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  1. #1
    Euphoric !
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    Hiring an assistant

    So I know there have been many threads on this but I still have a few questions. I know there is also debate from many re: the expense of hiring someone vs just having one less kid and I have already been weighing this.

    I have hired a professional dance teacher to come one morning a week to teach a class to my dcks during the long winter. She will be starting in Jan. I had been toying with having someone come on occasion to help out. I am managing on my own but I think it would be nice to have the help sometimes but also free me up a bit to do some of those things that don't get to happen e.g. spending time with the older kids playing a board game or organizing games/toys during daycare hours etc. This teacher lives in the neighbourhood and is open to coming/helping as much or as little as I want her (she is a SAHM). She will bring her child with her so it is really win-win as her child will have a chance to socialize and she still gets to be with her child.

    Questions:
    I don't want to get into paying her EI etc. If I hire her as a contract employee and have her sign something that says she is responsible for paying her taxes will this be enough? I did something like this once when I was hired by an agency as a student.

    Has anyone run into problems with their insurance carrier? My plan is to not leave the kids alone with her (I couldn't anyways because she would then be over ratio as my 2 kids are also there)

    Any other things I am missing?

  2. #2
    Expansive... Artsand crafts's Avatar
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    According to CRA an assistant is considered an employee and you have to pay EI and Cpp. You also have to pay her on stat holidays and 2 week vacation at 0.4% of her yearly salary. If you don't pay EI and Cpp and she declares your payments as her income you will probably have to pay penalties to CRA for not paying EI and Cpp.

    You can find all the info at CRA webpage.

    Some workers prefer to be "paid in cash" because they do not want to pay taxes.

    I am currently treating my assistant as an employee according to CRA. The main advantage that I found following this route is that her salary will be tax deductible. If you "pay in cash" you cannot deduct it.

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  4. #3
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    I hired my assistant as a private contractor , she bills me her hours and I pay her . She is basically self employed so she is responsible for paying her own deductions the same as I do . I have done this on advise from my accountant .

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  6. #4
    Expansive... dodge__driver11's Avatar
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    Hii Second, can you please provide me details..PM if you need

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  8. #5
    Euphoric !
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    My daughter is a music therapist and works the same as secondtimearound mentioned. She bills the client for her time at an hourly or program rate whether it is a facility like a nursing home, a private client who is using special services funds to pay her or whatever. They simply pay the bill and get a receipt for what they paid. She is considered a self-employed person by revenue Canada and pays her taxes and does expenses just like I do. Many people work on a contract basis such as OT, PT, Speech therapists, etc. I have a contract with my daughter to come and do two half hour sessions of music a week with my group (the two days she is in Orleans anyways and was usually just hanging out here - so now I put her to work and I am free to go do something like a tub of laundry). She bills me and I pay her - all legit. If you are hiring the person for a service then that is what you are paying her for.

    If she was coming all day every day that would put it into the employee category and for sure the different rules would apply.

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  10. #6
    Expansive... Artsand crafts's Avatar
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    Here is CRA description of employee Vs self employed (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/rc4110/rc4110-13e.pdf). Read pages 6 to 8. It could depend on the situation, maybe. In my case I cannot have my assistant as a private contractor because she comes everyday and she has a permanent contract with me, because I wanted her to stick with me and not look for work somewhere else later. She also has never worked before (she is a mom of 4 though). So I tell her what needs to be done (she is not specialized in her position).

    The only thing that makes me believe that an assistant cannot be considered as a self employed (or a contractor) is the following that can be read in the link above (page 7):

    "Indicators that the worker is an employee

    The worker cannot hire helpers or assistants.

    The worker does not have the ability to hire and send
    replacements. The worker has to perform the services
    personally. "


    Maybe a music therapist could hire an assistant or helper for her paperwork, etc if it is considered necessary (business growth for example), but an assistant cannot hire a helper or an assistant.


    Secondtimearound, maybe your accountant have found a loophole there. It would be interesting to know what is it.

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  12. #7
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    One of the ways to interpret what artsandcrafts posted is that if you expect the assistant to be there everyday and are dependent on them such as it puts you over ratio if they are not there then they are an employee. If my daughter cancels for whatever reason that is her right and I just have to carry on. While she has a contract with her facilities she is under no obligation to send in a replacement to cover the shift or whatever. A person providing a professional service such as a music teacher or dance instructor or magician is being "hired" just to perform that service under contract and not hired to be at your beck and call so to speak to do whatever you want them to do - an employee is for bossing around, lol. Which is why we get so upset when a parent thinks we are their employee.

    The definition used in some cases is based on how much control the employer has over how and where and when the person in question performs their duties.

    Just as we would hire our own children and pay them from our daycare income to perform certain duties within the daycare I would assume it could be the same with a helper and especially if it isn't continuous and they are there for a specific reason - a cleaner is not an employee, hire someone to do the laundry and ironing and they are contracted for the service not an employee.
    Last edited by playfelt; 11-20-2013 at 10:15 PM.

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  14. #8
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    As Playfelt and Secondtimearound suggest, this is what I had planned on doing. Just wasn't positive on the legality of it. I was reading the CRA website as ArtsandCrafts had so I was wondering.

  15. #9
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    I'm not sure if there is a loop hole , I just asked if I didn't want the headache of payroll how could I pay an assistant , and I was told to have her issue me her hours and I pay her for services rendered .

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