A contractor’s agreement is an agreement between one party (usually referred to as the “principal”) and a service entity (usually referred to as the “contractor”).  The contractor agrees to provide a service to the principal for a fee.

This agreement is different to an employment agreement and it is important that you understand whether you are legally engaging someone as a contractor or an employee, as there can be certain tax and other liabilities if you get it wrong.

• New Zealand businesses
• Suitable for use by the contractor being engaged by a business, or the business owner looking to hire a contractor.

Yes! A contract protects both the principal and the contractor. It provides certainty and clarity by defining the working relationship and setting out the roles and obligations and of both parties.

An Independent Contractor Agreement covers:

• Services to be provided by the Contractor
• Fee to be paid by the Principal
• Leave, super, salary and tax obligations
• Insurance requirements
• Confidentiality
• Intellectual Property Rights
• Warranties, indemnities
• Termination rights
• Dispute Resolution

And other legal clauses typically included in a Contractor Agreement.

Complete the template, have it agreed and signed by both parties. Both parties keep a fully signed copy of the document for future reference.

Note: if you are hiring someone as an employee rather than a contractor, you will need our Employment Agreement (NZ)

Independent contractors generally:

• work for themselves /are their own boss
• can accept or refuse work
• control their own working times
• provide their own equipment
• have no guarantee of future work
• are responsible for paying their own super and income tax

Employees generally:

• work in someone else’s business
• are subject to controls on how, where and when they do their work
• are paid a wage or salary
• have the expectation of ongoing work
• receive employee entitlements, such as annual leave

Sham contracting arrangement is when an employer attempts to disguise an employment relationship as an independent contracting arrangement. This is usually done to avoid paying employee entitlements. The Employment Relations Authority will not support a sham contracting arrangement and the employer will still have to give the ‘employee’ their employment entitlements. The ‘employer’ may also receive penalties against them.

This template is designed for those doing business in NZ so either the Principal or should be in NZ. If neither party are in NZ, then depending on where you live, the contractual principles may be similar, however always check with a local lawyer in your jurisdiction.

It sure is! It is drafted by qualified New Zealand lawyers and is legally binding.

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All our templates come with instructions on how to complete them. You complete the highlighted text in the template in order to personalise to suit your business needs, then you save, delete any explanatory comments in the template, remove any remaining highlight and you are ready to use it. Feel free to add your branding and logo. We think your legals should fit seamlessly into your business branding.

Approximately 10-15 mins.

Legally Healthy templates are sold as standalone legal documents, not as part of a subscription. This means all purchases include the current version available at the time of sale, and we don’t offer automatic or ongoing updates.

Very occasionally, if a template is updated shortly after purchase, we may send the new version to that customer as a one-time courtesy — but this is not part of an official upgrade policy.

If you’d like access to a newer version of a template you previously purchased, you’re welcome to buy the updated version via the website.

We recommend you visit the Employment NZ website to read more.

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