Ensuring eSignature Lawfulness for Independent Contractor Agreement in Canada

How to eSign a document: e-signature lawfulness for Independent Contractor Agreement in Canada

[Music] you know a term that gets thrown around the the workplace in the working world all the time is independent contractor versus employee so what is the difference first of all John an independent contractor is it's a very different beast that an employee and so many times every single day John multiple times a day I speak with people that believe that they're independent contractors or I speak with companies that believe that they employ independent contractors and they're not really independent contractors so let's start off with the idea that an independent contractor John is someone that's in business for himself or herself someone that tries to get customers from someone that manages their expenses in the hope of making a profit someone that doesn't have regular hours doesn't work exclusively for a company someone that really is a business person now let's compare that to an employee an employee has a company or an employer that they work for they would have ours fixed by the company they would be working doing the company's work under the company's direction they're not self-employed they're not independent contractors so the real question is are you really self-employed or you work for someone else what you call yourself what someone else calls you is irrelevant and it doesn't even factor into the analysis does it really matter that is is one better than the other do either be an independent contractor or an employee well it's a huge deal and it absolutely matters because if you're an employee that means you have the rights the entitlements the protections of an employee so you have rights with respect the minimum wage and hours of work and overtime and vacation and severance etc etc etc whereas an independent contractor doesn't have any of those rights so you really want to understand what you are and where I see this issue this issue distinguishing between contractors and employees come up all the time is when the relationship comes to an end what the person is being terminated at that point the company may say or believe that there were an independent contractor or not pay any severance but if the law considers you to be an employee then guess what you're an employee and you're owed severance and it could be the difference between getting zero severance - getting a hundred thousand dollars in seven so it's a huge deal to understand what you really are and what you call yourself as I said does not matter can you still be an independent contractor if you don't fit say all the criteria or if it's a handshake agreement between you and someone else still work so what we try to do John is there's a number of criteria but we're trying to look at the relationship as a whole so it's not enough to say I meet one criteria on this and and another criteria on the other end we look at the relationship as a whole and and see are you really self-employed are you a self-employed business person or you work for someone else you know there's an example I like to use and that is the plumber example so if you call a plumber to your house to fix a leaky sink then that plumber comes to your house fix the sink and then moves on to the next job and they have another job in another job and hopefully they have more jobs tomorrow they don't work for you they're an independent contractor they came to you they did a job you paid them for that job and they move on now if someone else comes into your house and does work every day Monday to Friday 9:00 to 5:00 well at that point that person is an employee so what you have to ask yourself is are you the plumber or like the plumber or are you something other than that if you're something other than that then you're probably an employee in the eyes of the law which means again you have the rights the protections of any employee someone could be listening to us or watching this thing all the way today I sound like an employee but they don't deduct taxes from me does that make me a better contract it does not matter John just because the company doesn't deduct taxes doesn't mean you're an independent contractor had a lady contact me recently she was working for a company as a bookkeeper for over 20 years Monday to Friday regular hours and when she was let go she was paid no severance and I asked her why wouldn't they pay you severance that's ridiculous she said well because I was an independent contractor I was invoicing them I was they were not withholding taxes well John of course she was not an independent contractor she was an employee she had a job she went to work Monday to Friday she worked in my company's offices she was not an independent contractor she was an employee and because of that not only was she owed severance she was out about 18 months pay 18 months so for her John that was about $65,000 that she was owed in severance that's why it's so important to understand what you really are it really tens of thousands of dollars if not more what if I'm incorporated or I go and become incorporated it sounds very important but just disappear difference it's actually very easy to become incorporated you fill out some forms you pay a fee and voila instead of John you're now John Inc the fact that you fill out those forms and paid the fee doesn't change the reality of what you are it doesn't change the fact that you're still but an employee anyone can incorporate and if it was as simple as just incorporating everyone can be an independent contractor every person that works anywhere could become an independent contractor just by filling out some forms well the law is smarter than that John and because of that we really have to look at substance over form if you look like an employee and act like an employee you're an employee it doesn't matter what the other things suggest substance over form that's always the the less lost your job employment law myth number five there's no point in calling a lawyer because my employer treated me fairly fact over 90% of people are offered much less than they wrote always go to employment lawyer CA and check with the employment lawyer first