What goes into a virtual assistant contract?
Seven points do most of the work: which tasks are included, how many hours and at what rate, when you can expect a reply, the notice period, confidentiality, who owns the result and what happens when you stop. If your assistant handles personal data, a data processing agreement belongs next to it. One page is usually enough.
Seven points make the difference: which work is included, how many hours and at what rate, when you can expect a reply, the notice period, confidentiality, who owns the result and what happens when you stop. If your assistant handles personal data, a data processing agreement belongs alongside it. One page is enough.
A contract for this kind of work does not have to be long. It has to be clear. Almost every awkward moment I have seen between a client and an assistant came from something nobody had written down: how many hours the month actually holds, how quickly a message gets answered, who owns a document once it is finished. Settle those at the start and you rarely need to discuss them again.
What should the contract cover?
Seven points carry nearly all of it. Everything else is detail you can sort out later, in an email, without anyone reaching for a lawyer.
| Element | What you put in writing | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| The work | Which tasks are included and which are explicitly not. | Without that line, an assignment quietly grows. |
| Hours and rate | The number of hours per month or the hourly rate, excluding VAT, and when the invoice arrives. | In practice this is the most common source of friction. |
| Availability | Which days and hours are worked, and how quickly you can expect a reply. | Expectations about response time are rarely written down, so they collide. |
| Notice period | How much warning is needed, and that notice is given in writing. | Stopping then follows a known path instead of being improvised. |
| Confidentiality | What counts as confidential, and that it stays that way afterwards. | Your assistant sees your turnover, your clients and your inbox. |
| Ownership of the work | That texts, designs and files are yours once they are paid for. | Otherwise it stays unclear who may reuse something later. |
| The exit | Which access is withdrawn, which files you receive back, and on what date. | At the start this is one sentence. At the end it is otherwise a discussion. |
If you are still working out what to hand over in the first place, the five steps in how to hire a virtual assistant come before this, and onboarding a virtual assistant covers the weeks straight after you sign.
Is a signed contract required, or will an email do?
Neither Dutch nor Swedish law requires a signed contract for an assignment like this. An email in which you confirm the seven points above, and a clear yes back from the other side, is an agreement too. In that sense you are freer than most people assume.
There is one exception, and it is worth knowing about. The GDPR does want the data processing agreement in writing, although electronic form is accepted. That is a separate document that sits next to your contract, and it only deals with personal data. How you arrange it, and which access you grant for which system, is set out in working securely with a virtual assistant, so I will not repeat it here.
My own advice is practical rather than legal. Put it on one page and sign it digitally. Do that especially when personal data is involved, when the work carries on month after month, or when the amounts start to matter to you.
What do you agree about hours, extra work and notice?
This is where the questions come up later, so it is worth spending ten minutes on them now. Five things are worth naming.
- Hours you do not use. Ask what happens to them before you sign. Do they expire at the end of the month, do they roll over, and if they roll over, for how long? Every provider handles this differently, so it belongs on your list of questions rather than in your assumptions.
- Busier months. Agree how extra work runs and who approves it in advance. A short sentence saying that anything above the agreed hours is confirmed by email first keeps the invoice free of surprises.
- Rate changes. Note how far in advance a new rate is announced, so a price rise never lands in the same month it takes effect.
- Notice. For ongoing work, a month or four weeks is common in the market. That is a convention, not a rule of law, and you are free to agree something else.
- Holidays and cover. Ask what happens if your assistant is away for two weeks. Who picks up the urgent things, and how do you hear about it in advance?
The number of hours itself is a separate question, and usually an easier one once you have listed the tasks. Ten hours a month comes to 840 euro excluding VAT, twenty hours to 1600 euro, with no setup fees and the option to adjust every month. What does a virtual assistant cost sets out the full picture, and how many hours you need helps you land on a starting size.
How do you show this is not employment in disguise?
When you hire a virtual assistant, you are engaging an independent business rather than taking on an employee. That distinction matters to the tax authorities, and the contract is only half of the evidence. What you do day to day is the other half, and in a dispute it tends to weigh more heavily than the paperwork.
What supports the independent side is easy to recognise. Your assistant works for several clients, uses their own equipment and their own software, decides how the work gets done, can arrange a replacement, and carries their own business risk. What undermines it is just as recognisable: exclusivity, fixed working hours that look like a shift roster, and instructions about how something must be done rather than what needs to be delivered.
The test itself is national, and it is not the same in every country. A Dutch client and a Swedish client are judged against different criteria, and if your assistant sits in another country again there is a third set. For the Swedish side, including what to check before you sign, see hiring a virtual assistant in Sweden. For the broader comparison with taking someone on, see virtual assistant or employee.
This is not legal advice. Put your own situation in front of a lawyer before you sign.
Last updated: 17 September 2026
Frequently asked questions
Is a written contract with a virtual assistant mandatory?
No. Neither Dutch nor Swedish law demands a signed contract for work of this kind. An email in which you confirm the tasks, the hours, the rate and the notice period counts as an agreement the moment the other party says yes. The one exception is the data processing agreement, which the GDPR does want in writing, and electronic form is fine for that.
What is the difference between the contract and a data processing agreement?
The contract covers the commercial side: what gets done, for how many hours, at what rate and until when. The data processing agreement covers one thing only, namely what your assistant may do with personal data that belongs to you and what happens to that data afterwards. You need both as soon as your assistant works in systems that hold details of your customers or your staff.
What notice period is usual with a virtual assistant?
For ongoing work, a month or four weeks is what you tend to see in the market. That is a convention rather than a legal minimum, so you are free to agree on something shorter or longer. Write down that notice is given in writing, and ending the arrangement stays a practical step for both of you.
Who owns the work a virtual assistant produces for me?
You do, as long as you put it on paper. Agree that texts, designs, spreadsheets and files become yours once they are paid for, and note which files you receive at the end and in which format. Without that line it stays unclear who may reuse something later, and that is an awkward question to raise months after the fact.
Also interesting
Working securely with a virtual assistant
Access per system, the GDPR side and the data processing agreement.
Getting startedHow to hire a virtual assistant
The five steps from first question to the first week of work.
HoursHow many hours do you need?
From your task list to a package size that fits the month.
ContactBook an introductory call
Half an hour to talk through your tasks and what to put on paper.
Ready to put it on paper?
Book a no obligation introductory call and we will go through the work, the hours and the arrangements that belong in writing.
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