Temporary workers

For start-up business owners, getting the hands on deck quickly is of utmost importance, especially when you are not at the bargaining end on many fronts on the projects or assignments that you have landed.

This is even so when you have other considerations like your Intellectual Property (confidential info) etc that you would want to protect.

This is when you can consider engaging Contract of Service or Contract for Service workers. The former refers to someone you put on your Employment contract – it can be designed for fixed term. This contract may be outsourced to an employment agency who provides the 3rd party payroll and administrative services. However, this may be subjected to the Employment Act. The benefits, scope of services, terms and conditions will be detailed on the contracts.

Contract for Services are for independent contractors or third party vendors – and this type of contract is not bound by the Employment regulations, and it acts like a B2B agreements between the parties. Similarly, the benefits, scope of services, terms and conditions will be detailed on the contracts. As it does not cover the statutory required benefits like sick leave, hospitalization leave etc, the base fee is usually higher to allow such workers to obtain cash payout instead.

If you are looking on a hire to bridge a temporary project requirement, do note the differences on such statutory and monetary considerations.

Do note: the IP created by the employee in the engagement of contract of services belong to the employer automatically, for eg. if the employee created a workplan etc, it’s silent on the ownership of the work. However, if you go for contract for services, the IP and ownership of the work would need to be pre-negotiated on such services.