Back to BlogStop treating contractors like full-time employees—start managing them like assets
Organisations that treat their independent contractors as full-time employees face an array of complex issues: legal risks, output decline, and missed strategic value. The alternative is simple: manage your contractors as high-value, scalable assets within your business. Assets that have accurate classifications, clear boundaries in organisational participation and workplace processes, and of course, compliance with local workplace laws.
In the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, workplace laws are shifting for organisations who engage independent contractors. And enforcement of those laws is on the rise. This calls for business leaders to establish a contractor management strategy that is accurate, efficient, and legally compliant.
Our view at CXC is a practical one. Classify your contractors correctly, comply locally, and strategically integrate contractors into your business processes. This way, you’ll reduce regulatory risks and increase productivity. And that’s what we’ll cover in this article.
The hidden risks of managing contractors like employees
Blurring the line between contractors and employees creates legal and compliance liabilities for organisations. Plain and simple.
Legal exposure and misclassification fallout
The misclassification of independent contractors varies by country in the APAC region. Penalties including back pay, social insurance liabilities and financial fines are just the start.
Authorities in China have tightened classification enforcements on social insurance compliance, and the Supreme People’s Court recently confirmed that employers and workers can’t opt out of mandatory contributions. This raises the potential for legal exposure for organisations who treat their contractors like staff.
And in the Philippines, the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE), Department Order 174, prohibits labour-only contracting and allows DOLE to issue compliance orders, revoke contractor registrations, and order regular employment standards. A recent example arose in March 2024 when the Supreme Court of the Philippines ordered regularisation of workers for PLDT installers and repairers following DOLE findings in relation to labour-only contracting. This motion served as a sobering reminder for Philippines based organisations that when contractor engagement becomes ‘employee-like’ large groups of contractors can suddenly turn into employees.
Ideally, organisations should regularly monitor the legal tests used to judge the status of workers. In Australia, while the focus remains on the contract established between company and contractor, the policing of sham contracting through the Fair Work Ombudsman remains top-of-mind. Singapore distinguishes a ‘contract of service’ from a ‘contract for services’, with factors such as control of worker activity and integration of the worker inside the business. While in Japan, the focus is on economic dependence under the Labor Standards Act, with liabilities for back wages and social insurance if a contractor is found to be an employee.
Companies falling foul of worker classification laws in each APAC country risk not only heavy financial penalties but reputational damage as well.
Blurred boundaries: a compliance trap
It’s easy to see how companies trigger legal exposure from worker misclassification. Treating contractors like employees is an obvious compliance trap. For example, setting fixed hours for contractors, issuing them with staff handbooks, undertaking performance reviews, and requiring them to offer exclusivity to your organisation all point to employment, over contracting, across APAC.
In Singapore, these control measures are indicators of employment. In Japan, the courts consider who sets the methods of work and who owns the work tools, and then imposes sanctions where control of the contractor appears high. Vietnam requires employers to secure approvals and contractor work permits under Decree 152, and authorities have tightened pre-advertising and documentation rules in recent years. Indonesia continues to require the appropriate work authorisations, for example the limited-stay permit, KITAS, with penalties for non-compliance.
For foreign freelancers working across APAC, immigration status matters. But equally, is engaging cross-border contractors compliantly. Engaging an Employer of Record (EOR) partner (a global service we provide at CXC) is often the safest and most efficient approach.
Why contractors are underutilised in Asian markets
Misalignment in low-self-employment economies
In some APAC markets, especially where self-employment is less common, organisations often under-spec the role of contractors. So for example, they may treat them like an ad hoc headcount, or overlook tax and insurance rules. These cultural and structural norms, which differ from country to country, can negatively impact the contractor and lead to their disengagement.
In Singapore, the self-employed need to file trade income and make MediSave contributions above SGD 6,000 net income, so the organisation’s engagement terms and pay cadence need to reflect these obligations. If they don’t, it makes life a lot harder for the contractor. Japan’s sole proprietors often use the ‘blue return’ for tax efficiency, which requires proper record maintenance and a very specific approach to contractor scope and deliverables. Australia expects contractors to operate with an Australian Business Number (ABN), and organisations must withhold at the top tax rate if no ABN is provided. This in turn affects how procurement departments structure contractor’s statements of work.
When these rules are unknown or ignored it’s the contractor that bears the brunt, and disengagement and declining output ensues. If contractors are a cultural misfit in an organisation and rules for engagement aren’t deployed, the potential value of engaging them becomes limited.
