If your company uses independent contractors who work in Seattle, you will need to comply with a new city ordinance. It doesn’t matter if your company isn’t based in Seattle or doesn’t have an office there. If the contractor works in Seattle, you fall under this new rule.
What Does the Ordinance Require?
The ordinance requires companies to provide their contractors with three different types of written disclosures:
A pre-contract disclosure detailing the terms of the contractor’s work;
A payment disclosure detailing the payment terms for the contractor’s work; and
A notice of rights disclosure detailing the contractor’s rights.
Each disclosure must contain certain required information. The city of Seattle has put together model templates for each of the three disclosures. You can find those here.
When Will the Ordinance Go into Effect?
This is a quick moving requirement. If you currently have contractors working in Seattle, you need to get them those disclosures before September 30, 2022. If you hire contractors in the future, you will need to provide the contractors with the disclosures before they start working for you.
If you don’t comply with the new ordinance and provide those three separate disclosures to your contractors, then you could be on the hook for violations. Penalties start at $556 per violation. Be aware that failure to give your contractor any one of the three disclosures is a violation. So those penalties can really add up.
Reach out to the Matchstick team if you need help putting together your disclosures or have questions about your responsibilities for contractors working in Seattle.
