What is an outsourcing agreement?
Outsourcing agreements are independent contractor agreements companies like yours use when they send work to an outside party to handle for them.
It is common for outsourcing agreements to be either one-time short projects or long term. In either case, these work-for-hire contracts normally go into detail about what the party being retained by the agreement is to do, when they need to have finished their work, and how they are going to be paid by the outsourcing organization.
How is a typical outsourcing agreement put together?
While they do not need to be overly long, a typical work-for-hire agreement does need to thoroughly make its key terms and intent understood.
Some of the most commonly included clauses in such outsourcing agreements include:
- A section providing a fair amount of detail on the scope of work to be performed with milestones, and if it is to be an ongoing production arrangement information on a periodic delivery schedule.
- Information on payments to the independent contractor doing the outsourced work, including information on a recurring payment schedule if the working relationship is to be ongoing.
- Some details regarding how to determine if the work produced is of a sufficient quality.
- Language protecting the intellectual property of the outsourcing company.
Benefits of an outsourcing agreement
With a well-constructed independent contractor agreement, both the outsourcing company and the contractor will enjoy some fairly significant and mutually beneficial protections.
The independent contractor will benefit from the knowledge in advance of their payment schedule and clear instructions and guidelines about how they are to be paid. The outsourcing company will enjoy advance knowledge of what they are going to end up spending, ownership of whatever is produced, and ultimate creative control over the project(s) that are farmed out.
Do you need a new or revised outsourcing agreement for your company?
Does your business need its own outsourcing agreement to use with independent contractors? Or do you need to have an agreement reviewed and revised before you sign it?
Internet lawyer Mike Young has been helping companies with outsourcing agreements since 1994. To get help from him, schedule a telephone appointment today.
