1. Scope and agreements
This policy explains working standards for independent tutors, writers, researchers, editors and reviewers providing services to Skills Axis LLC. Contractors must be at least 18, have legal capacity to contract, and provide accurate identity, qualification and experience information.
Read this policy alongside the separately accepted contractor agreement, the relevant assignment brief, the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy. An assignment brief identifies the service, deliverables, fee or commission basis, deadline and any agreed session schedule. Raise conflicting instructions before accepting or continuing the affected work.
Viewing this page does not record an electronic signature, create an assignment, or replace a separately executed agreement. Any agreement requiring acceptance must be supplied through an agreed, verifiable process, with a copy available to both parties.
2. Independent working relationship
Contractors may accept or decline offered assignments. An offer does not guarantee a minimum volume of work, fixed hours, exclusivity or future earnings. Accepted assignments carry the agreed scope, delivery and session commitments.
Subject to those commitments and necessary security, legal and quality requirements, contractors choose how to perform their work and normally provide their own equipment, software and internet connection. They must not represent themselves as authorized to bind Skills Axis or its clients.
The intended relationship is that of an independent service provider, not an employee, partner or agent. Legal status depends on applicable law and the actual working relationship; this policy does not waive statutory employment, tax or other rights or duties.
3. Professional and ethical services
Accept work only within your competence and availability. Deliver accurate, original work that meets the agreed requirements, cite relevant sources, and promptly report delays, conflicts of interest or obstacles that could affect delivery.
Services support the learner in understanding and developing their own work. Explain concepts, guide practice, provide research guidance, and edit or proofread learner-authored material within the permitted scope. Do not impersonate learners, take assessments for them, fabricate results or references, or complete work for submission as the learner’s own.
Apply the same academic-integrity standard shown to clients: preserve learner authorship and decisions, keep examples and feedback proportionate, document material concerns, and ask Skills Axis to review any uncertain, restricted or apparently prohibited request before continuing.
Treat clients and colleagues respectfully. Do not discriminate, harass, offer bribes, falsify credentials or attendance, or manipulate reviews. Do not share account credentials, delegate an assignment or subcontract access to client information without prior written authorization.
4. Review corrections and scope changes
Skills Axis and, where appropriate, the client review the agreed service or deliverables. Correct substantiated errors and reasonable in-scope deficiencies without an additional fee, as provided in the accepted assignment and contractor agreement.
Additional pages, sessions, duration, deliverables or services are not automatically included. Record the proposed change and obtain approval of its scope, price, compensation and schedule through the order-change process before performing additional paid work. Do not collect payments directly from clients.
A request to correct an error is not automatically a paid addition, and a genuinely expanded scope is not automatically a free revision. Refer disagreements to support rather than changing the paid scope or withholding work without explanation.
5. Fees expenses and taxes
Review the fee or commission basis and release conditions before accepting an assignment. Contractor earnings are distinct from the total price paid by the client. Additional work must have its compensation agreed and recorded separately.
Payment eligibility, approved balances, withdrawal methods and payment timing follow the accepted contractor agreement and assignment terms, subject to applicable law. Report a discrepancy using the order number and payment details. This policy page does not change existing commission rates, release rules or payout schedules.
Contractors normally bear their own business expenses unless a reimbursement is agreed in writing. They are responsible for applicable business registrations, invoices and taxes. Skills Axis will perform withholding or reporting where required by law; nothing here overrides a statutory obligation.
6. Confidentiality and client information
Confidential information includes non-public client identities, messages, drafts, files, session information, personal data, internal systems, commercial terms and quality-review processes. Use it only to perform the authorized service and only to the extent necessary.
Do not publish client work, identify clients in portfolios or social media, sell or reuse client information, or use information obtained through Skills Axis to divert clients or bypass platform communications and payment controls. Access is not permission to publicize, train a model on, or repurpose the material.
Do not send confidential content to unapproved AI services, personal applications, external collaborators or storage accounts. Seek written authorization for any necessary third-party processing and respect client and institutional restrictions.
Confidentiality does not restrict information lawfully known beforehand, independently developed without confidential inputs, publicly available without a breach, or received lawfully from another source. Legally required disclosures, protected reporting and cooperation with regulators remain permitted. Notify Skills Axis where lawful and practicable; a notice requirement must not obstruct a legal deadline or protected disclosure.
7. Personal data and public profiles
Contractor identity and admission evidence, professional information, service records and payout information are handled under the Privacy Policy for admission, service administration, security, payment and legal compliance. Provide only information needed for those purposes.
