Independent Contractor Agreement

An independent contractor agreement is for engaging one person to do defined work for a fee without making them an employee: a designer, developer, translator, consultant or writer. It says what the work is, for how long, how and when it is paid, who owns the result and how either side can walk away.

The agreement alone does not make someone independent. In most countries the authorities look at the facts: who decides when and where the work is done, whether the person uses their own tools, whether they can send a substitute, serve other clients and carry some business risk. If the facts look like employment, the label gives little protection. This form therefore spells out the independence in plain terms, and you should keep it real in practice.

The country selector adds what each place cares about. The US version covers tax status, the W-9 and 1099 paperwork and the limits of "work made for hire". The UK version addresses employment status and IR35, assigns copyright in a signed writing and mentions statutory late-payment interest. The Korean version covers withholding on fees and states the derivative-work and moral-rights points that Korean copyright law needs. The Japanese version follows the Freelance Act: written terms, payment within 60 days and 30 days' notice before a continuing contract ends. The German version separates a service contract from a contract for work, grants rights of use instead of transferring copyright and refers to the status procedure against false self-employment. Fixed, hourly or milestone fees are options in one form.

• You are hiring a freelancer for a project and want the scope, fee and ownership written down.
• You work with a freelancer by the hour or on a retainer and need clear payment and notice terms.
• You are the freelancer and want terms you can put in front of a new client.
• An informal email agreement has grown into regular work and needs a proper contract.

1. Choose your country first; the tax wording, the ownership clause and the notes change with it.
2. Your company details come from your saved details; enter the freelancer and, if there is one, their business number.
3. Describe the services and the deliverables concretely, and set the start date and, if it is a project, the end date.
4. Choose the fee: fixed, hourly (with an optional monthly cap) or milestones in the schedule. Set the days allowed to pay an invoice.
5. Decide who owns the finished work, and whether the freelancer's liability is limited to the fees.
6. Set the notice period, check the law and courts, sign, and give the freelancer a copy.

• Treating the freelancer like an employee: fixed hours, your tools, your instructions, only your work.
• Describing the services so vaguely that no one can tell when they are finished.
• Relying on the title "contractor" while the facts say employee.
• Leaving ownership of the result unsaid, so the freelancer keeps the copyright by default in many countries.
• Forgetting the tax paperwork your country asks for before the first payment.
• Having no notice period or payment term, so a dispute has nothing to point to.

1. Fill in
2. Check the preview
3. Save as PDF, Word or Excel

Pick the country you need. Each version uses the wording and layout commonly found there; a version marked “check with local advice” should be read by someone who knows the local rules before it is used.

• International (XX): Written in English, Korean, Japanese, German
• United States (US): Written in English – check with local advice
• United Kingdom (GB): Written in English – check with local advice
• Korea (KR): Written in Korean, English – check with local advice
• Japan (JP): Written in Japanese, English – check with local advice
• Germany (DE): Written in German, English – check with local advice