Generally, a Service Agreement will address terms regarding early termination, reimbursed expenses, intellectual property ownership, and the duty of confidentiality.
Ending the contract early
In LawDepot's Service Agreement, you can choose to allow either party to end the contract early. If you choose to allow early termination, you must specify how many days prior to termination that written notice should be given. For instance, one week's notice is generally accepted for most short-term contracts, but if a contract is on-going, it's recommended that you provide at least 15 to 30 days notice.
In addition, you may want to include a clause that addresses a partial payment in the event of early termination. For example, if an original agreement is to pay a landscaping company when the services are complete, the landscaper may require a portion of the total contract amount be paid if the contract ends early; this is to compensate for the time and resources spent on the project before its completion.
Reimbursed expenses
Contractors may ask the client to reimburse them for reasonable, work-related expenses. It's recommended you establish the terms for reimbursement in your contract to avoid surprising the client with extra costs at the end.
You could include a term in your contract that requires the client to pre-approve expenses that meet specific guidelines. For example, if a client hires a handyman to do home repairs on several rental properties in different locations, they may include a term in the Service Agreement stating travel, accommodation, and food expenses will be reimbursed up to a certain limit.
Intellectual property
Typically, any intellectual property created by an independent contractor is considered to be the contractor's property, unless otherwise specified in the Service Agreement. If the client holds the rights to the intellectual property, the contractor will only be allowed to use it for the purposes described in the contract.
Confidentiality
In LawDepot's Service Agreement, you can choose to impose the duty of confidentiality on a contractor indefinitely, until the end of the agreement, or not at all. The duty of confidentiality requires a contractor to refrain from sharing any confidential information (any data relating to the client that could be considered private or proprietary) for any purpose, unless the contractor is authorised by the client or required by law.