Independent Contractor Vs Employee
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Employees
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Independent Contractor-Freelance |
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Ordinary Hours of Work are regulated. A worker must NOT work more than: 45 hours in any week, nine hours a day if a worker works five days or less a week, eight hours a day if a worker works more than five days a week. |
Hours of work are not regulated.
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| Payment: Done Daily, Weekly or Monthly either in cash, cheque or direct deposit |
Independent Contractors will generally invoice the company and payment terms are dependent on the contract
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| Night Work: Night workers must get extra pay or can work fewer hours for the same amount of money | Night work is common |
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Annual Leave: A worker can take up to 21 continuous days’ annual leave or by agreement |
Leave is not applicable to a contract |
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Maternity Leave: A pregnant worker can take up to four continuous months of maternity leave. She can start leave any time from four weeks before the expected date of birth
entitled to claim benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund. |
freelance worker may not work for six weeks after the birth of her child |
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Family Responsibility Leave: Full‐time workers employed longer than four months can take three days’ paid family responsibility leave per year on request |
N/A to Independent Contractors |
| Employment Contract relevant – information about their job and working conditions | contract will define the terms and conditions between parties |
| May be included in their terms of employment |
Medical & Insurance: Independent Contractors are responsible for their own health and medical insurances |
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Approved Deductions: An employer may not deduct any money from a worker’s pay unless it is done by consent or required by law
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A principal contractor can only deduct money from a freelance payment if a signed agreement or Acknowledgement of Debt is in place. |
| Employee required to give notice for termination of employment | A termination clause is generally included in the contract |
| Severance Pay: An employer must pay a worker who is dismissed due to the employer’s operational requirement pay equal to at least one week’s severance pay for every year of continuous service with that employer. | Not entitled to Severance Pay |
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Certificate of Service: When a job ends, a worker must be given a certificate of service. |
N/A |
| Tools & Equipment: Employees are generally provided all the tools and equipment required to perform their work, including uniforms | Have access to their own tools and resources |
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Workplace disputes: resolved by Trade Union registered with the Dept. of Labour, or through the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). |
Not entitled to join a Trade Union and are also excluded from dispute resolution using the CCMA.
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