Independent Contractor Services in Bangladesh

QUICK OVERVIEW

Independent contractor services are the HRBD service that keeps each contractor engagement of your Bangladesh entity documented and reviewed. HRBD checks whether each role fits contractor or employee status, drafts the service agreement, builds the contractor file and reviews the engagement on schedule. Your company stays the contracting party and directs the work. The service is built for foreign-owned and local companies with a registered entity in Bangladesh.

✓What happens after you enquire: HRBD holds a scoping call with your HR or finance head. The call lists your current contractors, the roles you plan to add and the documents you already hold.

✓What HRBD carries: the status review, the service agreement draft, the contractor file, the engagement register and the scheduled reviews.

✓What stays with you: the choice of contractor, the fee, the payment of each invoice and the direction of the work.

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Seven Signs a Contractor Is an Employee

A contractor is treated as a worker when the work falls inside the statutory definition, whatever the agreement is called. Section 2(65) of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 defines a worker as any person engaged in an establishment, directly or through a contractor, to do skilled, unskilled, manual, technical, trade promotional or clerical work for wages (Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006, Section 2(65)). The Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Act, 2026 replaced this definition. It now leaves out only a person given written charge of managerial, administrative or supervisory duties. Check your own engagements against the seven contractor vs employee signs below.

Contractor vs employee in Bangladesh: seven signs HRBD checks in a contractor status review.
Sign checked	Independent contractor	Worker under the Act
Control of work	Decides how and when the work is done.	Follows the instructions and schedule of a manager.
Tools and place	Uses own tools and chooses the place of work.	Uses company tools at a place the company sets.
Working hours	Sets own hours around the deliverables.	Keeps fixed hours recorded by the company.
Substitution	Can send a qualified substitute or use a team.	Must do the work in person.
Payment	Invoices for deliverables or milestones.	Receives a regular wage for time worked.
Other clients	Free to serve other clients at the same time.	Works for one company only.
Business risk	Bears the cost of rework and own expenses.	The company bears the cost of errors and expenses.

No single sign decides status. HRBD weighs all seven and records the reasoning in a written status note. A genuine contractor agreement rests on the Contract Act, 1872. An agreement is a contract when it is made by the free consent of competent parties, for a lawful consideration and with a lawful object (Contract Act, 1872, Section 10).

What Does HRBD Do for Your Contractors?

HRBD keeps your contractor agreements in line with how the work is really done, and keeps the records that show it. HRBD acts as the contractor desk of your Bangladesh entity under one standing agreement. Your company signs every service agreement and pays every invoice. HRBD does not supply contractors and does not become a party to the contract. The desk has six parts. Take all six, or only the parts your HR and finance staff have no time for.

Contractor Status Review

HRBD reviews each planned role against the way the work will be done: who sets the hours, who supplies the tools and how payment is made. You receive a written status note. It states whether the role fits a contractor agreement or an employment contract, and why.

Service Agreement Drafting

HRBD drafts the service agreement in your company name under the Contract Act, 1872. The draft sets out scope, deliverables, fees, invoicing, confidentiality, ownership and termination. The terms follow the status note. Your signatory and counsel approve the final text.

Contractor File and Records

HRBD opens one file for each contractor. The file holds the signed agreement, the scope of work, the identity and tax registration copies the contractor supplies, and every change to scope. Your HR or finance head can ask for any file at any time.

One Engagement Register

HRBD keeps one register of every contractor your entity engages. Each line shows the role, the start date, the renewal date, the agreement version and the last review. The register reaches your HR or finance head on the schedule you set.

Scheduled Reviews

Work changes after an agreement is signed. HRBD reviews each engagement on the agreed schedule and compares the daily practice with the written terms. If a contractor now works fixed hours under a manager, you hear it from HRBD first, with the options open to you.

Move to Payroll Paperwork

When your company decides to employ a contractor, HRBD prepares the change. The desk closes the service agreement, drafts the appointment letter and hands the joining documents to your payroll team. The closing date and the joining date are set together.

✓Covered: contractors engaged by your registered Bangladesh entity for specialised or project work.

✓Covered: status notes, service agreements, contractor files, the engagement register and scheduled reviews.

✓Not covered: finding or supplying contractors. HRBD staffing is a separate service with its own agreement.

