In the war for talent, employers are increasingly relying on contract workers to fill the ranks of key roles in IT, finance and accounting, and operations.<\/p>\n
According to the Hays 2018 Salary Guide, reliance on contract workers jumped by 35 per cent in 2017, which was double what they expected going into the year, citing \u201cunexpected workload increases\u201d as the cause.<\/p>\n
Part of the overall surge is the increase in business activity, says Rowan O\u2019Grady, president, Hays Canada. \u201cBusinesses are expecting a good year. They may feel confident, but at the same time, they are still feeling the effects of the recent downturn and don\u2019t want to overextend their permanent salaried positions. Bringing in people on a fixed-term contract gives them more flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
The most prominent of the skills required is IT, he says. \u201cTechnology companies, IT consultants and IT departments within organizations are seeing big jumps in contract workers. The reason for this is the growing skills shortage, and the fact that technology keeps evolving. In fact, it\u2019s difficult to get people period.\u201d<\/p>\n
That being said, there are right ways and wrong ways to go about dealing with contract workers. O\u2019Grady says there are two areas in which organizations can get into trouble. The first is compliance.<\/p>\n
When engaging an independent contractor, the onus is on the end user to make sure that the person meets the CRA checklist for requirements, he explains. \u201cJust because someone comes in and say they are an independent contractor, that may not be the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, CRA stipulates that an independent contractor must have multiple clients, have set up an HST account, have invoices and a bank account in their company name, and a host of other requirements. If they discover after the fact that the contractor does not meet the guidelines, companies will face penalties for non-compliance.<\/p>\n
A second common mistake is underselling the company and the opportunity to the potential contractor. As O\u2019Grady explains, organizations should put themselves in a \u201cdifferent mindset\u201d when engaging independent contractors versus permanent staff. An important thing to bear in mind is that the contractor likely has a choice of three or four companies at which to work, and often can be swayed by a positive corporate culture and learning opportunities.<\/p>\n
Other points to consider when working with contractors include:<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/strong> When drafting a contract, always include an end date. \u201cIt\u2019s important to show that the contract has a beginning, middle and end. Otherwise you open up the possibility that the person will be deemed by CRA to be an actual employee,\u201d O\u2019Grady says.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/strong> The contract should also include a confidentiality\/non-disclosure agreement, as well as a termination clause. \u201cIn that way if things don\u2019t work out, ending the relationship will not be onerous,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/strong> Ensure that the person has the appropriate insurance including Workers\u2019 Compensation.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/strong> Show the contractor that they are part of the team, O\u2019Grady notes. \u201cIf that contractor does not feel welcomed, you end up with a less motivated person. They like to know where they fit in and how they are contributing to the big plan.\u201d<\/p>\n Contractors, for their part, have their own thoughts on what keeps them interested on the job.<\/p>\n After almost two decades of working full-time with large organizations, Jamie Noble, a software development project manager based in London, Ont., opted to switch to contract work more than a year ago.<\/p>\n While there is a small percentage of contractors who are strictly driven by compensation, most look beyond that, he says. \u201cThe two things that drive me most when working for a company are the learning experiences and the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n Noble stresses that contractors also have to conduct their due diligence before taking on a job. \u201cWe have all heard the concept of picking customers wisely and knowing when to fire customers. It\u2019s the same thing in this world. You need to do your due diligence to know if the company you work for is high-trust, and treats its people well. Are they happy at work? Will they extend the same treatment to you? With some companies it\u2019s very much about the pay, billing time and nose to the grindstone.\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately, there are lessons to be learned on both sides, O\u2019Grady says. \u201cThe responsibility is on both parties to make a situation work out. Contractors can\u2019t sit around for six months not performing and waiting to be paid, and employers can\u2019t afford to mistreat suppliers and expect them to put up with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Noble is of the same mindset. \u201cThe best scenario is when you get the work done, everything is paid and everyone is happy. If you leave on good terms, you can always go back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Independent contractors need to feel part of the organization. The employer also needs to ensure compliance with CRA rules<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8857"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/578"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8857"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8858,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8857\/revisions\/8858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}