Missed opportunities for flexibility and innovation
Many APAC organisations limit contractor use due to compliance fears or the absence of a repeatable worker playbook: if this contractor is only here for 6 months, how do we replicate these great outcomes?
That’s why a structured contractor strategy, like an EOR partnership, delivers speed while mitigating risk. By engaging contractors via an EOR organisations can reduce misclassification exposure across borders while adopting a strategic workforce strategy, not merely adding to headcount. And with regional policy changes across APAC regularly impacting workforce planning, an EOR ensures you’re always compliant, no matter how the laws change.
The operational cost of mismanagement
Disengagement and performance drop-offs
The operational cost of contractor mismanagement can greatly negate the benefits of their engagement.
The classic example we’ve seen over the years at CXC, are the effects of poor onboarding. These include delays to productivity, contractor churn, and the need to redo work. Yet the fix is very simple: provide contractors with a detailed scope of work, an internal sponsor, access to the appropriate tools, and pre-set communications cadence. All of these need to match the terms of the contract, not the policies by which employees operate.
Australia’s ATO guidance reinforces the distinction between directing outcomes (the ideal) and directing how the work is done (not ideal), which should inform the contractor’s onboarding. Other evidence from recent APAC case law also points to the level of control over the contractor as a trigger for employee status. Therefore, simplifying contractor onboarding around deliverables reduces potential legal risk while simultaneously cementing performance expectations.
If your organisation provides poor onboarding, offers minimal communication and excludes contractors from relevant cultural involvement, you’ll experience underwhelming performance from them and likely higher turnover.
Inconsistent processes across markets and teams
Organisations that manage contractors ad hoc set themselves up for risk: risk of compliance gaps, low contractor engagement and reputational damage. Local HR and procurement teams using different templates, processes and procedures across different countries run the risk of non-compliance. This is where standardised documentation and operations that still respect local rules is crucial.
For multi-country contractor engagement, an external partner reduces process fragmentation, inconsistency and compliance risk. A centralised compliance partner will also reduce misclassification risk, right-to-work failures, and late payments. Public resources are available too, which can be helpful for training internal teams, such as the ATO’s decision tool guidance on employee versus contractor obligations.
A new framework: managing contractors like assets
Classify correctly, comply locally, integrate strategically
Adopting this three-part model for classifying, integrating, and managing contractors will deliver a complaint, high-performing contractor workforce strategy.
- Classify correctly. The classification status of your contractors must be based on the governing tests of the specific country. Australia now prioritises contract terms, which means scope, worker substitution, and control clauses must match how the work will be delivered.The tests in Singapore and Japan factor in control, worker integration, financial risk, and provision of tools. While in South Korea the trend is toward recognising more workers as employees in circumstances where there’s greater control of the worker.
- Local compliance. Determine the taxation and other regulatory rules based on the specific country where you’re engaging contractors. As we mentioned earlier, some examples include the following:
- Singapore requires MediSave for self-employed workers earning more than SGD 6,000.
- Australia requires ABNs for contractors and imposes withholding if none is provided.
- The Philippines can treat labour-only arrangements as employment and will typically order regularisation of the worker.
- In China, plan for full social insurance compliance as authorities are increasing enforcement and closing loopholes.
- Strategic integration. Give contractors clear outcomes, access to the right collaboration tools, and a communication cadence that fits their status. Our contractor management guides and APAC playbooks provide templates for onboarding, performance checks, and contract renewals.
Why strategic partners matter in execution
Cross-border contractor management programmes are best executed with local on-the-ground expertise. An experienced, local partner will reduce the risk of worker misclassification, payroll and immigration issues, or worse, failing regulatory audits. This is where our EOR and contractor compliance services, which we built for multi-country use, address and mitigate the exact risks organisations face.
Final thoughts: shifting from liability to leverage
Guess what? Contractors are not employees. So stop treating them like they are! Changing up your approach to contractor management, from ad hoc to strategic, not only minimises risk, but boosts business performance and delivers a clear competitive edge. The alternative, from legal exposure, to poor output, brand damage, to financial penalties, are just not worth it. Contractors managed as strategic assets, will offer your business specialist expertise, at speed, as well as scalability, all within clear legal and tax boundaries.
If you want support to establish a compliant, scalable contractor programme, get in touch with our team, here.
