In the next week or two we will be looking to hire a few sales and support staff (part-time).

More info about it:
Staff will work from their home and company is located in Ontario, Canada.

Can anyone provide me with some insight of the do's and don'ts before I get started? Is there any special paperwork I need to fill out?

What about sample legal documents, any ideas?

Any direction would be appreciated as this is the first time I have needed to hire someone.

Thank you

towerhost,

by no means complete, but should be enough to get you started:
---

1. employment basis - you need to make sure this 'employee' is hired as a contractor, so read up on 1099 forms and IRS regulations governing this. one particular factor to watch out for is that you can not dictate the hours during which the work is performed (normally).

2. contract - you need a very clear contract that specifies what is required of the employee, what is expected of you and assorted legal stuff that is extremely important, such as where a party can bring suit should there be a need to do so.

3. make sure you follow up with the candidate's references and make sure they are legit. imho, incorrect spelling and grammar are an immediate turn-off when you are hiring for a cs-oriented position.

just noticed that you are in canada, so some of the specific IRS details may not be pertinent (unless your company is regged in the US), however the principle stays the same - you need to pay attention so that your contractor can't go demanding unemployment in the future.

paul

The forms I would look in to are:

Sub-Contractor Tax form
No disclosure form
No compete form
Contract of duties (as specified above)

Originally posted by rusko
towerhost,
you need to pay attention so that your contractor can't go demanding unemployment in the future.

paul

Why is that important? In the US does the employer have to pay unemployment benefits?

No compete contracts are illegal some places and limited in others - best check with your lawyer.

Employers are required to make a payment towards unemployment insurance for an employee in the same manner that an employee pays into unemployment insurance.

This is not required when you hire a person as a sub-contractor as they are not an employee of your company, but an independant outsider hired to do a particular task FOR your company but NOT PART of it.

You should ask your question in this forum: http://sbinfocanada.about.com/

:P

Gabriel
Voltige multimédia