This Independent Contractor Agreement ("Agreement") is entered into between PooTroop LLC ("Company", "PooTroop", "we", or "us"), a Louisiana limited liability company, and you ("Contractor"). By accepting this Agreement in the app, you agree to be bound by its terms. We record your acceptance, including the date and time, in our system.
1. Independent Contractor Status
You are engaged as an independent contractor, not an employee. You are responsible for your own taxes, insurance, and benefits. The Company will not withhold taxes from your compensation. You will receive an annual IRS Form 1099-NEC to the extent required by IRS regulations.
2. Services & Compensation
You agree to perform pet waste removal services as described in the PooTroop onboarding materials and the app. Compensation for each completed visit is calculated from one or more of the following components, all of which are shown in the app for each visit:
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A base payout per service.
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A per-dog payout (where applicable, based on the number of dogs at the address).
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An add-on payout for each add-on service performed during the visit.
The specific amounts for each component are set by PooTroop and may be adjusted from time to time. Once a visit is completed and approved, the payout amount is fixed and recorded against your pay statement.
3. Pay Frequency & Stripe Connect
Pay statements are issued weekly on Fridays. Each Friday's pay statement covers all services completed and approved, and all approved expenses, that have not yet been included in a prior pay statement. The specific day of the week on which pay statements are generated may be adjusted by PooTroop from time to time; any change will be reflected in the app.
Payouts are delivered through Stripe Connect. You must complete Stripe Connect onboarding (which includes providing a bank account and identifying information directly to Stripe) before any payout can be transferred to you. Earned amounts will be held in your pay statement until your Stripe Connect onboarding is complete. PooTroop does not store your bank account details — those are collected and held by Stripe.
4. Mileage Tracking & Reimbursement
You must record accurate odometer readings in the app each workday you perform services: one reading when you arrive at your first assigned service visit of the day, and another when you finish your last assigned service visit of the day. Recording these readings is a condition of performing services and is required regardless of whether any mileage reimbursement is in effect at a given time.
The Company may, at its sole discretion, reimburse you for mileage driven between your first and last service visits of the day. The reimbursement rate, if any, is set by PooTroop and is shown in your technician account; the rate may be increased, decreased, or set to zero from time to time. The drive from your home or other starting location to your first visit, and the drive home from your last visit, are considered personal commuting and are not included in any reimbursement calculation. When a non-zero reimbursement rate is in effect, mileage reimbursement is automatically calculated from your recorded odometer readings and added to your weekly pay statement.
5. Expense Submission
In addition to mileage, you may submit other reasonable, work-related expenses through the app for review. Each submitted expense must include the amount, a description, and (where applicable) a receipt or supporting documentation. Submitted expenses are reviewed by an admin and, if approved, are added to your next pay statement. Denied expenses are not reimbursed.
6. Equipment & Supplies
The Company provides necessary service equipment (such as rakes and waste bags). You agree to use Company-provided equipment only for performance of services under this Agreement and to return all Company equipment upon termination of this Agreement.
7. Vehicle Use
You are responsible for providing your own transportation to and from service locations and for the operation, maintenance, and registration of your vehicle.
8. Visit Assignment, Availability & Decline
Visits are assigned within the availability windows you set in the app. You may decline an assigned visit at any time before starting it without penalty; declined visits are returned to the unassigned pool for reassignment. You are not obligated to accept any particular visit, and the Company is not obligated to assign any particular volume of visits to you.
9. Service Quality & Redos
You agree to perform services in a competent, professional, and timely manner consistent with PooTroop's standards. If a visit is reported by a client or admin as inadequately performed (for example, waste left behind, gate left open, or the visit not actually completed), the Company may, at its discretion:
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Require you to return to the property and complete the visit at no additional pay;
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Withhold or reverse the payout for the original visit; and/or
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Decline to assign you future visits.
10. No-Show
If you accept a visit and fail to perform it without prior cancellation through the app, the Company may withhold the payout, require you to make up the visit at no additional pay, and/or decline to assign you future visits, all at the Company's discretion.
11. Hazard Reporting
You agree to promptly report through the app any conditions at a service property that present a safety risk to yourself or future technicians, including but not limited to aggressive animals, broken or unsafe gates, unleashed dogs, hazardous materials, or unsafe access. Failure to report known hazards may result in withholding of pay, refusal of future assignments, or termination of this Agreement.
12. Confidentiality, Photos & Data Ownership
You agree to keep all client information (including names, addresses, phone numbers, gate codes, and other personal details) strictly confidential. You will not share any client information with any third party.
All photos, location data, odometer readings, service records, and other data you generate while performing services under this Agreement are the property of PooTroop. PooTroop retains the right to store, use, and reference this data during and after the term of this Agreement, including after termination.
