Provided the nature of the relationship is consistent with a contracting arrangement, any individual may choose to work as an independent contractor.
The exception to this rule is new graduates. If you are considering engaging a new graduate, or you are a recent graduate beginning your career, you should be engaged as an employee and not as an independent contractor.
At the start of a career as a health professional, a worker’s focus should be on developing their clinical experience and refining their expertise. With minimal experience, a new graduate will benefit from tailored guidance and training – which, if engaged as an independent contractor, will be their responsibility to bear. This is not conducive to development as a health professional and is unlikely to yield positive results for the business.
In the same vein, preoccupation with running one’s own business – which is essentially the case for an independent contractor – is not ideal during the early stages of one’s career. Not only does it take the focus off developing clinical skills, it increases the possibility of exploitation as focus must also be centred on understanding financial and legal obligations with somebody who is likely to have more business acumen simply by way of experience.
After some time working as an osteopath, it may be a more realistic prospect to engage an individual as an independent contractor. However, iniitially, employment is the appropriate choice.