The relationship between a freelancer and an employer is often built on trust, which creates a lot of problems. Concluding a contract can make life easier for both parties. Thus, the freelancer insures himself against the risks of non-payment of his labor, and the employer - against untimely delivery of work and poor-quality results.
The practice of hiring freelancers (from freelance - "out of state") is gaining popularity. Indeed, such employees do not need to rent premises, buy furniture and office equipment. Today, copywriters, journalists, lawyers, designers, programmers, cost estimating engineers, etc. work in the status of freelancers.
Work with freelancers can be built within the framework of an employment or civil law contract. The latter type of relationship is more common in Russian practice. Usually with freelancers they are:
- work agreement;
- contract for the provision of services for a fee;
- author's agreement.
Which one to choose depends on the goals of the customer and what exactly he would like to receive as a result of cooperation with a freelancer.
How to conclude a civil contract with a freelancer
A work contract is concluded if a specific result is important to the customer, which is transferred as a result of the work. The freelancer determines the way of performing work independently, the customer does not have the right to interfere with his activities. But, if desired, the customer can include intermediate stages of delivery of work in order to make adjustments to the course of work. Also, the customer will be able to better control the progress of work and if the contractor works too slowly, he will react in a timely manner and find another.
If the customer is important not so much the result as the process of performing work, then it is advisable to conclude a contract for the provision of services Thus, legal, accounting, psychological consultations can be formalized. However, in this case, it will be more difficult for the customer to prove that the work was performed poorly.
The copyright agreement is often used when ordering the services of journalists or copywriters. The peculiarity of this agreement is that it contains a clause on the transfer of copyright to the customer.
The form of the civil contract is developed by the customer. But it is desirable to include the following points in it:
- terms of performance of work and the responsibility of the contractor for delays (for example, fines or penalties);
- the procedure for accepting work (as a rule, these are acts of work performed), the procedure for eliminating deficiencies, terms for accepting work;
- the price of work can be firm and flexible (in the first case, the customer and the contractor are not entitled to go to a revision of the amount of remuneration);
- payment procedure, terms and frequency of payment for work, cost per unit of work (hour, 1000 characters, square meter, etc.);
- payment method (for example, transfer to a bank card);
- the rights and obligations of the customer and the contractor;
- responsibility of the parties for damages caused.
It is worth prescribing that electronic correspondence between the parties is legally binding. This will make it easier to collect evidence in the event of disputes.
How to conclude an employment contract with a freelancer
Since 2013, home work has been brought into the legal field. Thanks to the amendments to the Labor Code, it is possible to conclude an employment contract with freelancers. This is done remotely using electronic signatures. Moreover, such an employee must also familiarize himself with all local acts of the employer.
However, the employer is still obliged to send the employee a paper copy of the employment contract. This must be done by registered mail with a description of the attachment. Also, the remote employee, upon request, must be provided with documents for the registration of maternity benefits and sick leave.
The employment contract must comply with all the norms that are laid down in the Labor Code. In relation to the freelancer, must contain the full name and surname.employee, his passport data, TIN, SNILS, registration address. With regard to the employer: company name (full name of individual entrepreneur), TIN / KPP, legal address.
An employment contract must contain:
- date and place of conclusion of the contract;
- term of the contract: urgent or unlimited;
- place of work of a remote worker (his address), including special requirements for the workplace (access to the Internet, absence of extraneous noise, etc.);
- the procedure for remuneration;
- the procedure for accepting the work performed, the requirements for the design of the final results;
- the procedure for compensating the used consumables and other expenses that involve home work (for example, payment for Internet access, mobile communications, electricity, etc.);
- the procedure for providing tasks, necessary materials and equipment;
- work mode of the homeworker (no more than 40 hours);
- terms of termination of the contract (they must not be discriminatory).
It should be borne in mind that overtime work of homeworkers is not paid additionally. This is due to the specifics of the organization of their work. At the same time, they are subject to the organization's bonus system, all compensations and allowances.
An employment contract with a freelancer today is the exception rather than the rule. The reasons are the high tax burden, as well as the lower focus on results that a freelancer has.
How to pay taxes on freelance fees
The only legal way to pay remuneration to a freelancer is his personal bank account (transfer to a bank card). Depersonalized e-wallets are not suitable for these purposes. Also, the customer can issue money in cash under the personal signature of a remote employee. For obvious reasons, this method of paying remuneration is meaningless.
It should be noted that a civil contract does not relieve the customer of the obligation to pay taxes. In this case, the customer acts as a tax agent. He must transfer 13% of the personal income tax from the freelancer.
Also, payments to remote employees are subject to contributions to the FIU. In general, the PFR tariff is 22%. But depending on the type of activity in which the company is involved, reduced feed-in tariffs may apply. But contributions to the FSS are paid only on a voluntary basis, if it is provided for by a civil law contract.
There is only one exception - if the freelancer interacts with the customer as an individual entrepreneur or on behalf of an LLC. In this case, all tax time is taken over by the freelancer.
Under an employment contract, all contributions required by law are paid to extra-budgetary funds - to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation and the Social Insurance Fund. A telecommuting worker is entitled to annual paid leave, can expect sick leave payments and go on maternity leave.
