CONTRACTING/CONSULTING, ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

At Gallagher Talent Solutions we aim to provide our contractors with exceptional service and support. We pride ourselves on professionalism and aim to deliver a smooth and responsive process from placement to payment.

Please read the information below to ensure that you are aware of your responsibilities as a contractor.

New to contracting? Here’s what you need to know

Contracting can provide you with an increased level of flexibility and independence as well as expose you to a large range of projects allowing you to gain valuable skills across a broad range of industry and technical experience.  The majority of contracts last between 3-6 months, however additional extensions can run for much longer, sometimes up to several years.

You will be paid an agreed rate plus GST (if you are required to be registered) which can be either an hourly or daily rate depending on the preference of the client.  It is a good idea to talk to an accountant if you have questions regarding setting yourself up to contract.

Being a contractor

There are some options when it comes to setting yourself up for self-employment.  You can choose to contract as a sole-trader or set up a limited liability company to contract through.  Alternatively, there are specialised payroll companies who will look after the whole process for you. This later option can be good for those new to contracting, contact us for more information if this is something you would like to know more about.

As a contractor you are representing both yourself and GTS when you are onsite and therefore must act professionally and conduct yourself in an appropriate manner at all times.

Tax Obligations

As a self-employed contractor you are responsible for paying your own income tax, GST and ACC levy and for making sure that all your returns are filed with the IRD on time.

Due to some recent law changes, as of April 2017, all labour-hire organisations such as GTS are required to take a percentage of your earnings as withholding tax and to send it directly to the IRD – this is covered under the term Schedular Payments. The amount of tax deducted by GTS is determined by the rate you specify on the IR330C form. If you complete the form but don’t stipulate a percentage then we are required to withhold 20%. If you don’t complete the form then we are required to withhold 45% which is the no-notification rate. If you feel you have reasonable cause, you can apply to the IRD for an exemption from Schedular Tax. You need to fill in form IR23BS.

You are required to register for GST if you are a self-employed contractor and earn over $60,000 p.a. GST is paid on top of the specified hourly/daily rate but can only be paid if you are GST registered and provide us with your GST number.

Insurance

If you contract through GTS as a self-employed contractor you are required to have both public indemnity (PI) and professional liability insurance (PL) before starting work on a client’s site.

GTS require that you arrange a minimum cover of $2 million PI and $2 million PL. If a client requires a higher rate of cover then you must ensure that your own cover matches their minimum requirements. GTS require you to send us a copy of the insurance certificate prior to starting and ensure that the insurance is kept up-to-date and new certificates are sent through to us. It is recommended that you keep insurance cover for seven years following the end of a contract.

If you don’t currently have insurance cover we are happy to provide details of some possible insurance providers.

Health & Safety

Health and Safety is necessary and an integral part of contracting and GTS are fully compliant with the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.  As a contractor you will be required to agree to and sign the GTS Health and Safety Policy. As a self-employed contractor you are also a PCBU (a person conducting a business or undertaking) and as such you should have your own H&S policies and processes in place. In your first week contracting at an organisation you should receive a H&S induction by the client. You must follow the client’s policies and procedures around H&S at all times. You much contact GTS immediately if you have any concerns about any aspects of H&S during the duration of the contract.

Timesheets

At GTS we use a system called Invoxy/Flexitime. You are required to fill in your timesheets on a weekly basis then submit them to be authorised by your timesheet approver. Before you start a new contract through GTS we will send you a link with instructions about how to use the system. Your timesheet also acts as your invoice to us. From this we create a Buyer-created Tax Invoice (BCTI) which you can access through Flexitime/Invoxy and use for all your accounting purposes.

We chase all missing timesheets, but please be aware that submitting timesheets is your responsibility and a late timesheet at the end of the month can result in you missing the pay-cycle. If your approving manager is away please let us know as soon as possible or if you’re experiencing any problems!

Payroll

We pay our contractors monthly based on the information we have on hours/days worked from approved timesheets (see above), so please ensure your timesheets are submitted on time. Pay periods run through to the last day of the month, they are made up of a mix of four and five week months (generally in a quarter there are two four-week months and one five-week month). We will send you out a payment schedule when you sign your contract.

We hope that this answers most of the questions that you may have relating to contracting through GTS. If you have any further questions, then please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@gtsnz.co.nz.