Things employees can take for granted their employers will cover aren’t so easy to come by if you’re in IT contracting. What’s important for a contractor, says Debbie Fledderjohann, president of Top Echelon Contracting temporary staffing, is knowing who controls the daily work scope, the pay schedule, overtime and warranty clauses that put too many restrictions on development work.
Acting as intermediary between contractors and the agency they’re working for, Top Echelon offers their contractors full employment contracts similar to those offered by JT Professional services to its contractors. These contracts are similar in scope to separate, individual forms direct hires are signing as agreements.
Fledderjohann, along with James Del Monte, president of JT Professional Services, say employment agreements for IT contractors should include:
* Start date;
* Roles/responsibilities;
* Rates – including how and on what schedule will you get paid (Fledderjohann recommends getting paid hourly in order to get overtime);
* Overtime;
* Benefits (consulting firms should offer 401K, PTO, workers compensation, etc.);
* Prohibitive substance-awareness policy (JT Professional also includes weapons in this policy);
* Sexual harassment;
* Termination clause (covers grievances), at JT Professional (services, for example, that contractors are given and must give two weeks’ notice);
* Limited right of competition and nondisclosure (they have to respect both client confidentiality and consulting firm’s confidentiality, says Del Monte);
* Warranty clause (as when companies wanted their consultants to sign Y2K guarantees, Fledderjohann says); and
* Per deim (if you have to travel or maintain two residences to do the work, Fedderjohann says).