13. Use of PooTroop Name & Brand
You may identify yourself as a PooTroop technician and use PooTroop-provided branding (such as shirts, vehicle decals, or business cards) only while performing visits assigned to you under this Agreement. You may not use the PooTroop name, logo, or brand to market your own services, solicit clients outside of assigned visits, or in any other context without the Company's prior written consent.
14. Non-Solicitation
For a period of twelve (12) months following the termination of this Agreement for any reason, you agree that you will not, directly or indirectly, solicit, contact, or accept business from any PooTroop client whom you serviced or whose contact information you obtained through this Agreement, for the purpose of providing pet waste removal or substantially similar services. This restriction applies in any parish or municipality in Louisiana in which you performed services for PooTroop during the term of this Agreement.
15. Referral Program
PooTroop offers a Referral Program that lets active technicians earn cash commissions by referring new clients to PooTroop. Participation in the Referral Program is optional and is governed by the rules in this Section 15, in addition to the rest of this Agreement. The Referral Program is the only authorized channel through which you may solicit new business on PooTroop's behalf and does not modify the Non-Solicitation obligations in Section 14.
Eligibility
The Referral Program is available to active PooTroop technicians in good standing. PooTroop reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disable any individual technician's ability to participate in the Referral Program at any time, with or without cause. Once your participation is disabled, no further commissions will be issued for any of your referrals — including referrals already in flight whose link was generated or shared while you were still eligible.
Commissions can be earned at any time, but actual payouts cannot be transferred to you until your Stripe Connect onboarding (Section 3) is complete. Earned-but-unpaid commissions remain on your pay statement until that occurs.
How Commissions Are Earned
Each qualifying referral can pay out in two stages — a front-end commission and a back-end commission — both of which are added to your weekly pay statement automatically when triggered.
A front-end commission is earned when all of the following are true:
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A new client (the "referee") signs up to PooTroop using your unique referral link;
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The referee completes the number of visits paid for by their first invoice; and
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The qualifying visit is completed within the attribution window currently in effect (the window length in days is shown on your "Refer & Earn" page in the app).
A back-end commission is earned when the referee remains an active, paid-up PooTroop client during the back-end window currently in effect (the start and end days post-signup are shown on your "Refer & Earn" page). The back-end check fires automatically once during that window.
The referee must be a genuinely new PooTroop client. Self-referrals are not permitted: referees who match the referrer on email address, phone number, or payment account, as well as referees that PooTroop reasonably determines to be the same person as, or under the control of, the referrer, do not qualify. PooTroop's determination on eligibility is final.
Commission Amount and Limits
The front-end and back-end commission amounts per qualifying referral are the amounts displayed on your "Refer & Earn" page in the app at the time the commission is earned. PooTroop may change either amount at any time. To prevent abuse, PooTroop may also impose a daily cap on the number of referral commissions a single technician can earn; the current cap, if any, is shown on your "Refer & Earn" page.
Form of Commission
Referral commissions are paid as cash, not as service credit. Commissions:
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Are added to the same weekly pay statement issued under Section 3;
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Are paid out through the same Stripe Connect account as your service payouts;
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Are not transferable to another technician or person; and
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Once earned and added to a pay statement, are final — PooTroop will not claw back commissions for routine business reasons. PooTroop may still revoke commissions earned in violation of this Agreement (see "Modification, Suspension, and Termination" below).
Modification, Suspension, and Termination
PooTroop reserves the right, in its sole discretion and at any time, to (a) change the rules, eligibility criteria, commission amounts, attribution window, back-end window, daily cap, or any other aspect of the Referral Program, (b) suspend or terminate the Referral Program in whole or in part, and (c) revoke any commission earned in violation of this Agreement or that PooTroop reasonably believes was earned through fraud, abuse, or misuse of the Referral Program. Continued participation in the Referral Program after any change constitutes acceptance of the change.
Conduct and Disclosure
If you publicly recommend PooTroop in connection with the Referral Program — for example, on social media, in a review, or on a website — you are responsible for complying with any applicable disclosure laws or platform rules, including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's endorsement guidelines. You should clearly disclose that you receive a benefit from PooTroop when a person uses your referral link. Door-to-door solicitation, cold-calling, and unsolicited bulk messaging ("spam") in connection with the Referral Program are prohibited.
16. Termination
Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or without cause, by providing notice through the app or by email. Upon termination, you agree to:
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Complete any visits already in progress, or notify the Company so they can be reassigned;
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Return all Company equipment in your possession; and
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Cease use of the PooTroop name, brand, and any access credentials.
Termination does not relieve either party of obligations that, by their nature, survive termination, including confidentiality, data ownership, and non-solicitation.
17. Modifications to this Agreement
The Company may revise this Agreement from time to time. For material changes, the Company will notify you by email and through the app, and your continued performance of services after the effective date of the revised Agreement constitutes acceptance of the changes.
18. Dispute Resolution
Any disputes arising from this Agreement shall be resolved through binding arbitration in Louisiana in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association.
19. Governing Law
This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Louisiana.