The Standard Freelance Contract — The first common standard service agreement

Hey Everyone! Over the lasts months, we've been working with the Freelancers Union to build the Standard Freelance Contract that is fair for both freelancers and companies and therefore helps to create more balanced and secure work relationships. The contract is built into AND CO's workflow and therefore easily customizable, had built-in alerts and e-signing, automatically creates invoices and more. Also, the agreement ensure both parties are compliant with the upcoming Freelance Isn't Free Act, an NYC law that takes effect in April and which the Freelances Union helped come to life. We believe by introducing a standard agreement is that vetted by an independent third party, it helps to eliminate the awkward and painful back-and-forth at the start of any work relationship and therefore helps to get to work faster. Tho, it does not stop here. The contract is a living document that anyone can contribute to. Based on all contributions, we will create new versions of the contract that will automatically update in the AND CO app as well. We hope this helps out a lot of freelancers and companies that are freelancer-friendly. Looking forward to hear what you think! Thanks!

This is super valuable! As an owner of a 1-person (me!) S-Corp, I'm always reviewing/discussing/tweaking and ultimately signing other companys' contracts. They each have their own quirks that often require awkward discussions. I'm really happy there's now, at minimum, a fair reference to compare them to... and at most, a fair and agreeable contract to move forward on. Thanks @leifthunder for sharing!

This has legs. You can build off of it with other freelance services. Do you have any partnerships yet with @Skasriel from @upwork, or @MikeMcDerment from @Freshbooks? Because if you don't, now's a good time to reach out.

Great ideas! Any plans for making it available in other languages? (+1 for French!)

Thanks @werdelin for hunting!

Privilege to have worked on this.

Only last week my girlfriend had to turn down a job as the company (a global fashion startup) had an incredibly restrictive and unfair contract. Amongst over things it tried to include clauses that covered software developers and copywriters but were irrelevant to one or the other, it also stipulated that anything the contractor wrote they were liable for, even if someone subsequently changed it without their knowledge! I hope more companies choose to use this as it makes things easier for everyone involved and saves a lot of time and frustration. A UK version would be great!

Good one guys!

Looking forward to trying this on our next contract. I have high hopes for it as this is one of the most ad-hoc and painful parts of doing business.

Where was this when I was freelancing?! I was using one from the Freelancers' Union that was old and outdated that I had to edit every time. Thanks for sharing this @leifthunder!

This is a great concept! Would be great to have a version for the UK and other countries that people could contribute to. 👌

Great work! I love the concept & interface. It would be great to have an option for companies to setup a contract as well (while keeping the freelance rights), as a startup, we also got burned by some freelancers not meeting timetables, etc..

This is really good and important resource for freelancers and entrepreneurs and something that many of us do wrong sometimes. Will it be available in Spanish in the future?

Awesome product, congrats guys! Glad B12 could be a part of this!

Best on user boarding. this seems like an amazing company! good work.

I love the standardisation aspect. This is a really worthy aspiration, and has the potential to lead to better understanding between clients and customers.

I am also intrigued by the prospect of terms becoming so standard and well known that people can define their agreement simply by noting the areas that depart from the standard. Imagine signing an agreement that just says:

"The parties agree to the freelance standard terms, with the following exceptions:

- x; and

-y."

This practice already exists with ISDA standard terms for over-the-counter derivatives.

The UI for entering information is great and easy to follow.

The only thing that I worry about slightly is the disconnect form the 'form' type UI for entering information and the rather complex contractual language that it produces. For example, if I choose 'work for hire' as my IP setting, the only way to understand that this means I do not own the IP I create for clients is to read 3 paragraphs of fairly dense legal text. Interested to see if you find a way to bridge that gap.

Pros:

Really easy to use, standard terms are much needed

Cons:

The connection between the form for entering data and the contract produced could be clearer

Good

This is by far the best contracting tool i have used. I really appreciate the fact that It has exactly what i needed and it is free. I really want to take the time and thank these guys for an amazing product with no space for negative criticisms.

DocHive provides a repository of fully automated contracts with built-in dispute resolution. https://dochive.com.au