These leased employees, or technical temps, are then assigned to a client company under terms specified by a contract between the agency and the client company. The hiring agreement can include a fee for a specified project or a commitment for a certain number of days of service. These arrangements are often handled through a recruitment firm or headhunter. Dependent vs. independent At one end of the spectrum are agency-dependent contract employees. All contract workers fall somewhere on this continuum.
Control differentiates the two.
In the agency-dependent model, the agency locates the assignment, recruits the contractor, and negotiates with and bills the client. The agency withholds applicable taxes from the contractor's regularly scheduled payroll check. Just where a contractor settles on the continuum is a personal decision that has to do with comfort level and immediate circumstances. But most of all it has to do with the free agent's understanding of how the contracting industry operates and how he or she uses that information to its best advantage. Income and professional security are strongly influenced by where you fall along the continuum.