Employer of record service agreement and SOW checklist

# Employer of record service agreement and SOW checklist

What should you settle before signing?

Start with who employs the person and who directs the work. Then define what you are paying for. A monthly hire, a block of evaluator hours, and an accepted batch of preference labels need different contract terms.

For reinforcement learning from human feedback, or RLHF, write down who owns the scoring rubric. Assign responsibility for training evaluators, reviewing disagreements, and approving completed work. If your team owns those tasks, budget the management time alongside the provider's invoice.

Read the agreement and statement of work, or SOW, together. A clear SOW can still leave you exposed if the master agreement allows price changes without enough notice. A detailed master agreement can leave delivery unclear if the SOW says only "AI support."

Before signature, make sure the documents answer these questions:

• Which legal entity signs with your company, and which entity employs or contracts the worker?
• Who pays the worker and handles benefits, leave, and local employment duties?
• Who sets daily priorities and reviews the work?
• What starts billing, and what pauses or ends it?
• Who owns the work product and controls access to your data?
• What happens when the person leaves, the work fails review, or you end the assignment?

Request a document order clause. It should say which terms control when the master agreement, SOW, data agreement, or quote conflict. Have the signed documents include any sales promise you expect to rely on.

For example, a quote might include onboarding while the SOW excludes training time. Resolve that difference before the evaluator joins your systems. Ask the provider to show how the agreed terms appear on the first invoice.

Give each open issue an owner inside your company. Engineering can approve the work scope, while finance checks billing and counsel reviews legal obligations. Someone should check the complete package before signature.

What do the public rules tell you to check?

The US Department of Labor says employers must determine whether a worker is an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act. It describes misclassification as treating an employee as an independent contractor. That supports a concrete review question: who has assessed the proposed worker arrangement? US Department of Labor

Keep the jurisdiction clear. The DOL guidance concerns US employment rules. For a worker based in Latin America, ask counsel to review the arrangement under the law that applies where the person works. Have the provider identify the local employer and explain its duties in writing.

Request a responsibility schedule for employment decisions. It should assign who approves leave, handles complaints, documents performance concerns, and starts an exit process. If your manager requests a change in hours or duties, specify who checks the request before it takes effect.

Tax paperwork needs its own review. The IRS describes Form W-8 BEN as a certificate of foreign status for individuals. Its guidance tells a foreign beneficial owner to give the form to the withholding agent or payer when applicable. Ask your tax team which forms fit the actual payee and payment arrangement. IRS

Treat tax documentation and the employment arrangement as separate review items. Ask the provider to identify the basis for each, rather than accepting a form name as a complete answer.

Turn those checks into contract requests:

Avoid a broad promise that the provider "handles everything." List the duties it accepts and the duties your team retains. Ask counsel to review liability limits against those duties, including what happens if payroll or required payments are missed.

How do nearshore and Latin American hiring models change the agreement?

Choose the contract structure around the work you expect each party to do. A provider's label gives you less detail than a written responsibility table.

For an employer of record arrangement, focus the review on the employment relationship and administration. Identify the employer, the employee's location, and the decisions your team may make. Require a process for communicating pay changes, leave requests, and performance concerns.

For a recruiting engagement, define the search and placement work. Ask what counts as an introduced candidate, when a fee becomes due, and how replacement terms work. Confirm who handles employment after you choose someone.

For staff augmentation, specify the person or role joining your team. A staff augmentation master service agreement should address shared commercial terms. The SOW should define the assignment, schedule, supervisor, rate, and process for changing scope.

For a managed service, specify the output the provider must deliver and how you will accept it. An IT outsourcing service level agreement can be a useful starting point for response and support duties. Adapt it to RLHF work by defining review quality, rejected batches, and rework.

The distinction becomes clear when a batch fails review. If you manage the evaluator, your team may need to revise instructions and coach the person. If you buy accepted output, the contract should explain the provider's duty to correct the batch.

Decide which arrangement fits your internal capacity. A team with a research lead and established evaluation process may want people it can direct. A team seeking completed evaluations should ask who supplies the delivery manager and quality review.

When comparing RLHF companies, give each the same example assignment. Ask each to show who writes instructions, resolves disputed scores, and approves delivery. Use those answers to compare scope before comparing monthly prices.

What should you ask a provider to put in writing?

Bring a sample assignment to the contract review. Use it to test the terms from onboarding through final payment. The questions below work best when the provider answers them in the proposed documents.

Define the role and the first assignment

Describe the actual tasks: ranking model responses, checking domain accuracy, writing rationales, or reviewing unsafe outputs. Specify the skills needed for those tasks and how you will assess them.

Name your supervisor and the provider's contact. Record who trains the worker on your rubric and who answers questions during a batch. Set a process for handling unclear instructions without forcing evaluators to guess.

