Event consulting engagement versus employment: review questions
You need an event lead for six months, and nobody is sure whether it should be a consulting engagement, a contract hire or something else.
The short answer
This page does not say which arrangement is correct. It gives you a fact sheet to complete: how the work will really be directed, scheduled, equipped and paid, plus the questions to hand to your HR, legal and tax advisers.
The classification of a working relationship, and its legal, tax and statutory consequences, are for those advisers to decide on your actual facts.
Why describing the facts comes first
Advisers need facts, not labels. A document titled "consultancy agreement" tells them little about how the person will work day to day.
Write down what you expect in practice, then check whether the plan and the paperwork describe the same thing.
The fact sheet
| Topic | Question to answer in plain words |
|---|---|
| Outcome or hours | Is the person engaged to deliver defined outputs, or to be available for set hours? |
| Direction | Who decides how the work is done, and who sets daily priorities? |
| Schedule | Are working hours and place set by you, or by the person within agreed deadlines? |
| Tools and cost | Who provides equipment, systems and email accounts, and who pays for expenses? |
| Substitution | Can the person send someone else to do the work, or must they do it personally? |
| Other clients | Is the person free to work for others during the engagement? |
| Duration | Fixed end date or deliverable, or open-ended? |
| Reporting | Who do they report to, and how does that compare with an employee at your organisation? |
| Representation | Will they speak for your organisation, use its name or sign documents? |
| Access to data | What systems and personal data will they handle? |
Who should see the fact sheet
- Your HR contact, who knows your organisation's hiring practices and policies.
- Your legal adviser, for the agreement and statutory questions.
- Your finance or tax adviser, for payment, withholding and reporting questions.
- The person being engaged, so that the description of the work is agreed and accurate.
Questions to put to the advisers
- On these facts, how would you characterise the working relationship, and why?
- If some answers change during the engagement, what should we revisit and when?
- What must the agreement say, and not say, to match what happens in practice?
- What statutory contributions, registrations or reporting arise, if any, and who is responsible for them?
- What should we record about direction and access to data?
- Does any policy of ours, such as procurement or conflict declarations, apply to this engagement?
Keeping the facts and the paperwork aligned
- Complete the fact sheet before the agreement is drafted.
- Share it with the advisers with the draft scope or deliverables.
- After the advisers respond, update the scope and the engagement documents.
- Re-check the fact sheet at each milestone. If practice drifts from the description, raise it.
Worked example · Fictional example
A six-month programme lead for an association
Fictional organisation and figures, for illustration only.
A fictional association wants an experienced person to lead its annual conference programme from March to August. The committee assumes a consulting engagement because the person has other clients.
On completing the fact sheet, the secretary notes that the committee expects the person to attend the secretariat office three days a week, use an association email address and report to the honorary secretary daily. The fact sheet shows these differ from what the draft agreement describes. The sheet goes to the association's HR contact, legal adviser and tax adviser with a short list of questions, and the engagement is held until they reply.
Use this yourself
Engagement fact sheet and adviser questions
Complete in plain words. Send the whole sheet to each adviser.
- Role and outcome expected, and the deliverables if defined:
- Who directs the work and sets priorities:
- Working hours and place: set by us / by the person within deadlines:
- Equipment, systems and accounts provided by us / by the person:
- Expenses and who pays:
- Can the person substitute someone else? Yes / No / Not discussed
- Free to work for other clients during the engagement? Yes / No / Not discussed
- Start date, end date or deliverable date:
- Reports to, and how often:
- Will the person speak for us, use our name or sign documents?
- Systems and personal data accessed:
- Our own policies that may apply (procurement, conflict declaration):
- Questions for HR, legal and tax advisers (list):
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- You are completing the fact sheet and have advisers ready to review.
- The engagement is short, with clear deliverables.
- The person has worked with you before on similar terms.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- The arrangement is unusual, long or full-time in practice.
- Nobody inside owns the HR, legal and tax conversation.
- You need capacity quickly and want it scoped before you decide on the form.
Need project capacity, scoped clearly?
If the underlying need is project capacity, a project lead can define the scope and deliverables, and an embedded manager can be considered for temporary dedicated capacity, with the terms agreed in writing. Whether the arrangement is employment or not stays with your HR, legal and tax advisers.
Questions organisers ask
Can this page tell me if someone is an employee?
No. It helps you describe the facts. Classification and its consequences are for your HR, legal and tax advisers.
Does a written consulting agreement settle the question?
The label alone does not. Advisers look at how the work happens in practice, so the fact sheet describes practice.
What if the facts change during the engagement?
Update the fact sheet and share the change with your advisers. Do not leave the paperwork describing a situation that no longer exists.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.