Can an independent contractor agreement be terminated without cause?

Hello! My name is Damien Bosco. My law office is in Long Island City, across from Manhattan. Some key provisions of an independent contract agreement include the scope of work and the payment terms. An important provision discusses intellectual property rights. Define who owns any work product, intellectual property, or inventions created during the contract. Consider whether you want to retain rights to your pre-existing work or methodologies. There are other provisions also such as Non-Compete and Non-Solicitation Clauses. You may want an attorney to review your full Agreement to suggest additions or edits. Feel free to reach out with any more questions!

The terms that you write in an independent contractor agreement should, first and foremost, protect you/your business and give you the advantage in the relationship, if possible. While some such contracts may have an end date, that's not mandatory; but be sure to give yourself/your business the right to terminate the contract when you want to, without cause. Leave it to the contractor to negotiate better terms than you propose, on behalf of the contractor - that is not your job. I recommend that each of you use your own attorney to review the agreement prior to signing. And, by the way, ContractsCounsel.com has numerous documents available for purchase, and it's very likely they offer a boilerplate of this type of contract, vetted by WA State attorneys.

The agreement should be as detailed as possible, including details on how to dissolve the contract for various reasons. The scope of work should be included - if it's likely to change once in a while, include that as an addendum and note that it will change from time to time. Whenever it's going to change, execute a new addendum that both parties sign and date. It is your job to protect yourself, not the independent contractor - write the contract so that it strongly favors you; if the independent contractor wants to change it before signing, that is a question of negotiation.

I cannot give legal advice in this question/answer format, and no attorney/client relationship is formed. However, first read through your contract and find the paragraph(s) that deal with the termination of the contract. Next, contact an attorney for at least a 30 minute consultation prior to making any moves. Finally, contact the company and explain that you need to terminate, and why, and express the hope that you can terminate on a "win win" no hard feeling basis.

While the basic structure and framework of a consulting agreement and an independent contractor agreement are very similar, the primary difference is in what services the consultant provides. In a consulting agreement, the consultant is providing their advice for a fee. The guidance will be in the field of their expertise and, usually, includes evaluating an aspect of your business and making suggestions regarding what to do next. An independent contractor, on the other hand, will actually perform the work. The difference is not always a bright line and will vary depending on the circumstances. In some cases, a service provider will evaluate, recommend, and then perform. In that case, they are acting as a consultant first and then an independent contractor. It is also important to properly consider the differences between an independent contractor and an employee.