5 legal tips for contracting with freelancers

Freelancers are increasingly in demand by organizations.

As proof, 47% of companies have already used external recruiters. While there are intermediaries responsible for identifying the best freelancers to offer to companies looking for, few are in charge of the legal procedures to support these collaborations.

Constrained by a lack of knowledge of the procedures to be put in place, many organizations turn to fixed-term contracts or permanent contracts when their needs could more easily be covered by freelancers. To give you the means to better organize yourself, Beager shares 5 legal points that will help you collaborate with freelancers safely.

Integrating a freelancer: legal specificities

Working with a freelancer may seem complicated... In reality, it's much easier than it seems. For everything to run as smoothly as possible, the specificities of the self-employed must be well controlled and taken into account at the time of contracting. While the legal regulations concerning permanent contracts are well known to companies, this is often less the case for freelance status.

Using a self-employed person is equivalent to benefiting from the provision of services.

Here are some of the points of attention to be monitored to secure collaboration with independent talent:

• Illicit labour lending, which stipulates that a self-employed person, especially if offered by an intermediary, must maintain full freedom under the conditions agreed in the intellectual service contract. This text leads to the formalization of a contract directly between the freelancer, potentially the trusted third party, and your company.
• The crime of bargaining applies if harm is committed to the employee of a service provider. This therefore does not apply to a freelancer with whom you have signed a contract including him as one of the stakeholders.
• The obligation of vigilance, according to which you must ensure the compliance of the legal information of the freelancers with whom you contract. Make sure you have all the legal documents of the freelancers you work with.

especially if it is offered by an intermediary

• Requalification into a CDI, at the request of the self-employed worker or, more likely, in the event of non-compliance with the principle of non-subordination (imposed hours, validation of leave, power to impose sanctions, etc.). As a company, it is therefore important to distinguish between employee and self-employed talent.

As part of a freelance mission, define a scope of mission that corresponds well to these criteria, and make sure you fully understand the specificities associated with the status of this worker.

5 legal actions for a good collaboration between freelancers and companies

1. Legal documents up to standards

Even before contracting the provision of services with an independent talent, make sure that their legal documents are valid and up to date.

Several documents are required to involve a self-employed worker for an amount greater than €5000 excluding VAT, including:

• The SIRENE certificate or a Kbis extract
• The URSSAF vigilance certificate
• And the list of foreign workers

If everything is complete, start your project with the talent thus approved.

2. Write a clear and detailed contract

If this step is obvious, approach it carefully anyway.

From the responsibilities of each party to the terms of payment, the contract with a freelancer must be as clear and precise as possible.

On this document, you can indicate:

• The place of the service,
• Expected deliverables,
• The deadlines for completion,
• Etc...

You should also include all the specific clauses that govern collaboration, especially those relating to data confidentiality and intellectual property.

3. Ensure regular monitoring of collaboration

As with any contractual commitment, collaboration must be monitored on a regular basis. Organize updates on the progress of the project.

These stage points may also be included in the clauses of the employment contract.

In addition to knowing the progress of the deliverable to date, it is also an opportunity to adjust the retroplanning if necessary, but also to discuss the methods of collaboration.

4. Designate internal referents for freelancers

In order to increase their skills, companies benefit from training on what it means to work with freelancers.

In this sense, it may be interesting to have a reference person internally, to whom freelancers can turn for any information?

In large groups, this role is generally entrusted to Purchasing Departments, in particular via a service dedicated to the management of intellectual services. And for good reason, the Purchasing departments have a perfect command of the financial and legal aspects. However, these interlocutors are not always the preferred ones to answer the questions of freelancers on mission. HR departments are generally the best positioned to support an external collaborator on issues related to work organization or corporate culture. Unfortunately, too few are trained on the subject.

In the case of SMEs, a referent is rarely appointed, or too unclear.

The observation? Regardless of the type of company, there is often a lack of a support function that is qualified enough, both legally and in terms of human resources, to support the integration of the self-employed worker.

5. Use a trusted intermediary

In order to help you save time in these procedures, what better way to delegate them to a trusted partner who brings together expertise.

Some matchmaking services have specialized in:

• Verification of legal supporting documents
• Drafting contracts
• Collaboration monitoring
• Advance payment of invoices to freelancers

If you do not have the time or the necessary qualifications internally to manage this subject, do not hesitate to call on a partner who can offer you qualified profiles to let you focus on your business.

Collaboration between freelancers and businesses should be easier to approach. Indeed, for many companies, it is still necessary to train in reception, support, and compliance with the legal rules that govern the use of self-employed workers. To save time, have a partner accompany you. All you have to do is focus on the success of these new collaborations.