Human Resources, Staffing, and Contractor Oversight
Employees versus contractors
Classification turns on control: who directs the work, sets hours, supplies tools, and can terminate. Misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor to avoid payroll taxes and workers' compensation is a costly error. Employees require job descriptions, wage-and-hour compliance, performance reviews, and coverage for injury on the job; volunteers should be treated as volunteers.
Procurement
Use a written request for proposals that states scope, specifications, timeline, insurance requirements, and evaluation criteria. Solicit multiple bids above a board-set threshold, and compare them apples to apples - the lowest price is not automatically the best value. Check references, licenses, and financial stability, and confirm a certificate of insurance naming the association before anyone sets foot on site.
Contract essentials
Scope of work, term and renewal, price and payment terms, performance standards, change-order procedure, insurance and indemnification, termination for cause and convenience, dispute resolution, and lien waivers where applicable. Keep the executed contract, amendments, and correspondence in the vendor file, and hold the contractor to the written scope rather than to informal understandings.
Managing people and vendors
Board sets policy and budget authority; the manager hires, directs, evaluates, and disciplines staff. Boards should not give direction to on-site employees or vendors directly - it splits authority and creates liability. Evaluate vendors on performance, response time, and cost, not on personal friendship.
Traps
Handshake agreements, work started before insurance is verified, bids compared on headline price alone, boards interviewing staff, and directors awarding contracts to their own businesses.
Rule of thumb: get three written bids above the board's threshold, and never let a contractor start without a current certificate of insurance on file.