The number of things that protect the contractor in a standard consulting agreement are small relative to the number of things that protect the client; for instance, the "contractor status" clauses in the contract don't do much for the consultant, but they protect the client from frivolous claims that the consultant was actually an employee entitled to overtime and tax payments.
Ah, but this is exactly what I'm talking about with regional differences. Here in England, getting the contractual terms that affect employment status correct is extremely important for the contractor/consultant as well, and "terms that affect status" can potentially include almost anything depending on context.
If you don't, and consequently HMRC decide that you are a disguised employee under the IR35 rules, then you can be stung by the worst of both worlds: none of the perks of being an employee but all of the tax liability. To add insult to injury, your client is likely to get dinged for employer's NI as well at that point, so I suppose in that sense you're right that these terms are partly there to protect the client as well.
In case you're not aware, IR35 is a controversial set of rules that in principle stops people who really are working as employees from dodging certain taxes by claiming to be freelance contractors instead. The trouble is, the rules are notoriously vague and significant numbers of people who really are working as freelancers in a meaningful way also potentially fall within their scope. The Professional Contractors Group, which now has many thousands of members, was originally founded just to oppose that particular set of rules. These days, successful IR35 cases seem to be about as rare as unicorns, but that's partly because every legitimate freelancer with half a brain does take advice on how to structure their agreements to make their status as clear as possible.
Not that any of this negates your other point that you should certainly have any agreement proposed by a client properly reviewed, of course. I'm just trying to point out that even the most basic assumptions about who different clauses are there for don't necessarily hold from one jurisdiction to another. That might be obvious to you and me, but to someone reading this discussion who's thinking of going freelance for the first time, everything is a learning curve.
Ah, but this is exactly what I'm talking about with regional differences. Here in England, getting the contractual terms that affect employment status correct is extremely important for the contractor/consultant as well, and "terms that affect status" can potentially include almost anything depending on context.
If you don't, and consequently HMRC decide that you are a disguised employee under the IR35 rules, then you can be stung by the worst of both worlds: none of the perks of being an employee but all of the tax liability. To add insult to injury, your client is likely to get dinged for employer's NI as well at that point, so I suppose in that sense you're right that these terms are partly there to protect the client as well.
In case you're not aware, IR35 is a controversial set of rules that in principle stops people who really are working as employees from dodging certain taxes by claiming to be freelance contractors instead. The trouble is, the rules are notoriously vague and significant numbers of people who really are working as freelancers in a meaningful way also potentially fall within their scope. The Professional Contractors Group, which now has many thousands of members, was originally founded just to oppose that particular set of rules. These days, successful IR35 cases seem to be about as rare as unicorns, but that's partly because every legitimate freelancer with half a brain does take advice on how to structure their agreements to make their status as clear as possible.
Not that any of this negates your other point that you should certainly have any agreement proposed by a client properly reviewed, of course. I'm just trying to point out that even the most basic assumptions about who different clauses are there for don't necessarily hold from one jurisdiction to another. That might be obvious to you and me, but to someone reading this discussion who's thinking of going freelance for the first time, everything is a learning curve.