When I first started using outsourced help, I didn’t worry very much about a virtual assistant contract. I was totally bogged down with work and just wanted relief quickly. I figured what my VA was helping me with wasn’t too terribly important to bother taking the time to have them sign a contract. Man, did that cost me! Learn from my mistake and always get a signed contract before giving someone work. Here is what happened…
I had just hired “Steve” (names have been changed to protect the uh… innocent) as a full-time employee to write articles for my blog. I didn’t need him to write blogs for this particular website for 40 hours a week, so I took on some freelance work to help offset the cost of his salary. I was very upfront with both Steve and the freelance company that hired me that I would be outsourcing some freelance work to him. This all happened BEFORE I hired him.
At first, Steve was an incredible employee. He was able to write really good articles for my website and also do a few simple freelance tasks. It didn’t totally cover his salary, but it paid for about 50% of it. I was fine with this because he was new to both writing and virtual work. I didn’t want to overwhelm him, so I kept his writing goals very modest.
He was young and this was his first virtual job. His goal was to build up both his resume and portfolio to be able to get into a writing school in the Philippines. He eventually wanted to become an author or an editor. I figured he could write for me for a year or two and then he would be set for the next step in his career. I was totally fine with this arrangement and was happy to have him on the team. All went smoothly for about a month and then I got hit right between the eyes. I didn’t even see it coming.
I got an e-mail from Steve letting me know that he deserved to be paid 3x what I was paying him and he was also planning on suing me for the intellectual rights to the freelance articles he had written. Now let me be clear. I was paying Steve a very healthy wage already for his experience level. I was not undercutting or underpaying him in any way. Because he was new to virtual work, he had no idea how good of a boss I was being to him and he took that for granted.
To make a very long story short, I ended up paying him about 10x what I had been paid by the freelance company. I also had to remove the majority of the work he did for my website. All because I didn’t have a contract in place. You can be sure I have never made that mistake again. In hindsight, it was expensive, but a really good lesson to learn on my part. Always make sure you have a solid virtual assistant contract in place.
Looking back now, with a lot more experience under my belt, I should have seen it coming. There were several red flags that I should have picked up on with Steve, but that is an entirely different article. However, if you would like to learn more about what to look for in a good employee or how to hire a VA correctly you can find those articles here.
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I love outsourcing work, and hiring a virtual assistant has amazing benefits. However, some sort of WRITTEN, SIGNED AND DATED agreement is still in order. If you skipped the part about my huge mistake, it will potentially save you $1000s of dollars by putting one in place.
Contracts may seem overwhelming and a colossal pain in the butt, especially if it’s your first time, but they’re actually fairly easy to make. Contrary to what you may think, it doesn’t have to contain fancy legalese and can be done without a lawyer involved. Its purpose is for both parties to understand and agree to set expectations. Literally, it works on your terms and is tailored to your conditions. A contract saves you and your virtual assistant the hassle of dealing with future misunderstandings and disputes.
So… is a virtual assistant contract really important? Yes! It establishes a working agreement between two parties and protects you. Ignoring this could cost you a great employee due to miscommunication (yes, you can make a mistake and it can be your fault sometimes) or a great deal of money from a not-so-great employee. Think of a virtual assistant’s contract as the rules of the game that both teams have agreed upon before taking the field.
Now that you know why you need a contract, let’s jump into creating your own. You can modify and write your contract however best fits your specific situation and needs. Here are the key elements of a really good virtual assistant contract:
As with any other agreement, the contract must start with an introduction. The introduction includes a few phrases about the nature of the agreement and the relationship between the two parties. It also gives the date, but more importantly, it should contain and highlight the names and addresses of the key people involved—the client and the virtual assistant.
Though most people assume it’s the payment, the most common problem among virtual assistant businesses is actually scope creep. Scope creep essentially happens when the client gives the virtual assistant more tasks or asks for more work beyond the terms agreed upon without increasing the virtual assistant’s pay. To avoid this, it would be smart to be as detailed as possible in this section and outline what sort of work/tasks the virtual assistant must perform. This also covers specific deliverables (articles, PowerPoint presentations), schedules, expected deadlines, availability of the virtual assistant, etc.
A description of services helps avoid miscommunication and allows for a straightforward relationship between you and your VA. This will help both of you to be able to manage his/her workload more effectively.
This section of the contract must be as comprehensive as possible. Payment terms should include the amount to be paid by the client (you) whether it’s time-based (per hour/week) or per project (article/video), the method of payment (PayPal, TransferWise), payment due date (upon receipt/monthly), and frequency of invoice (if necessary). This section may also contain consequence fees for you not paying your VA on time, canceling a project in progress, etc. It also should detail any bonus compensation for the virtual assistant (eg. the thirteenth-month bonus).
Although contracts are usually signed at the beginning of a working relationship, your virtual assistant contract should also detail reasons and timeframes for termination. This section should explain how long the relationship will run for, as well as, how to and who terminates the contract. It also will give your employee a certain expectation of your requests. For example, you may request an employee who wishes to leave your company to pursue other interests give you a two-week notice prior to quitting. This will give you time to hire and train another employee, as well as, give the current employee time to complete any projects or lingering tasks.
This section should also mention how termination is to be communicated (eg. via a Skype call, a letter or an e-mail). The notice period is also significant in order to determine if the termination is effective immediately or upon x number of days. This section may also include grounds for termination (e.g. Breach of Agreement) as well as terms covering payment still due to the employee.
A non-disclosure clause may be included in the contract when the virtual assistant will be given access to any confidential or proprietary information pertaining to the client including but not limited to contacts, customer lists, financial data, and plans and models. The virtual assistant will sign this clause if you wish to protect any business information.
In most cases, any work product—whether in the form of ideas, discoveries, patents, etc.—developed by the service provider (in this case, the virtual assistant) becomes a property of the client (you). This clause in the agreement may include the necessary documents to be signed by the service provider in order to confirm the exclusive ownership of the client to the work product. Remember my story above? I really wish I had made “Steve” sign an ownership agreement.
Again, this may seem like a lot and potentially overkill, but being as detailed as possible in your contract will save you multiple headaches in the future. You will be glad you took the time to create a simple, customizable template to use for all your future employees. You will really only need to focus on this template one time and then just tweak each section as appropriate for each additional new hire.
There are a lot of places that will provide you a template for free. Some are better than others. Here are two that I have used previously as a good starting point.
Wonder.Legal VA Contract Template
You can also send me an email and I can send you over the one I am currently using. Please understand that I can’t offer any legal advice and it will only be a starting point for your company, but I am happy to help you get started.
While putting a virtual assistant contract in place will not offer you 100% protection, it’s a really good idea to keep for each employee to avoid awkward conversations and nasty arguments over non-disclosure or intellectual right should the situation arise. Having a contract in place will help establish trust and a seamless working relationship. It also lets your employee know that you’re taking your business seriously and that you value them.
If you would like to find out more ideas/ways to create an awesome VA check this out.
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