Independent Contractor Agreement in New Zealand: Template and Key Clauses (2026)

An independent contractor agreement in New Zealand is the contract under which a business engages a self-employed person or firm to provide services, rather than hiring them as an employee. The contractor runs their own business, usually invoices for their work, and is not covered by most employment protections. The agreement sets out the services, the fees, who owns the work produced, confidentiality, and how either side can end the engagement. Getting the status right is the single most important issue. This is general information, not legal advice. Employment and tax law change, and the real nature of a relationship can override its label, so confirm the current position before relying on any clause. ## Contractor or employee: the status question In New Zealand, calling someone a contractor does not make them one. If a dispute arises, the Employment Relations Authority or a court looks at the real nature of the relationship, not just the written label. Courts weigh several tests together, including how much control the business has over the work, whether the person is integrated into the business, and whether they are genuinely in business on their own account, sometimes called the fundamental test. If the person is really an employee, they gain employment rights such as minimum wage, holidays, and protection from unjustified dismissal, regardless of what the contract says. A clear, genuine contractor agreement helps, but the facts must match it. <!-- [VERIFY] current Employment Relations Act 2000 provision on determining employment status and any recent reform before citing a section number --> ## A clause by clause skeleton Use this as a structure to adapt, not a finished document. ``` INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR AGREEMENT Parties: [Client] and [Contractor] Date: [date] 1. SERVICES What the Contractor will provide, with any statement of work or milestones. 2. STATUS The Contractor is an independent contractor, not an employee, and runs their own business. 3. FEES AND INVOICING The fee or rate, how the Contractor invoices, and payment terms. 4. TAX AND GST The Contractor is responsible for their own income tax and GST if registered; whether schedular payments and withholding apply. 5. EXPENSES Which expenses are reimbursed and which the Contractor carries. 6. HOW THE WORK IS DONE The Contractor controls how the work is performed and can, where agreed, use their own people or substitutes. 7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Who owns the work produced; usually it is assigned to the Client on payment. 8. CONFIDENTIALITY Protecting the Client's confidential information during and after the engagement. 9. WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY The Contractor's promises about the work and the agreed limits on liability. 10. INSURANCE Any insurance the Contractor must hold. 11. TERM AND TERMINATION How long the engagement runs and how either party can end it. 12. GOVERNING LAW AND DISPUTES Governed by New Zealand law; disputes by [the courts / agreed process]. Schedule 1: Statement of Work

- **Tax is the contractor's own.** The contractor handles income tax and GST; check whether schedular payments and withholding apply to the type of work.
- **IP needs assigning.** If the client is to own the work, assign it expressly, usually on payment.
- **No employment protections.** A genuine contractor does not get holidays, minimum wage or unjustified-dismissal protection, which is exactly why status must be genuine. ## Common mistakes to avoid - Labelling someone a contractor while treating them like an employee, which risks a status challenge.
- Being silent on intellectual property, so the client does not clearly own the work it paid for.
- Ignoring GST and any withholding or schedular-payment rules.
- Copying an employment contract and just changing the title.
- No clear scope, so it is unclear what the contractor must deliver. ## Keeping contractor agreements in one place A business that uses contractors often has many engagements running at once, each with its own scope, rate, IP terms, renewal or end date and insurance requirement, plus statements of work and amendments. When these live across email and folders, it is hard to see who is engaged on what terms, whose engagement is ending, and which agreements assign IP properly. Drafting a contractor agreement, reviewing a status or IP clause, editing a statement of work in plain language and holding every engagement with its dates in one view can live in a single AI workspace tuned to how your company contracts. Adira is built around that workspace, running on Claude, with per-seat pricing shown up front and a 7-day trial, India-first and built to work across jurisdictions. You can read more at [adiralaw.com](https://adiralaw.com). For a single engagement the skeleton above is enough on its own. The point worth keeping is that a contractor base is easier to govern when every agreement, its scope and its dates stay together and current.