Kay is a business lawyer, in fact she is The Contracts Lawyer. She is a highly accomplished commercial and property lawyer with extensive legal experience working within top tier firms in Australia as well as running her own legal practice and heading up various commercial practices over the years.
Helen has assisted many businesses across different industry sectors with their commercial legal agreements, including commercial leases, buying and selling businesses and providing general contractual advice.
Connect with me on LinkedIn. For more podcast episodes, you may also visit my website. Tune in and subscribe to The Site Shed: You can also listen to The Site Shed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.
Thank you for tuning in!
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