I am wondering if one can be signed on as an independent contractor with a form that specifies no specific task(s) to be accomplished and makes no mention of rate of pay, but simply says, “I am an independent contractor, I agree to give a month’s notice before leaving, I understand that this is legally binding.”
It sounds pretty squirrelly to me. How can you agree to a contract with no terms set forth?
Also, is this kind of contract if signed the kind where you have three days to change your mind?
I doubt the other party could really force anyone to actually work for a month for free. But it seems pretty clear that they are planning to ask brujaja to work more hours for less pay than is legal, using the fiction that he/she is an independent contractor who can determine the time and manner of his/her work. In addition they will almost certainly not carry workman’s comp.
DO NOT SIGN, FIND OTHER WORK.
What is the job, if I may ask? Must be in the entertainment biz.
If you were truly an independent contractor, you wouldn’t even be asking about this.
What you’ve described just reeks of an attempt (and a very amateurish one at that) by some company to get around certain tax requirements by claiming you have your own business and are not their employee. They’re hoping they can con folks into doing some paperwork for them, and probably calculate they’ll dissuade folks from filing any claims against them. Of course, that crap is illegal and if push came to shove the IRS would eat them for lunch, but they hope you don’t know that.
I don’t know if the month’s notice part is in any way enforceable, but it can do you no good whatsoever and might do you some harm. I wouldn’t even consider working with these scumbags in any fashion.
The job would be working for an individual as a personal assistant. My guess is that this person wants the signed contract mainly so that they can then deduct the money paid out, when doing their taxes.
But yeah, the whole “work a month after giving notice, at an unspecified rate” thing just sounds odious to me. This person is really, really cagey about committing to a definite rate of pay. These things and more make me extremely leery.
In the U.K., what you’d have to do is set up a company, and then the individual would employ that company. BUT you’d have to work for others at the same time.
One thing no IC would do is sign a contract with no payment provision. even its not a specific dollar amount but a percentage of billed hours (specifying a customer bill rate).
A PA could be a contractor, but its going to be a very carefully constructed contract. I have a friend who does this. She charges $20/hour + mileage + expenses. Everything is prepaid in $250 blocks with some small discounts for larger blocks. She does all kinds of oddball stuff but it works out pretty slick for her.