Consultancy and sub-contractor agreements

Using temporary staff?

Who owns your intellectual property – you or the consultant?

When using temporary staff such as self-employed consultants and their sub-contractors you need to take steps to protect your company’s position and assets. They may need to have access to your database, client list, suppliers and contacts in order to fulfil their role, but as they are self-employed they do not have a duty to keep your trade secrets or follow your business procedures.

Consultants from the creative industries, such as copy writers or photographers, will retain the intellectual property rights on a project unless there is an agreement otherwise.

At Myers & Co our specialist employment lawyers can create a bespoke freelance contractor agreement for your company that will take care of all your employment law worries when using temporary consultants.

The agreement could cover:

• duty of confidentiality
• data protection
• intellectual property
• termination provisions

Our EmployerAssist service could provide you with further peace of mind, giving you a dedicated helpline to our employment law specialists, a bespoke annual audit, access to our database of contracts and policies and regular updates at a fixed monthly cost.

Based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, our specialist employment solicitors offer independent legal advice and representation on all types of employment law problems.  To find out more, contact us on 01782 577000.