24 of March, 2025

Hiring a freelancer has many advantages, which is why it is a practice increasingly widespread in the business world. However, in many cases there are doubts about how to manage the hiring of these collaborators.

How do you hire a freelancer or salaried employee easily? Here we explain the steps for you to carry out this process in your company successfully. Don’t miss it!

Steps to hire a freelancer

In reality, the process for hiring a freelancer is quite similar to that of any other worker. For this, the search for candidates is started as would be done with any other type of collaborator. Some of the steps to follow to carry out the hiring are:

Use a software for candidate search

To find candidates suitable for the chosen position, you can opt to have a recruitment software, like Sesame HR’s, to easily process each candidate’s data and choose the one that best fits the position.

With these tools you can hire a freelancer, being able to create a database of candidates to choose the right freelance. Among other things, it helps to have a checklist with the requirements to facilitate the search and choose the one that best fits the needs of the company.

Likewise, it allows to include the portfolio and all types of need, accessing the candidates from other processes, or when sharing information with other managers of the entity. With the right tools, hiring a freelancer will be easy, saving more time and money.

Check the freelancer’s status

One of the steps to know how to hire a freelancer is to make sure that they are registered as such. To do this, you will need to ask for some document which certifies that the person is registered with Social Security in that regime.

You can also request a freelancer’s report. The employer can easily hire them at the office of Social Security Treasury.

Formalize a contract

The contract made to a freelancer can be civil, mercantile, or administrative. The usual thing when hiring another person is that it is civil.

When hiring a freelancer the start date of activity should be included at least and both parties will have to sign it.

Similarly, it should be established whether they are economically dependent freelancers or not. Economically dependent freelancers are those who get 75% of their income from providing services to only one company.

This is important to know, as an economically dependent freelancer is entitled to 18 days of vacation, unlike the others.

Payment for services

The payment for these services is made when the freelancer gives an invoice to the employer. It reflects:

The amounts agreed in the contract.
The VAT and the IRPF retention when the services provided are subject to tax.

All of this should be detailed in each invoice that the freelancer makes. This invoicing process will be repeated every month.

Advantages of hiring a freelancer

But, why hire a freelancer? Many times, entities prefer to hire self-employed workers rather than strengthening their workforce with a salaried employee. This is because there are many advantages to hiring a freelancer, most of which are economic.

Here are some reasons to hire a freelancer:

Cost reduction: Social Security contributions for salaried employees are higher, and in most cases, the freelancer is the one who takes care of these payments. Some employers pay the freelancer’s fee, but this is still cheaper than direct hiring.
There’s no need to worry about paid vacations or permits, like with salaried employees who have the right to paid vacations and parental leaves. All this doesn’t exist for freelancers.
The fees are deductible: Payments to freelance professionals are deductible. Each quarter, the employer can deduct the VAT from the invoices, a fiscally deductible expense for the company that hires the freelancer.
When hiring a freelancer there are no overtime hours, unlike when a salaried employee works more hours than stipulated.
The dismissal can be free and without notice: The working relationship with a freelancer can be terminated at any time. It is a totally free dismissal without compensation. On the other hand, when firing a salaried employee you have to justify it, notify in advance, and pay a compensation or severance pay.
They are expert workers: Many times, hiring a freelancer is due to the need to have a certain profile that the company doesn’t have. They are professionals expert in a sector that offers an external solution to a need that the company cannot resolve internally.
It reduces administrative burdens: Freelancers take care of issuing their invoices and the rest of the management, so the company only has to pay the invoice when it arrives. All this represents a great saving for the company, as opposed to what happens with salaried employees.

Drawbacks of hiring a freelancer

On the other hand, there are also some disadvantages of hiring a freelancer. Some of them are:

A lesser knowledge of the company.
The existence of other services that outsiders have.
A greater risk of talent loss, since freelancers can’t always be retained, something that is easier with salaried employees. If you have also invested in their training, the loss can be greater.
The existence of so-called “fake freelancers”, an unethical practice followed by some companies to save money.

Interesting, isn’t it? Now that you know how to hire a freelancer and what are its benefits, you just have to get to work. Discover all this and much more about Human Resources on the Sesame HR blog. We are your leading HR software!

Professional with over 20 years of extensive experience in various areas of Human Resources (Recruitment, Training, Occupational Risk Prevention, and Personnel Management). Experience in the Management Department: Broad understanding of the company and HR.

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cristinamartin

HR Content Specialist

Steps to hire a freelancer and what are their advantages