Contractor or employee? Records to keep when your status is unclear

If you are not sure whether you are working as an independent contractor or an employee, keep records that show how the work actually happens day to day: who decides your hours and methods, who supplies the tools, how you are paid, whether you can work for others, what the contract says, and how the arrangement has changed over time. For app-based or platform work, add screenshots of offers, pay statements, policy notices and any deactivation messages.

Your records do not decide your status. Tax authorities, labour agencies and courts in Canada and the United States each have their own tests, and the answer can differ by purpose and by jurisdiction. A tidy file simply lets a qualified reviewer, or the agency that issues rulings, look at the facts quickly.

Many people assume the title on their agreement settles the question. Official guidance suggests otherwise. The Canada Revenue Agency's page on employment status says status depends on the actual terms and the working relationship, not only on what the parties intended. The IRS says the answer depends on all the evidence of control and independence, and that no single factor decides it.

That is why a record of everyday practice matters. A contract signed two years ago may describe one arrangement, while the emails, schedules and app notifications from last month show how it works now. Both belong in the file, side by side, without you drawing a conclusion from either.

Arrangements also drift. Someone may start with a short project, a flexible schedule and their own equipment, and a year later be working set shifts, wearing a uniform and answering to a team lead. Recording the date of each change matters as much as recording the change itself, because a reviewer will want to see the arrangement at different points in time, not only as it stands today.

The IRS groups evidence into behavioral control, financial control and the type of relationship, and the CRA's page lists direction and control among its factors. In practical recordkeeping terms, control shows up in who decides when, where and how the work is done.

• Schedules, shift assignments or calendar invitations you were given, and whether you could decline them.
• Instructions about how to do the work: scripts, checklists, required procedures, dress codes or quality standards.
• Training you were required to complete, with dates and who provided it.
• Performance reviews, ratings, warnings or coaching messages, and who issued them.
• Requests to approve time off, and the replies.
• Who you reported to, by role, and how often you were expected to check in.

• Every invoice you issued, or every pay statement you received, with dates and amounts.
• Who set your rate or price, and any message where it was changed.
• Expenses you paid yourself, such as a vehicle, phone, software or supplies, and whether any were reimbursed.
• Equipment, uniforms, logins or a company email address provided to you.
• Whether you hired helpers or could send someone else to do the work.
• Other clients you worked for during the same period, recorded in general terms only.
• Tax slips or forms issued to you, such as a T4 or T4A in Canada, or a W-2 or 1099 in the United States.

The CRA's page also mentions the chance of profit or loss and whether the worker is integrated into the payer's business. You do not need to argue either point. Simply keeping your invoices, expenses and a plain description of your role makes those facts visible to whoever reviews them.

For delivery, rideshare, task and other app-based work, much of the relationship lives inside the platform. Messages and screens can change or disappear after an update, and access to your account can end suddenly. Saving your own account information as you go is the main recordkeeping habit for platform work.

• Screenshots of offers or tasks, including the pay shown and any time limit to accept.
• Messages about acceptance rates, ratings, cancellations or performance thresholds.
• Weekly earnings summaries and payout records downloaded from your account.
• Notices of changes to terms of service, pay formulas or policies, with the date you received them.
• Support chat transcripts, copied or screenshotted while still available.
• Any warning, suspension or deactivation notice, the reason given if any, and the steps offered to respond.

Stick to information from your own account. Do not try to access other workers' data, scrape the platform, or use tools that break its terms. A file built only from your own information is one you can share without worrying about how it was gathered.

1. Gather every version of your contract, agreement or terms of service, and note the date each one took effect.
2. Write a one-page description of how a typical week works: how you get assignments, who sets the schedule, what tools you use and how you are paid.
3. Collect pay records for the whole period, in date order, and note any gaps.
4. Add dated entries for changes: a new rate, new rules, a new supervisor, a request to work exclusively, a change in tools provided.
5. Index each document with an ID, a date, its source and a short description.
6. List open questions, such as whether you received a tax slip for a given year, or whether a policy change was announced in writing.
7. Review the file once a month while the arrangement continues, so new records go in while they are easy to find.

A neutral timeline entry: 2026-06-02. Received an in-app message saying my acceptance rate was below the platform's target and that continued low acceptance could affect access to scheduled blocks. No specific threshold was stated in the message. I saved a screenshot at 14:10. I did not reply. Linked records: R-21, R-22.

• R-01, 2024-09-15: signed services agreement, eight pages, emailed to me by the company's onboarding team.
• R-07, 2025-03-01: email announcing new required uniform and branded vehicle signage.
• R-14, 2025-12-31: annual earnings summary downloaded from my account.
• R-21, 2026-06-02: screenshot of the acceptance rate message.
• R-22, 2026-05-28: updated terms of service notice, saved as PDF.

Notice what the entry leaves out: no opinion about whether the message was fair, and no statement about what it means for your status. Those are questions for a reviewer.

In Canada, the CRA publishes a page on employment status for CPP and EI purposes, and notes that workers or payers who are unsure can request a ruling. Employment standards and other programs are mostly provincial or territorial, and may approach the question in their own way.

In the United States, the IRS explains its approach for federal tax purposes, including Form SS-8 for requesting a status determination. The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division publishes separate information on misclassification under the Fair Labor Standards Act. States may use different tests for their own programs. Read these pages for context, and ask a qualified reviewer how they apply to you.

Can I keep these records if I signed a confidentiality clause? Keeping your own pay records, your own messages and your own account screenshots is different from taking confidential business information. If you are unsure what a clause covers, ask a qualified lawyer before sharing anything beyond your own records.

My account was deactivated. Can I still build a file? Yes. Start with what you have: emails, bank deposits, tax slips and any screenshots on your phone. List what you can no longer reach as a gap, and note any process the platform offered for requesting your data or appealing.

Does working for several clients mean I am self-employed? Official guidance treats that as one fact among many, not a deciding one. Record it accurately and leave the conclusion to the agency or a reviewer.

Should I write down conversations with the person who assigns my work? A short dated note after important conversations, such as a change in rate or rules, is useful. Record what was said, not what you think it meant.

SteadyFile is a private recordkeeping file you can start free in your browser at app.steadyfile.com, on your phone between jobs or on a desktop, with no account needed to begin. For a classification question, you can keep your weekly description, contract versions and rate changes as dated entries, give each invoice, pay summary and screenshot an ID in the records index, and track missing tax slips or unanswered support tickets in the gaps list. The company or platform has no access to the file. When you are ready to talk to someone, the exported packet lays everything out in date order. SteadyFile organizes the facts; it does not tell you what your status is.