A contractor agreement does two jobs: it sets out the commercial arrangement, and it evidences that the relationship really is contracting rather than employment. It cannot achieve the second on its own — substance decides that — but a good one is consistent with it and a bad one contradicts it.

What belongs in it

  • The work, defined by outcome rather than by hours attended.
  • The fee, and what triggers it — a deliverable, a milestone, a stage.
  • Payment terms, and the invoice details you need.
  • Term, and how either side ends it.
  • Who owns the work product — see below, because the default may not be what you expect.
  • Confidentiality, where they will see anything sensitive.
  • Their own tax and statutory obligations, stated as theirs.
  • Whether they may substitute somebody else — a genuine right to substitute points strongly away from employment.

Intellectual property is the one people miss

Where a contractor creates something — code, designs, copy, photographs — ownership does not always default to the person paying for it. Unlike work made by an employee in the course of employment, the position with an independent contractor frequently favours the creator unless it is dealt with.

If you need to own it, say so in the agreement. Discovering afterwards that you hold a licence rather than ownership is an unpleasant surprise when you come to sell the business or use the work somewhere new.

Write it so it reads like contracting

Specify deliverables rather than working hours. Avoid language about reporting lines, supervision, leave and performance reviews. Do not require attendance at internal staff meetings unless it is genuinely necessary to the work.

None of this is about disguising anything — if the relationship is genuinely contracting, the agreement should simply describe it accurately. Where you find yourself unable to write it without employment language, that is the answer to the classification question.

Then behave consistently with it

A carefully drafted agreement is undone by treating the person as staff: setting their hours, disciplining them, including them in the leave system, telling them how rather than what.

A tribunal or SARS looks at what actually happened, and what actually happened is what everybody in the business will describe when asked.

Keep the paperwork

The signed agreement, their invoices, and evidence they work for others where you have it. That set of documents is what supports the classification if it is ever examined, and assembling it years later from memory is not the same thing.

General guidance, not legal advice. Intellectual property and classification are consequential; have agreements drafted or reviewed properly.