✓Not covered: paying contractors or filing their taxes. Your finance team keeps both.

✓Not covered: companies with no entity in Bangladesh. That need is met by an employer of record.

Which Companies Use Contractor Services?

This service is used by entities that answer to someone outside the country office: a parent company, a head office or a venture partner. All of them are registered in Bangladesh and engage people for specialised or project work. Here is what each kind of buyer receives from HRBD.

How Does HRBD Onboard Your Contractors?

HRBD onboards each contractor in six steps, and your signatory approves the service agreement before any work begins. The table shows each step in order, what HRBD does and the record your entity holds at the end of it. The sequence is the same for your first contractor and for every one after, so your records stay uniform.

Six steps of contractor onboarding with HRBD, in order, and the record your entity holds after each step.
Step	What HRBD does	Record you hold
1. Scoping call	Lists your current contractors, planned roles and the documents you hold.	Scope list.
2. Standing agreement	Drafts one agreement with the review schedule and the report format.	Signed standing agreement.
3. Status review	Reviews each role against the seven signs.	Written status note.
4. Agreement draft	Drafts the service agreement in your company name for your signatory.	Signed service agreement.
5. Contractor file	Collects the documents from the contractor and opens the file.	Contractor file.
6. Register entry	Enters the engagement in the register and sets the review dates.	Register line and review dates.

Why Choose HRBD for Contractor Services?

Employers choose HRBD because the contractor desk sits beside the HR, payroll and PEO teams that already serve Bangladesh entities. Your company answers as the contracting party, and HRBD answers for the advice and the records it produced. That split is written into the standing agreement before the first engagement starts. Six reasons sit behind the choice, and each one is a commitment in the agreement.

One HR Team

Your contractors and your employees are handled by one provider. HRBD already runs HR, payroll and PEO support for entities in Bangladesh. When a contractor moves onto your payroll, the same team carries the records forward, and nothing is explained twice to a new supplier.

Law-Cited Notes

Every status note names the provision it rests on and gives the reasoning in plain English. Your counsel, your auditor and your head office can check the note against the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 and see at once what HRBD relied on.

Bangladesh Law

Every service agreement HRBD drafts is governed by Bangladesh law and names a forum in Bangladesh. The terms are written for the Contract Act, 1872. Templates from other countries are not reused, so each document fits the courts that enforce it.

Accountability

HRBD signs each status note and stands behind the reasoning in it. If a status is challenged, HRBD supplies the note, the contractor file and the review history to you and your counsel. A named HRBD officer owns your account and answers your questions.

Confidentiality

Contractor fees, scopes and identity documents are confidential under your agreement with HRBD. Files are open only to the HRBD officers on your account and to the people you name. When the agreement ends, HRBD returns or deletes every file as you instruct.

Continuity

A second HRBD officer knows your account, so reviews continue when the first is away. The register and every review note reach your HR or finance head in English. Your head office reads the same report that your country manager reads.

Can a Contractor Move Onto Your Payroll?

Yes. Your company can employ a contractor at any point, and HRBD prepares the change. The desk closes the service agreement, drafts the appointment letter and hands the joining documents to your payroll team. Companies that run HR through HRBD then use PEO services in Bangladesh for the employee records that follow.

Three other needs sit outside this service, and each has its own route. If you need HRBD to find the people, that is staffing solutions in Bangladesh. If you need HRBD to employ the person, that is remote staff augmentation, where HRBD holds the employment contract. If you have no entity in Bangladesh, that need is met by an employer of record, not by this service.

Contractor Compliance Resources From HRBD

These references sit beside the contractor service. Each one covers a duty or a document that touches a contractor engagement, and each is an HRBD page you can read before the scoping call. None of them is needed to start, and all three help your team ask sharper questions.

Employer Duties Under the Labour Act

Employer duties under the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006, from appointment letters and working hours to leave and termination. Read it when a status note finds that a role is employment. It shows what your entity owes a worker from the first day, which is the real cost of getting status wrong.

Bangladesh labour law compliance guide

Worker Classification Risk Review

An HRBD assessment of employment and legal risk across your Bangladesh operation. It reviews contractor and employee status for misclassification exposure, and every finding cites the governing provision. Use it when you already engage many contractors and want one review of them all.

