A simple virtual assistant contract is worthwhile to have on file. It doesn’t have to be filled with legal-ese no one understands, but it’s a good idea to have a working agreement between you and your virtual assistant or virtual assistant company.
The contract will define the terms of your relationship, including:
It will also spell out your policies for sick days, holidays, and vacation days. Are those days paid, up to a certain number each year? If your VA is overseas, will they observe your holidays or their own? When your VA is not available, who will be in charge of taking their place (if anyone)?
If you’re using a virtual assistant company, they will generally provide a contract for your to sign. Of course, be sure to review the fine print to make sure it is acceptable to you.
The big freelance sites also have a general template agreement that all parties must consent to before beginning the working relationship. However, you might wish to modify those terms with your own customized contract, and are free to do so.
Consider the provided template contract below your baseline agreement.
If you’re hiring a freelance virtual assistant outside of OnlineJobs.ph or some other third-party site, your VA contract should detail out your payment terms. How much will you pay? How often will you pay it? What method will you use? (PayPal, wire transfer, direct deposit, check, etc.)
If you have opportunities for your virtual assistant to work overtime, earn sales commission, or some other performance-based bonuses, you can include that in the contract as well.
The contract should also include how long the engagement will last (perhaps indefinitely), and how the agreement can be terminated by either party. For instance, you might ask for the standard 2-week notice from your VA if they are going to quit. A VA company might ask for 30-day notice from you before terminating your subscription payment.
One important element of the virtual assistant contract is to specify the nature of the working arrangement — that the VA or service provider will be legally considered an independent contractor of your company, and not an employee. That gets you off the hook for a number of traditional employer burdens like payroll taxes and employee benefits.
(Of course you’re still welcome to provide certain benefits, especially for long-term hires that really become an integral part of your team.)
Finally, more virtual assistant contracts will include some form of non-disclosure non-solicitation agreement. Basically the idea here is to protect your business assets (login information, client lists, growth strategies, trade secrets, business processes) from falling into the wrong hands.
The non-disclosure agreement NDA portion of the contract forbids the VA or service provider from sharing your sensitive information with other parties. You can also add in a non-compete clause, which would bar them from starting a competing business within a certain period of time (often 2 years).
I’m not a legal expert so I can’t say exactly how enforceable the NDA / non-compete / non-solicitation clauses will be for overseas virtual assistants, but including them in your contract makes you look like you’re taking the business seriously and certainly can’t hurt you.
Please take a look at the attached sample virtual assistant contract and feel free to use it and modify as needed.
In need of other legal documents for yourself or your business? Rocket Lawyer makes it quick and easy to generate legal documents or have your questions answered online. They also have a database of licensed attorneys on call if you want to pick up the phone and discuss any legal matters.
To give you an idea, some of Rocket Lawyer’s most commonly requested topics for legal advice include:
Virtual Assistant Assistant is happy to help aid you in becoming a virtual assistant! Find many resources on this page or contact us! We also have a Remote Job Page.
What else should be included in your contract? Anything missing?
Hi, good day everyone! Anyone here who can help me have the breakdown of the amount that I need to collect from the client. I only have the following in my mind? 1.) VA monthly salary
2.) Service Providor fee
3.) Misc. Fee Then, what system you are using to send Invoice to the client and how they usually pay the service providor? Is it through bank to bank? Thank you
The information here is very helpful for as new ad intending virtual assistant, it really show me how relates to client to build trust from both side
Hi there! Assuming the VA is an independent contractor, am I right when I say that the client cannot put time demands on the VA? For example, if the client asks the VA to do a task that recurs 2x/week..then would that still be considered independent contractor work?
Sylvia Willemburg says:My understanding is that the labour laws of the country in which the VA works are applicable over and above those those of the employer.
1. Is VA working in the office or at home?
2. What technique do you use to communicate to train and talk: skype, zoom…
3. Do you need to have contract monthly, yearly?
4. Do I have to pay upfront?
5. Do you have any reference?
1. VAs work remotely from the comfort of their home.
2. Depending on the client’s preference. However, some VAs already have system in place that clients may utilize like Skype, Zoom, Google Meet, MS Teams, Airmeet, etc.
3. Contracts doesn’t have to be renewed unless agreed by both parties and if there’s an update with the service fee, packages, etc.
4. When hiring an independent contractor VA, you have to pay upront. Sometimes, VAs provide options like having 50/50 payment option in the 1st month.
Hi there,
I am looking forward to scale up my agency using VAs
There are a few things I would like to know-
1) Can I get/hire VAs to work for me as well as for my clients on hourly basis and integrate them with my own project management platform? 2) Is there any such white label type model that can be deployed along with secueity deposit and no closure disagreement with VAs or with? *My website is currently under maintenance and going through updates* Kindly reply
Certainly a written agreement is very important when doing business. As an experienced virtual assistant, I always ensure that me and my client agreement are in a signed written form so that in case things messed up I have substantial legal document that I can use in court if needed.
Good post, thank you. Just one thing – do you know whether it makes a big difference which country law it would come under in case of dispute? I sent over a NDA which stated it would be governed under English Law in the English courts, but my chosen VA firm (GetFriday) want to amend that to come under Indian Law – would that be a deal breaker in your opinion? Thanks,
Sandip
Thanks Sandip — this is the problem, and when dealing internationally I’m not really sure what jurisdiction should apply. Naturally you would want your home country but I’m not sure how enforceable these kinds of agreements are across borders. A local attorney might be better suited to answer, sorry!
Sherman Woods says:Thanks Nick, this information seems to be very helpful. I wish to employ a team of Technicians, a Lead Tech. and VA. You’re the Best… thanks again, Sherman
President and Chief Executive Officer
Small/Med Business Virtual Assistant
Schedule a FREE Consultation Call and earn back more of your most valuable asset – time!
US Based Solo/Small Business owner
Schedule a FREE consultation with RemSource – one of our top rated Bookkeeping VA companies!
Become a Virtual Assistant
Take our FREE 3-day Quick Course to discover the skills you already have that you can take online!
Best Virtual Assistant…