| | Which document shall I use?
These document templates cover almost every self employed situation. The following questions will help you to decide which is most suitable for you.
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Are you really an employee? If you are, your employee must, by law, give you a paper setting out the basic terms under which you work. None of these documents is suitable.
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If you are self employed, but do not do work which you would describe as “consultancy”, chose the self employed contract AU-COM221. You may be a gardener, a horse trainer, a builder or a yacht repairer. This document is also suitable for the client to buy and use to make clear that the contract is not one of employment.
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If you describe yourself as a “consultant” or if you are selling expertise or knowledge, you need one of the following documents.
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If you take your clients only off the Internet, you will need a “terms and conditions” document to put on your website. Use AU-ECM181.
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For all other consultants, it is assumed that you will present your contract to a client on the basis that the client will probably sign it “as is”, but may wish to negotiate. COM102 and AU-COM201 contain similar terms. AU-COM201 is drawn for specific “assignments”, while AU-COM102 is drawn for repeat work, paid either by lump sums of by the hour.
Who will use these documents?
Key features:
- the consultant contracts 201, 202 and 203 are “over-arching” agreements designed for ongoing use to cover a series of assignments
- however, they may also be used for single assignment
- AU-COM102 is designed to be used for a single assignment and signed by the parties. Of course you can save a clean version and use it many times for different clients.
- consultant to work from home or office
- very flexible to suit the requirements of either or both parties
- provides a complete framework
- protects both sides
- establishes as far as possible a self employed status
- reduces the chances for employer obligations to arise.
Why use these documents?
For thousands of self employed people some version of this document will be presented to a new client as “my contract”. For any business using self employed people it provides the essential starting point for the relationship.
Note however, that although the agreement clothes the transaction with all the characteristics of self employment, simply using one of these contracts will not necessarily avoid the relationship of employer and employed. Any industrial tribunal will be entitled to look behind the agreement at the reality of the contract. Some of the questions they might ask are:
- is this the contractors only work or does he work for others too?
- does the client control how the work is done?
- are the hours fixed by the client or can the contractor choose when he works?
- does the contractor work on the clients premises, using the client's equipment?
- to what extent is the contractor at risk as a self employed person?
- is self employment normal for this kind of work?
AU-COM201, 102, 202 and 203 include the following provisions; AU-COM221 and AU-ECM181 are shorter:
- consultant's obligations
- consultant's status
- consultant's fees and expenses
- duration and termination
- matters after termination
- consultant's other work
- data protection
- insurance
- confidentiality
- intellectual property
- appropriate legal provisions - warranties, exclusions, indemnities,
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