contractor

A independent contractor is a natural person or a company that enters into a contract for services as opposed to a natural person who enters into a contract of service (i.e. an employment contract).

Whether a person is an employee or an independent contractor of a company is an important question of law that may have serious consequential affects on parties rights and liabilities. For instance, the first of legal owner most intellectual property rights is the person who created the intellectual property, unless the person is an employee - in which case the employer owns the intellectual property.

Employment legislation and workers' statutory rights apply to employees automatically, which may lead to undesirable consequences where a temporary assignment is envisaged.

Contractors do have the more restricted obligations of confidentiality as employees during the course of their employment and are generally free to contract with whomever they please, including competitors.

Contractors rights are governed by ordinary principles of contract law, so positive obligations must be present in the contract in order to manage the relationship with contractors properly.

Usage: The contractor commenced work on the short-term project.

Related Words: employment contract; contract; offer; acceptance; remuneration; employment.