Just a reminder: If you are setting your assistant’s rate or dictating their hours and manner of work completion, they aren’t a VA – they’re a teleworker or home-based employee.
One defining feature of a VA is that they are SELF-EMPLOYED. That means – among other things – they:
- set their rates
- set their hours of work
- determine the method of work completion
- can work for others
- have an ABN
- provide their own equipment and office space
They are, for all intents and purposes, independent of you.
If you employ someone to assist you but ask them to get an ABN, control their work flow and work performance, dictate what you’ll pay them, or prevent them from working for others, yet ask them to invoice you for work performed, you could be breaking the law. Use the ATO’s Employee/Contractor decision tool to help you work it out. You can find it here!
For a handy definition of what a Virtual Assistant is:
“A VA is a business owner – a highly-skilled, independent professional entrepreneur who provides remote administrative, technical and/or creative business support services to clients locally, nationally or globally.”