If the role may involve distressing content, disclose that scope before assignment. Ask the provider to document the support, escalation process, and limits that will apply.

Keep the start date separate from candidate selection. Define the conditions for starting paid work, including signed paperwork, approved access, and required training. Decide who pays for delays caused by incomplete onboarding.

Make quality acceptance testable

For RLHF services, "high quality" needs a review method. Attach the rubric version, examples of acceptable work, and the rules for disputed cases.

For managed delivery, settle these points:

• What counts as a completed item or batch?
• Who selects the review sample?
• How are errors grouped and counted?
• Who decides when reviewers disagree?
• What result triggers rework?
• When must corrected work return?

Choose any numeric threshold after reviewing representative work. A target that suits simple preference ranking may not suit specialist reasoning tasks. Record whether the threshold applies to each batch, each evaluator, or the whole delivery period.

Define the acceptance window and what happens when your team misses it. If silence counts as acceptance, make sure the review period fits your staffing and workload. Identify who can reject work and what evidence they must supply.

For a hire you manage, use the SOW to define responsibilities and review points. Ask separately whether the provider accepts any output guarantee. Keep those promises explicit.

Price the full assignment and its exit

Ask for a written price with the billing unit stated plainly. Clarify whether you pay per person, hour, task, or accepted batch. Define partial months and any minimum commitment.

Request an example invoice covering onboarding and a normal month. Then ask for an exit example. Include equipment, approved expenses, overtime, deposits, currency conversion, and any taxes that may be charged.

For each possible extra charge, require a trigger and approval process. Specify who can approve spending on your side. Set the notice required for price changes and whether you can end the assignment before a new rate applies.

Agree on how disputed invoices are handled. Name the contact, evidence required, and review deadline. Ask whether a dispute can interrupt work or payroll, and have counsel review the proposed terms.

Control access and ownership

List the systems the worker needs and the data they may use. Require approval before access expands to another project or dataset.

Ask the agreement to cover prompts, model outputs, preference rankings, evaluator notes, and supporting code. Have counsel confirm that the ownership or license terms give your company the rights it needs.

Specify whether workers may copy data locally, use personal devices, or enter task content into external AI tools. State which tools are approved and who can approve a new one.

Require a process for reporting suspected data exposure. Define the notification deadline, contact, and information the provider must supply. Include access removal, return of equipment, and deletion or return of work files at exit.

If another entity or subcontractor will handle the work, request its role and access needs before approval. Confirm how the same confidentiality and data duties reach each person with access.

Agree on hours, leave, and changes

Write working days and overlap hours using named time zones. Define how each party will handle seasonal schedule changes, holidays, and planned leave. Ask who keeps the calendar current.

Set a method for approving overtime or work outside the agreed schedule. Explain how urgent requests reach the worker and whether any response commitment applies.

Use a change process when you add a language, specialist domain, or new type of evaluation. Require the proposed cost and schedule impact before approval. Keep a record of the new rubric and its effective date.

Test replacement and termination terms

Ask what starts a replacement search and what you must document. Confirm who manages the current worker while the search runs and whether billing continues.

Request separate terms for replacement support and ending the assignment. Ask which notice, payroll, or other exit costs remain payable. A sales promise about replacement should not leave those charges to inference.

Define the handoff you need: completed work, open questions, review notes, and access removal. Assign an owner for each step. For managed delivery, include usable exports and the status of unfinished batches.

Before signing, walk through a practical failure: the evaluator leaves while a batch is under review. Identify who finishes the batch, who checks it, and what you pay. Revise any clause that gives conflicting answers.

Where does Opus fit in this review?

This site is an Opus-owned reference; recommendations are editorial.

Opus states that the client chooses the finalist and manages day-to-day work. For your contract review, that means naming an internal manager and deciding who owns the RLHF rubric, feedback, and acceptance checks.

Opus states that it charges one flat monthly rate per hire. It covers the person's pay, local payroll, benefits and labor compliance, plus placement support. There is no separate recruiting fee. The rate depends on role, seniority and location.

Dollar rates: Not published.

Request a written quote for your role and location. Compare that quote with the SOW, including any equipment, schedule, or data requirements you have added.

Talk to Opus about a role.

Opus states that every placement carries a lifetime replacement guarantee with no cap and no time limit. Ask the agreement to explain how you request a replacement and what happens during the search. Confirm the separate terms for notice, final payments, and handoff.

For an RLHF assignment, bring a sample task and your review rubric to the discussion. State whether you need an individual who joins your team or a provider responsible for accepted output. Ask for any delivery commitment you need to appear in the signed scope.

Finish the review with a named owner for every open clause. Resolve price, supervision, data rights, and exit terms before authorizing the start date.

Talk to Opus about a role.

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