World Jump Day

If your client says ‘Jump’ and you say ‘How high?’ is it really a contractor relationship? Or are you a misclassified employee (with unclaimed entitlements)?

A true contractor is running a business of their own and managing all of the risks that entails. They ought to have enough expertise to control how they do the work, or even who they delegate to within their team. A contractor running a service business most likely has a number of clients or customers and they supply their own tools (computer, phone etc). A service business owner chooses who they work with, when they work and which commissions they accept.

If you are being paid as a contractor, but do not have control over the who, what, when, why, how – you might be involved in sham contracting. Chances are, you should be considered an employee with all the protections that an employee enjoys.

If you are employing a ‘contractor’ and you supply the tools, they work 9-5 Monday to Friday, you might have an issue on your hands. Just because the worker would prefer to be a contractor and you have a contract in place, you need to review the rules each and every time to protect your business from claims down the track. Having to pay super, leave and payroll tax on top of what you have already paid could push your business over the edge.

There is an ATO tool to help you decide.

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