The remuneration that liberal professionals receive for their services is known as fees.
Honorary is something that serves to honor someone. In general it is used as an adjective to indicate that a person has the honors, although not the property, of a position, a dignity or a job. The term comes from the Latin honorarius .
That is why we can speak of an honorary doctorate , which is an honorary title that a university grants to an eminent personality even when this person does not have a bachelor's degree. This means that the honorary doctor has access to the same privileges and treatment as those who have obtained the doctorate after completing the corresponding university studies.
What are fees
When the concept is used in the plural ( fees ), it is linked to the remuneration that a liberal professional receives for his work . The fees, therefore, are equivalent to the pay or salary received by a person who practices their profession independently (and not under a dependency relationship).
For example: «Doctor, tell me what your fees are for preparing the document letter and making the presentation to the court» , «We have to pay the fees to the notary before signing the deed» , «I have not yet received the fees for the last month » .
Fees are remuneration for a series of services provided by a natural person to another natural or legal person. A natural person , also called a physical person , is understood to mean:
- Every human being who enjoys legal capacity in a society, regardless of age, gender and religion.
- An individual who is capable of having legal rights or duties.
- An entity that is capable of appearing as a subjective term within a legal relationship.
- Any entity that can be considered a subject,
With respect to a legal person , also called a moral entity , it is a subject of obligations and rights that exists, although it is not an individual (like a natural person), but an institution, the creation of which is in charge of one or more natural persons and which It has a social objective that does not necessarily include profit. Legal entities, since they have the capacity to contract obligations and acquire rights, can also buy and own assets of all types.
Fees constitute the income of many workers.
Pay for services provided
The services for which fees are paid are usually related to a profession , or require extensive experience and a series of specific skills within a particular field of knowledge. The relationship that exists between the person who provides the services and the person who benefits from them is usually formalized through a service contract , unlike the employment relationship that may exist between an employer and its employees , which requires a contract . of work .
In the absence of an employment contract , the person who receives the fees is also not benefited by social security or social benefits, which labor legislation grants in other cases. Social security must be paid independently; Contributions must be made to the health and professional risks system, as well as the pension system.
Examples of professionals who charge fees
An accountant who has his own firm can work with several clients. Each of them is charged a fee according to the service they provide and the type of work they do. At the end of each month, or upon completing certain stages of the work, this professional collects his fee.
A lawyer can work in a similar way. If a person wishes to file a lawsuit, he or she can hire a lawyer and pay the corresponding fees. Once the work is completed, the employment relationship between the lawyer and his client will have ended (i.e., the client does not usually pay a fixed sum per month or a salary to the lawyer).