Employment and legal risk assessment

Contract Drafting and Management

HRBD contract management covers business agreements from drafting and negotiation to renewal and termination. Read it if you want the same team to hold your supplier, lease and service contracts beside your contractor agreements. One contract calendar then shows every renewal date of your entity.

Outsourced contract management services

Questions Employers Ask About Contractors

These are direct answers to the questions HR heads, finance leads and country managers ask before they hand contractor engagements to HRBD. The first sentence of each answer is the answer itself. Anything not covered here is settled at the scoping call.

What is an independent contractor service?

An independent contractor service is a managed service that keeps contractor engagements documented and compliant for the company that engages them. With HRBD, the desk reviews the status of each role, drafts the service agreement in your company name, opens a file for each contractor and keeps one engagement register. Your company stays the contracting party, directs the work and pays the invoices.

Does HRBD supply contractors for us?

No. This service manages contractors your company has already chosen. HRBD does not source, place or supply contractors under it, and HRBD is not a party to the service agreement. If you need HRBD to find people, that is the HRBD staffing service, which runs under its own agreement. The two services are separate and can be used together.

Is our contractor really an employee?

The answer depends on how the work is done, not on the title of the agreement. HRBD compares the daily practice with the worker definition in Section 2(65) of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006. The review checks seven signs, including who controls the work, who sets the hours, who supplies the tools and how payment is made. You receive a status note with the result and the reasoning.

Who is liable if status is challenged?

Your company is liable as the party that engaged the person. HRBD is answerable for the advice it gave and the records it kept. If a claim is made, HRBD hands you the status note, the contractor file and the review history, and works with your counsel. The standing agreement sets out this split before the first engagement starts.

Which law governs a contractor agreement?

The Contract Act, 1872 governs a contractor agreement in Bangladesh. Under Section 10, an agreement is a contract when it is made by the free consent of competent parties, for a lawful consideration and with a lawful object. The Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 applies instead when the person falls inside its definition of a worker. HRBD drafts every agreement with both Acts in view.

What happens after we enquire?

HRBD replies with a time for a scoping call, and the work then follows a fixed order.

Scoping call with your HR or finance head.
Standing agreement drafted and signed.
Status review of each role in scope.
Service agreements drafted and signed.
Contractor files opened and the register started.

No engagement is reviewed before the standing agreement is signed.

How long does set-up take?

Set-up length depends on how many contractors you engage and how complete your current documents are. A company with a few contractors and signed agreements on file moves through scoping quickly. A company with many undocumented engagements needs a longer first review. HRBD gives you a written plan with stages after the scoping call, so you see the order of work before you sign.

How does HRBD handle contractor data?

HRBD collects only the documents needed for the contractor file. These are the signed agreement, the scope of work, and the identity and tax registration copies the contractor supplies. Files are stored under your account and opened only by the HRBD officers assigned to it. HRBD shares a file with a third party only on your written instruction or where the law requires it.

Is our contractor information confidential?

Yes. Contractor fees, scopes and personal documents are confidential under the standing agreement. The HRBD officers on your account are bound by the same terms. HRBD does not name your company or your contractors in its marketing. When the agreement ends, HRBD returns or deletes the files as you instruct, and confirms this in writing.

Can we switch from our current provider?

Yes. HRBD takes over contractor records from another provider or from your own team. The desk first reviews each existing agreement and file, then lists what is missing or out of date. Engagements that are in order are adopted as they stand. Engagements with gaps get a new status review and, where needed, an amended agreement. Your contractors keep working during the handover.

Can a contractor become an employee later?

Yes. Your company can employ a contractor whenever both sides agree. HRBD closes the service agreement, drafts the appointment letter and passes the joining documents to your payroll team. The closing date and the joining date are set together. If your entity uses HRBD PEO support, the same team then carries the employee records forward.

What does this service not cover?

This service does not cover finding contractors, paying them or filing their taxes. It also does not serve companies with no registered entity in Bangladesh, which need an employer of record instead. HRBD gives a status view based on the facts you provide, and that view is not a court ruling. A Labour Court can reach a different result on the same facts.

Reviewed by Romana Aktar, Head of Compliance, HRBD

Contractor status and service agreement statements for independent contractor services, Bangladesh.

Statutory sources: the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 and the Contract Act, 1872. Regulator named on this page: the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE).

Brief HRBD on Your Contractor Engagements