Businesses : Frequently Asked Questions
Anyone who has a mechanism to contract directly with your business can register, this includes individuals that are self-employed, those with their own company and those working through an Umbrella company.
Individuals who are working through a Recruitment Agency or represent a Recruitment Agency are not eligible to register on Contractz.
When freelance contractors register with Contractz they are required to confirm that they are eligible to register. This includes anyone who has a mechanism to contract directly with a business can register, including individuals that are self-employed, those with own company and those working through an Umbrella organisation. Contractors are required to provide their business details including company name.
Contractz does not undertake any vetting of freelance contractor's company details, insurance, VAT registration status, qualifications or experience. Contractz merely makes the site services available to enable freelance contractors to identify and determine the suitability of work opportunities for themselves and to enable businesses to identify and determine the suitability of freelance contractors for the work they need carrying out. It is the responsibility of businesses using Contractz to carry out checks and procedures as are necessary to ensure that freelance contractors are suitable for the contract advertised and have the required qualifications, experience, skills and personal characteristics.
Any business that wants to use freelance contractors can register on the site. Once you have registered the Contractz Team will undertake a verification process and activate your account within 24 hours. You will be provided with a login and password. Please keep these details safe and do not pass them onto anyone else.
Businesses who are intending to work as a third party or intermediary between freelance contractors and a client business for commercial purpose are not eligible to register on Contractz. This includes Recruitment Agencies.
Yes, absolutely. Contractz is free for businesses to use and provides businesses with an opportunity to find experience and flexible expertise to support their needs, without using costly agency or advertising fees.
You can search our freelance contractor database by accessing the search function on the left hand panel of your screen. Select the professional group you are looking for, what sector, geographic location, skills and qualifications that you require and hit search! You will be directed to your search results. If your search provides too many or too few results you can simply edit the search criteria without starting again. It is important to note that the search function defaults to an 'or' search. So if you have selected more than one option, it will search for a freelance contractor with either of the factors you have selected. For example, if you have selected Media and Financial Services, the system will default to searching the database for any freelance contractors that have either Media or Financial Services experience. If you require an 'and' search, please tick the box under the relevant search factor.
Yes, on the search results page there is an option to save the search results. You will be asked provide a name for the search results and they will then be stored under your Saved Searches area.
Search Criteria are pre-set criteria for searches. If you are regularly advertising the same type of contract or always looking for contractors with specific skills and experience, setting up Search Criteria enables you to undertake a search on a pre-set criteria instantly. To establish a Search Criteria, undertake a search and select the search criterion that is important to you. Once you have selected the factors by which you want to search the database, rather than selecting 'search', choose 'Save Search Criteria'. It will ask you to name the criteria and it will be saved under your Search Criteria for future use.
Search Criteria are also important when you advertise a contract. You can link a Search Criteria from your list to a contract. This enables freelance contractors to understand what skills and experience you are looking for in relation to that contract.
If you have found a freelance contractor that you consider suitable for the contract in question, then you can contact them directly using Contractz's messaging system to discuss and agree contract terms and starting arrangements.
If you are unable to find a suitable freelance contractor using Contractz, please contact us (via our Contact Page or service@evolvingdesigns.co.uk) to let us know the type of contractor (profession group, skills, experience, location etc) that you are seeking. This is important as it enables the Contractz Team to understand the needs and demands of the businesses using Contractz, so that we can target our marketing efforts to attract the freelance contractors that are in demand.
A public contract is a contract that is visible and available to all freelance contractors registered on Contractz.
A private contract is a contract that is only visible and available to a select group of freelance contractors identified by the business who has advertised the contract.
If you would like to invite freelance contractors to review a contract you have advertised on Contractz, you can search the database for contractors matching your requirements and on the search results page click 'Invite to Contract'. Select the contract that you'd like to invite the contractors to, add a message if you wish and then simply click 'Invite'. The freelance contractors will receive a notification of your invite. You can invite contractors to review both Public and Private contracts that you have advertised on Contractz. However, Private contracts will only be able to be viewed by the freelance contractors you have invited.
The responsibility for IR35 will vary depending on the end client (business). From 1st April 2017, public sector organisations became responsible for assessing IR35 implications and if contracts are deemed within IR35, they will be responsible for ensuring deduction of the right income tax and NI contributions at source, by adding contractors to their payroll arrangements. If you are a public sector organisation and advertise contracts on Contractz, you will be prompted to identify whether you consider the contract to be within or outside IR35. If you are a private sector business, the responsibility for assessing IR35 implications remains with the freelance contractor.
Yes, absolutely. When a contractor submits a proposal for a contract on Contractz, they are required to quote a day rate or fixed cost. This is not a binding quote and you are able to negotiate the rate and other terms directly with the contractor.
Yes. You can contact contractors directly using Contractz's messaging system.
Coming Soon: We are currently working on a mechanism to enable businesses to rate and review contractors that they have engaged with.
If you have a suggestion on how we can improve the site, we'd love to hear from you. Please contact us at service@evolvingdesigns.co.uk.
We may suspend your account if we suspect someone else may have accessed your account. Please contact us at service@evolvingdesigns.co.uk as soon as possible if your account has been suspended.
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