- As a contractor, you have greater flexibility as you can take on work from multiple sources (so you're not locked into working only with one company and can also work with private students as well). This is positive because it means if you're not getting work with one company, you're not stuck being able to take on work elsewhere.
That is something you can do as an employee too. there is nothing stopping an employer and employee of having such a clause in their contract allowing them to tutor outside privately as well.
- Working as a contractor also generally provides higher earning potential for tutors as costs born by a business typically associated with hiring employees can be passed on to tutors through increased pay. Because you're running your own business as a contractor, income tax is not withheld by the company, so what you take home each week is more. Given the tax-free threshold in Australia is $18,200, it's also unlikely you'll cross that and end up needing to pay tax, but if you do can also make more claims at tax time for running your business, potentially reducing your tax obligations. At AoS our system makes it super easy for tutors to manage their own tax as well. So overall it means you earn more money, take more home each week to spend, and pay less tax.
Can't you just pay in cash or something instead if you are really concerned. There are a million ways to plan tax without losing workplace protections like this. (For the record I do not advocate for tax evasion, that is a federal crime that I strongly discourage)
- As a contractor, you do need to decide if you want to take out your own insurance (for e.g. public liability insurance) - but this is no different if you decide to work as a private tutor anyway (as in either case, you're effectively running your own business).
Or you can just work for another tutoring company that does not take away your workplace protections by hiring you as a contractor
- As a casual employee (which is an alternative form of engagement), you don't accrue any sick leave or annual leave benefits (this only occurs if you are employed part-time or full-time) + you have more restrictions on who you can work with + you can earn less.
The part about earning less is literally false, by law there is 25% casual loading for any employee who is employed on a casual basis. To not pay this is illegal
- Note, at Art of Smart, tutors who progress to leading classes at our campuses (and taking on higher levels of tutoring and work levels) transition to a part-time employment engagement, where they then accrue additional benefits including sick, and holiday leave.
Most people tutor for 1-3 years and move on to proper employment and internship opportunities by then. In the meantime what you miss out on is workplace protections like casual loading,
the minimum wage, and the ability to appeal to the FWC.
Sydney’s gig economy workers receive only limited safety advice from food delivery platforms, suffer abuse and often fear reporting incidents.
www.smh.com.au
"Almost all workers in the gig economy are classified as contractors and do not have access to the workers' compensation or minimum hourly pay that employees are entitled to."
Anywhere they want to exploit you, they hire you as contractors, read the article above
IT IS IMPERATIVE YOU KNOW YOUR WORK RIGHTS, AND I STRONGLY DISCOURAGE SOMEONE FROM EMPLOYING THEMSELVES AS A CONTRACTOR LIKE THIS. There is a reason after all people want to be hired by a tutoring company rather than working as a sole trader, if they really wanted to function as a sole trader they would do so in the first place. By employing them through such sham workplace arrangments simply breaches trust, is dishonest and is immoral, and does not reflect well on the kind of person your prospective employer is.
