About these terms
These Terms of Service govern your use of side.work (the "Service"), which is operated by the administrator of the side.work service ("we", "us"). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these terms, our Privacy Policy, our Refund Policy and our Cookie Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
Our role
Side.work connects companies with independent specialists for part-time work. We provide matching, contracts, timesheets, invoicing and payouts. We are not the employer of any specialist, we are not a staffing or executive search firm, and we do not guarantee the quality, timing or outcome of any engagement. Specialists are independent contractors. They decide how to do their work, may serve other clients, and are responsible for their own taxes, insurance and benefits.
Accounts
You must be at least 18 and able to enter a binding agreement. You agree to provide accurate information, keep your credentials secure, and tell us promptly of unauthorized use. You are responsible for activity on your account. If you create an account for a company, you confirm that you are authorized to bind it. Each account is for one person unless the plan provides seats.
Plans and billing
Company plans (Starter, Growth and Scale) and the Specialist plan are subscriptions. Prices and limits are shown on the pricing page and at checkout. You may pay monthly or yearly, and yearly billing is the default.
- Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each period until you cancel.
- If you move to a higher plan or a longer billing period, the difference is charged immediately, and the change applies after payment succeeds.
- If you cancel, you keep access until the end of the paid period. Cancelling stops future renewals and does not refund the current period.
- We may change prices for future periods with advance notice. Existing paid periods are not affected.
- Payments are handled by our payment processor, and you agree to its terms for payment services.
Refunds are governed by our Refund Policy. All payments are final except in the cases it lists.
Platform fee
When a company pays for approved hours of specialist work, we charge the company a platform fee on the billings. The fee depends on the company plan, at 12 percent on Starter, 8 percent on Growth and 5 percent on Scale. The fee is shown on the invoice. Specialists receive the full agreed rate for approved hours, with no deduction for the platform fee.
Contracts between companies and specialists
When a company and a specialist agree to work together, they enter a contract through the Service. The contract sets the scope, the rate, a weekly hours cap and a notice period. Specialists may not bill more than the cap without the company approval. Either party may end the contract by giving the notice stated in it. We provide templates and tools, but the contract is between the company and the specialist, and we are not a party to it. We recommend that you obtain legal advice before relying on any template.
Timesheets, invoices and payouts
Specialists record hours in weekly timesheets. The company reviews and approves them. Approved hours are invoiced to the company together with the platform fee, in one invoice. Specialists are paid through our payment processor to a connected bank account, after completing the identity checks the processor requires. Approved payments are final, as explained in the Refund Policy. Timing of payouts may depend on the processor and your bank.
Each party is responsible for its own taxes. Specialists are responsible for reporting income and paying taxes that apply to them.
Keeping paid work on the platform
If a company and a specialist meet through Side.work, they agree to keep paid work between them on the platform for 12 months from the first introduction. This lets us offer the Service for a fee on billings. You may not use the Service to find a counterparty and then arrange payment elsewhere to avoid the fee. If you wish to hire a specialist as a full-time employee, contact us first.
Employment conflicts
Specialists confirm that their work through the Service does not conflict with their employment terms, obligations to other clients or confidentiality duties. Specialists are responsible for checking their own agreements and for not using any former or current employer confidential information. We may remove profiles that we have reason to believe violate this section.
Acceptable use
You agree not to do any of the following.
- Provide false or misleading information, including on verification.
- Impersonate another person or misrepresent your qualifications.
- Harass, discriminate against or threaten other users.
- Upload unlawful content or malicious code, or attempt to disrupt or probe the Service.
- Scrape or copy data from the Service with automated tools without our written permission.
- Use the Service for anything unlawful, or to circumvent the platform fee.
We may suspend or remove accounts and content that violate these terms.
Intellectual property and confidentiality
We and our licensors own the Service, its software, design and content, excluding user content. You keep ownership of content you submit, and you grant us a limited license to host and display it as needed to run the Service.
Between a company and a specialist, ownership of work product and confidentiality are governed by their contract. Our default template includes a mutual NDA and an assignment of intellectual property in the work product from the specialist to the company, subject to the specialist keeping pre-existing tools and general know-how. Companies on the Scale plan may use their own template. Each party agrees to keep the other confidential information private and to use it only for the engagement.
Disclaimers
The Service is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free, that profiles are complete or accurate beyond the verification we describe, or that any match will lead to a contract or a particular result. Information on the Service, including our guides, is general in nature and is not legal, tax, accounting or financial advice.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data or goodwill, arising from your use of the Service. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the event that gave rise to the claim. We are not responsible for the acts or omissions of companies or specialists, or for disputes between them. Some laws do not allow certain limits, in which case the limits apply to the extent permitted.
Termination
You may stop using the Service and cancel your plan at any time. We may suspend or end your access if you breach these terms, create risk or legal exposure for us or other users, or fail to pay. On termination, your right to use the Service ends, but the sections that by their nature should continue, including payment obligations, confidentiality, intellectual property, disclaimers, liability limits and the 12 month platform commitment, remain in effect.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws applicable at the administrator registered seat, without regard to conflict of law rules. Mandatory consumer protections that apply where you live are not affected. Before filing a claim, please contact [email protected] so we can try to resolve the issue informally.
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms from time to time. If a change is material, we will notify you by email or in the Service before it takes effect. Continued use after the effective date means you accept the updated terms.
Contact
For questions about these terms, write to [email protected].