Am I legally bound to a contract presented after the job was performed?

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Am I legally bound to a contract presented after the job was performed?

I was hired as an independent contractor for an agreed upon date, times and rate. I have fulfilled the job. The company that hired me has just sent me a contractor agreement, and an email stating that I must sign the agreement to receive payment. However, shouldn’t this document have been presented to me before the job was performed, or at leasthe mentioned. This is a week after the job was completed.

Asked on January 17, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Michigan

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 7 years ago | Contributor

They cannot condition payment on your signing an agreement now: if you did the work, you must be paid, and if they won't pay you, you could sue them for the money based on both breach of contract (violating the agreement, even if then only an oral or unwritten one, according to which you did work or provided services for pay) and also "unjust enrichment"--to oversimplify somewhat, the law does not let them get the benefit of your work without paying for it. They could of course refuse to hire or employ you for any new or more work going forward unless you sign the contract, but that is a different story.


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