Free New Hampshire Independent Contractor Agreement Template

New Hampshire gives the written contract a defined evidentiary role, which few states do. A New Hampshire independent contractor agreement describes the services and affirms the working terms that keep a self-employed worker outside employee status.

Neither side files it with the state. The document simply lives with the parties who signed it.

RSA 281-A:2, VI(b)(1) starts from a presumption. The statute treats anyone who performs services for pay as an employee until proven otherwise.

The Seven Criteria

Rebutting that presumption takes proof that the person meets every one of the following:

• Possesses or has applied for a federal employer identification number or social security number, or agrees in writing to carry out employer responsibilities under the chapter
• Controls the means and manner of performance, so the result rather than the method is the primary element the employer bargained for
• Controls when the work happens, with the employer not dictating the timing
• Hires and pays their own assistants, and supervises the details of their work
• Holds themselves out as being in business, or registers with the state as a business, and carries continuing or recurring business liabilities
• Takes responsibility for satisfactory completion, and may answer contractually for failing to finish
• Faces no requirement to work exclusively for the employer

Missing one is enough to fail. Employers may still set a completion schedule, a range of work hours, and a maximum number of hours without breaking the timing criterion.

Who Sits Outside the Presumption

The statute excludes direct sellers, qualified real estate brokers and agents, real estate appraisers, and people providing services as part of a residential placement for individuals with developmental, acquired, or emotional disabilities.

What Misrepresentation Costs

RSA 281-A:2, VI(d) covers this. Where the commissioner finds an employer misrepresented the relationship, the penalty runs up to $2,500, plus $100 per employee for each day of noncompliance. Fines start from the first day of the infraction but cannot exceed one year.

Personal exposure follows too. Anyone with control over disbursing funds who knowingly violates the provision becomes personally liable for payment.

Penalty figures come from the statute and can change, so confirm them with the New Hampshire Department of Labor.

It can serve as prima facie evidence, which is the strongest role a contract plays in any of these rules. RSA 281-A:2, VI(c) sets three conditions for that.

Both the employer and the person providing services must sign it. They must do so on or about the date of engagement. The document must describe the services and affirm that each of the seven criteria will govern how the work is done.

Two limits matter. The statute plainly says no such agreement is necessary to establish the criteria. Nor does signing one change what actually happens on the job.

Timing is the practical takeaway. An agreement dated on or about the engagement day qualifies, while one produced months later does not fit the wording.

1. Prepare the agreement before or around the day you engage the contractor, not after work starts.
2. Describe the services concretely, so the document does more than recite a job title.
3. Affirm each of the seven criteria explicitly rather than gesturing at independence in general terms.
4. Have both the hiring party and the contractor sign and date it.
5. Keep it with invoices and business records, since real conduct decides the criteria.

Because a New Hampshire independent contractor agreement earns its evidentiary weight by tracking the statute, each criterion suggests a clause:

• Business identity — recording the contractor’s federal identification number or business registration
• Method — confirming the contractor controls how the work gets done
• Timing — setting completion dates and hour ranges instead of a daily schedule
• Assistants — confirming the contractor hires, pays, and supervises their own help
• Independence — noting continuing business liabilities and other clients
• Responsibility — making the contractor answerable for completing the work
• Non-exclusivity — confirming no requirement to work only for you

Unemployment insurance runs on a separate track. Employment Security applies its own test under RSA 282-A:9, III. One worker can therefore land differently under the two schemes.

Step through the questionnaire and collect a signature-ready file the same day.