For thousands of self employed people some version of this document will be presented to a new client as “my contract”. For any business using self employed people it provides the essential starting point for the relationship. It is suitable for anyone arranging terms for a contractor who will be carrying out work on assignment basis in a contractual arrangement.

Employee or self employed? Note that although the agreement clothes the transaction with all the characteristics of self employment, simply using one of these contracts will not necessarily avoid the relationship of employer and employed. Both the Inland Revenue and any industrial tribunal will be entitled to look behind the agreement at the reality of the contract. Some of the questions they might ask are:

•Is this the contractors only work or does he work for others too?

•Does the client control how the work is done?

•Are the hours fixed by the client or can the contractor choose when he works?

•Does the contractor work on the clients premises, using the client's equipment?

•To what extent is the contractor at risk as a self employed person.