Treat personal data received through an assignment as confidential and process it only for the authorized service. Minors may participate only in support arranged through an adult parent or guardian account. Do not ask a minor to register, move communications outside approved channels, make payment, or provide consent that must come from the adult account holder. Follow the agreed communication and safeguarding arrangements for every session.
Public educator profiles require admission approval and separate publication consent. Accepting work is not blanket consent to publish a contractor’s identity, photograph, voice, likeness or private documents, or to sell personal information. Privacy requests and lawful retention exceptions remain governed by the Privacy Policy and applicable law.
8. Intellectual property and materials
The separately accepted written contractor agreement must identify rights in commissioned work, including any assignment to Skills Axis and permitted use of pre-existing materials. Work-made-for-hire treatment applies only where the legal requirements are met; this policy does not treat every independent-contractor deliverable as automatically owned by Skills Axis.
Disclose pre-existing tools, templates and third-party materials that will be incorporated into deliverables and obtain the necessary permissions or licenses. Do not provide content subject to conflicting obligations, unauthorized copying, third-party confidentiality restrictions or undisclosed reuse limitations.
Clients retain rights in their original drafts and other submitted materials, subject to third-party rights. Editing or reviewing a client’s work does not transfer that original ownership. Client use of Skills Axis resources and eligible deliverables is governed by the Licensing Policy; contractor access does not authorize portfolio publication or resale.
9. Information security standards
Use devices you own or are authorized to manage, and keep work away from public kiosks and shared computers. Protect devices against theft, unauthorized viewing and access. Do not use rooted or jailbroken devices for Skills Axis work.
Protect login credentials, use strong unique passwords and required multi-factor authentication, and never share accounts. Configure an automatic screen lock within five minutes of inactivity and a failed-sign-in lockout after no more than five failed attempts where the device supports it.
Keep supported operating systems and applications updated and use trusted malware protection. Apply security updates promptly, targeting installation within 72 hours of release where available and compatible. Escalate any technical obstacle and restrict affected access until a safe approach is agreed.
Use secure encrypted connections. Do not handle client information over open, unencrypted public wireless networks. Enable full-disk encryption where client or company data is stored locally.
Keep company and client data within approved systems. Prevent unauthorized cloud synchronization, personal backups and transfers; do not disable legitimate device-security or recovery controls indiscriminately. Any necessary backup containing company data must be authorized and appropriately protected.
10. Incidents audits and quality review
Report suspected loss, disclosure, account compromise or other security incidents to support as soon as you become aware and no later than 24 hours afterward. Provide the relevant order or session number, what happened and any containment steps; do not include passwords or unnecessary personal data.
Preserve relevant evidence and cooperate with proportionate investigations or audits of service-related records and systems. Audits should have reasonable notice, a stated purpose and appropriate confidentiality safeguards; they do not authorize unrestricted access to unrelated personal information.
Skills Axis may review work and restrict access where reasonably needed for security, quality or suspected misconduct. The reason, remediation steps and effect on accepted assignments should be communicated where lawful and practicable. No assignment volume or suspension duration is guaranteed, and a restriction does not by itself erase an earned payment or a statutory right.
11. Ending an engagement and returning information
Notice requirements, term and renewal follow the separately accepted contractor agreement. Raise termination or availability changes with support, resolve the handover of accepted assignments and return any loaned company equipment according to the agreed terms.
On completion, termination or request, return company and client information or securely erase unauthorized local copies as instructed. Confirm completion when requested. Preserve only records that must lawfully be retained, protect them and restrict further use; do not destroy evidence subject to a legal hold.
Confidentiality, applicable intellectual-property obligations, earned payment obligations and lawful dispute-resolution duties may continue after the engagement ends. Termination does not authorize continued access to client accounts or materials.
12. Disputes and legal protections
Raise service or payment concerns with support and keep relevant assignment records. A contractor may obtain independent legal advice. Governing law, liability limits, indemnities, arbitration and any waiver of court or collective-action rights require the applicable accepted agreement and remain subject to mandatory law.
This public policy does not itself impose an arbitration agreement, a class-action waiver, a release of privacy claims, or an obligation to indemnify Skills Axis for employment classification. It does not remove access to a regulator or any non-waivable legal remedy.
13. Updates and questions
The review date identifies this published version. Changes must be communicated through the applicable notice or agreement process; a web-page update alone does not amend an existing signed contract or retrospectively change an accepted assignment.
Contact support before accepting work if a requirement is unclear, conflicts with an assignment, or cannot be met. Refer to the order number rather than sharing confidential client information outside the platform.