Mystery Shopper's Manual

Can Mystery Shoppers Take a Sick Day?

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You felt fine last night, but this morning you have a sore throat, your nose is running and you have a headache. In fact, your whole body aches. And, you have several mystery shops scheduled for the next couple of days. You don’t have time to be sick!

No matter how well you take care of yourself, sooner or later you are going to get sick. With many jobs, you may be able to call in sick for a couple of days and rest in bed until you feel better while your co-workers fill in for you. As a mystery shopper, though, there aren’t any co-workers to pick up the slack. So what can you do when you are too sick to do a shop?

First look at the shops you have scheduled and check the deadlines. Perhaps some of the shops you were planning to do in the next couple of days are not really due until next week, but you were planning to get them done well in advance of the deadline. You have some breathing room for those mystery shops. Take care of yourself and get some rest so that you recover quickly and can get back to your life–and your mystery shops!

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Tax-Free Mystery Shopping Income?

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I recently got an email from a shopper that said in part:

If you are careful not to go over making $500 per company you’ll never have to pay a penny for taxes. By taking enough jobs to make $500 from 30 or 40 companies you can make an extra $20,000 a year, tax free. Who couldn’t use an extra 20 grand, especially tax free?

Wow. There is so much wrong here I hardly know where to begin.
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What is an Independent Contractor?

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businesswoman.jpgThe following is provided as general information about Independent Contractors. It is not legal advice. If you require legal advice, you are encouraged to consult an attorney knowledgeable in this aspect of the law.

As secret shoppers, we typically work as Independent Contractors (ICs), not employees.

There is not a single factor or test that determines whether a worker is an employee or an IC. Saying that someone is an Independent Contractor does not necessarily make it so. There are several things that regulatory agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service and state tax departments, consider when determining is someone is an employee or an IC. The rules are often vague, and interpretation is up to the agency making the determination.

The IC relationship is spelled out in the Independent Contractor Agreements (ICA) between mystery shoppers and mystery shopping companies. These agreements define the rights and responsibilities of both parties. ICAs often include language relating to the factors regulatory agencies consider when determining if someone is an employee or an IC.

So what does it mean to be an Independent Contractor?

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Secret Shopper Confidentiality and Ethics

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ethics.jpgEven if you are an excellent mystery shopper and make yourself available 24 hours a day, you won’t necessarily get as many assignments as you would like from any one company. To maximize your opportunities, you should apply to as many companies as you can. Mystery shopping companies understand that, as independent contractors, secret shoppers will market their services to many different companies.

That brings us to the ethics of working for more than one company. While there is nothing wrong with accepting assignments from several companies, you must respect the confidentiality of the information you receive from each company.

As part of the application process, you will complete an Independent Contractor Agreement (ICA) that describes the relationship between you and the secret shopping company. ICAs typically include a clause specifying that you will keep any information you obtain about the company and its clients confidential, and will not share it with anyone else.

This means that you should not share information about which businesses get mystery shopped, who shops which businesses, fees, guidelines, report forms, results of mystery shops and other proprietary data. Mystery shopping companies and their clients take confidentiality very seriously, and violating the confidentiality agreement could result in being removed from the shopper data base.

That does not mean that you can not share any information about mystery shopping. For example, when an application asks for what other mystery shopping companies you have worked, it does not violate your independent contractor agreements to list the names of mystery shopping companies. You should not name specific clients you’ve shopped, but it is fine to name the mystery shopping companies. You may also share information that is generally available to the public. For example, many mystery shopping companies say on their home page or other public area of their web sites the types of businesses they shop. Sharing that information (“Mystery Shoppers R Us specializes in shopping restaurants and hotels.”) without naming specific clients or giving out confidential data is fine.

Pay attention to the terms of the confidentiality agreements, or confidentiality clauses of independent contractor agreements, you signed when you applied. At a minimum, follow these guidelines:

  • Don’t share information with anyone about a mystery shopping company’s clients, or shops you have done for any mystery shopping company.
  • Don’t disclose the names of companies that have mystery shopping programs. Many shoppers believe that it is acceptable to post comments or questions about clients or shops to public forums, as long as they don’t disclose which mystery shopping company has that client. It is not.
  • Don’t send copies of blank report forms, sample reports, or completed reports from one company to another.
  • Don’t share information about compensation with other mystery shopping companies, clients or other shoppers.
  • If a friend asks for advice about becoming a mystery shopper, you may refer them to mystery shopping companies you recommend, but don’t disclose information about the clients they shop, fees and reimbursements, etc.
  • Don’t give educational materials or other documents you received from one company to another.
  • Don’t gossip about the people or clients of any of the companies you work with.
  • Don’t discuss the results of mystery shops directly with the client, unless you have been asked to do so by the mystery shopping company.
  • Don’t post proprietary information about a mystery shopping company or client to an Internet message board, chat or forum.

If you are not sure whether it is ethical to divulge something you know, DON’T DO IT! It is always better to be safe than sorry.

Remember that this is a business and you are a professional. Take your responsibilities seriously.