Get your independent contractor agreement in South Africa for $0

Hey, we’re Thera: The platform built for hiring and paying contractors, all over the world. We’ve got locally-compliant contracts in more than 150 countries—written to comply with local contracting laws in places like South Africa.

The good news: Thera’s free until you pay your first contractor. So, grabbing your contractor agreement costs you a grand total of $0. Hit the button below to pick up your locally-compliant contract in South Africa. It takes all of 2 minutes to sign up.

Answering all your questions about independent contractor agreements in South Africa

You may have questions. We’re here to answer them. Below, you’ll learn all the extra stuff you should probably know before putting together an independent contractor agreement for South Africa.

Why do I need an independent contractor agreement in South Africa?

Independent contractor agreements are a legal record of the terms of your relationship with a contractor. They require you to reach a consensus before you begin working together, laying the foundation for a smooth partnership. Additionally, they help protect you both in the event of a legal dispute.

South Africa’s 1995 labor relations act clearly defines the difference between employees and independent contractors. While employees fall under an employment relationship with the hiring company, independent contractors are only hired to render a particular service. In practice, this means that independent contractors complete their work however they like without direct oversight from the hiring company. To help protect your company from costly misclassification risks, your independent contractor agreement should be consistent with the autonomy granted to independent contractors by the law. In addition to preventing misclassification risk, written contracts require you and a contractor to fulfill your burden to each other, ensuring you receive completed work and they receive the agreed-upon pay.

So, you definitely want to have an independent contractor agreement. For the protection of your company, and the contractor’s rights.

What do contractor agreements in South Africa typically need to have?

Every contractor agreement in South Africa (and, the rest of the world) can be broken up into two parts:

• Contract-specific variables: This includes things like scope of work, rate, and deadline. They’re the project-specific variables that you’ll include with each contract, and are totally dependent on what type of work you’re hiring a contractor to do.
• ‍Everything else: Besides things like scope and deadline, every independent contractor agreement in South Africa should follow a similar structure. If you want to grab your own contract with a compliant structure for South Africa, sign up to Thera

What makes contractors different from employees in South Africa?

If you’ve found that hiring employees is an expensive, tedious process, hiring independent contractors is often a faster, cheaper alternative. Before moving forward in the process, though, it’s necessary to get a clear picture of the differences between the employees and contractors. 

Here are a few of the key things that make contractors different from employees in South Africa:

• Contractors can set their own schedules
• Contractors can work with their own software and tools
• Contractors are solely responsible for their tax liability
• Contractors can work for other clients
• Contractors rarely receive benefits, like health insurance*

The key concept to keep in mind with independent contractors is autonomy. Contractors are entitled to additional freedoms that are not typical for employees like taking on additional clients at their leisure and working on their own schedules. For companies, this means having tasks completed by talented workers without the hassle of supervising their work process. If this sounds like a good arrangement for your company, we can help you get started with a compliant agreement.

*With Thera, you can get your contractors access to sign up for premium global health insurance, from SafetyWing, at a 50% discount. 

Click here to learn more about hiring your team in South Africa.