Hiring Independent Contractors
Policy
All parties who perform services for the university must be classified as an employee or independent contractor in accordance with federal and state regulations. Failure to properly classify individuals may result in the department engaging the individual being liable for any unpaid taxes, fines and penalties assessed by federal and state agencies.
Process
The procurement of services requires an evaluation of whether an individual should be classified as an employee or an independent contractor. This evaluation and classification must be performed before engaging the individual to perform services so that the university can comply with tax withholding and reporting responsibilities, and so payment to the individual will not be delayed.
The evaluation must be based upon IRS and state-related standards, and approved by the Office of People & Culture.
Individuals who perform services for the university are presumed to be employees of the university unless the relationship satisfies IRS and state standards for independent contractors.
The primary difference in these two business relationships is that the employees are paid through payroll and income and employment taxes must be withheld, while an independent contractor is engaged when services needed are urgent, special, temporary, or highly technical and cannot be performed economically or satisfied by university staff members within the scope of their normal responsibilities.
Procedures
Pre-Approved Contractor Services
When providing a pre-approved service, contractors will be paid by completing a Non-Employee Check Request in George Fox Timekeeping. A George Fox ID is required (request George Fox ID).
- Pre-Approved Activities:
- Guest speaker/guest lecturer/guest athletic coach (camps)
- Writer/editor
- Model/actor
- Spiritual direction
- Dissertation reader
- Judge
- Translator
- Preceptor
- Performer
- Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) Scorer
Contractor Status Evaluation Procedure
- Use the Independent Contractor Status Evaluation Form before engaging an independent contractor.
- The Office of People & Culture will review and appropriately classify the individual within 48 hours of receiving a completed Status Evaluation Form and respond directly to the requestor via email.
- Once a contractor and engagement is approved, all future payments can be processed by completing a Non-Employee Check Request in George Fox Timekeeping.
Individual independent contractors must have Office of People & Culture approval prior to beginning an engagement. Each new contractor or new engagement requires a Status Evaluation Form. Please allow the Office of People & Culture one week processing time in advance of the start date.
Independent Contractor Payment Procedure
- Obtain a W9, insurance information and invoice from contractor
- Complete a Non-Employee Check Request form in George Fox Timekeeping to receive appropriate budget approvals
- Check requests with approvals and above required documents received by Monday will be paid on the accounts payable check run the following Friday.
If a contractor or engagement is not approved as an independent contractor, the university may hire them as a temporary employee through the regular hiring process.