Effective date: August 14, 2026 · Version: 2.0
This Helper Agreement ("Agreement") is between HIVEU LLC, a Colorado limited liability company ("HiveU"), and the individual accepting it ("Helper," "you"). By checking the acceptance box and creating a Helper profile, you agree to this Agreement and to the HiveU Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, which are incorporated here.
You are an independent contractor. You are not an employee, agent, partner, or joint venturer of HiveU. HiveU is a technology platform that connects you with students seeking services. HiveU does not hire you, does not engage you to perform services for HiveU, and is not a party to the agreement between you and a Customer. Your customer is the student who books you.
Because you are not an employee: HiveU does not withhold income, Social Security, or Medicare taxes from your earnings; HiveU does not provide workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, health insurance, paid leave, retirement benefits, or any other employee benefit; HiveU does not pay you a wage, salary, overtime, or minimum guarantee; and you are not covered by employment laws that apply to employees of HiveU.
You control your own work. Specifically, you: decide whether to offer services on the Platform at all, and may stop at any time; set your own prices and change them whenever you like; set your own availability and are never required to be available; accept or decline any booking request, for any reason or no reason, with no penalty from HiveU beyond the effect on your public response-rate statistics; decide how to perform the service; supply your own tools, equipment, transportation, and materials, unless you and the Customer agree otherwise; may perform the same or similar services elsewhere, including for competing platforms, your own private clients, or an employer, at the same time; and may operate under your own business name and hold yourself out as an independent business.
HiveU does not set your schedule, require you to wear a uniform or identify yourself as HiveU staff, require training beyond what is needed to use the Platform safely, assign you to jobs, supervise your work, or evaluate you as an employer would.
To be a Helper you must be at least 18, be a currently enrolled student at a campus HiveU serves, complete student verification, maintain an accurate profile, and hold any license, certification, permit, or insurance that the services you offer legally require. You are solely responsible for determining what your services legally require. HiveU does not verify licenses or certifications and does not conduct criminal background checks.
You decide what services to offer, within the limits of HiveU's prohibited-services policy, which is incorporated here and which prohibits (among other things) academic-integrity violations, licensed trade and professional work you are not licensed for, care of children or dependent adults, transportation of passengers for hire, anything involving controlled substances or weapons, and sexual or adult services.
You agree to describe your services and qualifications accurately, honor bookings you accept or cancel with reasonable notice, communicate through the Platform, perform in a professional and lawful manner, and treat Customers with respect and without discrimination on the basis of any protected characteristic.
You are solely responsible for the services you perform, including their quality, safety, timeliness, and legality, and for any injury, loss, or damage arising from them.
4.1 Current phase. During the Founding Beta, Customers pay you directly through Venmo or another method the two of you agree on. HiveU does not collect, hold, or transmit that money and cannot recover it if a Customer does not pay. You set the price; you receive the full agreed amount.
4.2 Commission. Platform fees are currently waived entirely — there is no Customer fee and no Helper commission during the Founding Beta. When fees begin, HiveU withholds a commission of 5% of your listed price from your payout, and the Customer separately pays a $3.00 service fee on top of your price (this does not come out of your payout). On a $30 booking you receive $28.50 and the Customer pays $33.00. A minimum booking value of $15 applies. HiveU may begin charging, or change the schedule, on at least 30 days' advance notice, applying only to bookings created on or after the effective date.
4.3 Founding fee waiver — no reimbursements. HiveU's promotional benefits are waivers of HiveU's own fees. HiveU does not reduce your price, does not fund a discount, and does not owe you any reimbursement. You always receive the full price you set, minus only the commission actually in effect for that booking. During the Founding Beta, the first 50 bookings that apply a Helper's referral code are charged no HiveU commission (and the Customer pays no service fee), so the Helper keeps 100% of their listed price on those bookings. The perk is limited to one per Customer and to the first 50 qualifying bookings across HiveU, and ends automatically once reached. Payment-processing fees, once integrated payments launch, are not waived.
4.4 Refunds and cancellations. HiveU's fees are adjusted in proportion to the amount actually settled. On a full cancellation before the service is rendered, no fee is charged and the Customer is fully refunded. On a partial refund, your 5% commission applies only to the portion you keep, and any commission on a refunded portion is reversed; the Customer's $3.00 service fee is reduced in proportion to the settled amount. Once integrated payments begin, HiveU may recover amounts already paid out to you by offset against future payouts. Third-party payment-processing fees may be non-refundable even when a booking is refunded.
4.5 Integrated payments. HiveU expects to move to integrated payments through a third-party processor (currently expected to be Stripe). When it does, you will need to complete that processor's onboarding, including its identity verification, and accept its terms in order to receive payouts. Payout timing is controlled by the processor, not HiveU.
HiveU may run a monthly performance bonus. When offered, these terms apply. The Helper who completes the most qualifying bookings in a calendar month receives $100 — a performance award determined solely by completed booking volume, not a lottery, raffle, or game of chance. A booking counts only if it is completed and paid, confirmed by both parties, and made by a distinct verified Customer; canceled, refunded, disputed, or non-genuine bookings do not count, nor do bookings between accounts controlled by the same person or people acting in concert, bookings under $10, or repeat bookings by the same Customer beyond five in a month. No bonus is awarded in a month in which no Helper completes at least 5 qualifying bookings. Ties are broken by highest total completed booking value, then earliest timestamp at which the winning count was reached. The bonus is paid within 15 days after month end. HiveU may withhold payment pending tax documentation or investigation of suspected manipulation. The bonus is compensation paid to you by HiveU, not marketplace earnings; HiveU may be required to issue you a Form 1099-NEC if amounts we pay you reach the applicable annual threshold. HiveU may modify, suspend, or discontinue the bonus prospectively on notice.
You are solely responsible for all taxes on your earnings, including federal and state income tax and self-employment tax, and for any required estimated payments. HiveU does not withhold taxes and does not provide tax advice. Generally, a person with $400 or more in net self-employment earnings must file a federal return, whether or not any tax form is issued to them. You owe tax on your earnings whether or not you receive a form. Keep your own records of what you earn and what you spend to earn it. Talk to a tax professional.
HiveU does not provide you with insurance of any kind — no general liability, no workers' compensation, no auto, no equipment coverage. If you are injured performing a service, HiveU's coverage does not apply to you. You are responsible for obtaining any insurance appropriate to the services you offer. Renters' and homeowners' policies commonly exclude business activity, and personal auto policies commonly exclude driving for compensation — check before assuming you're covered.
Customers may rate and review you, and your ratings, completion rate, and response time are displayed publicly. Continued access to the Platform is conditioned on meeting the objective standards published in advance. HiveU may remove listings, limit visibility, or suspend or deactivate your account for violating this Agreement, the Terms of Service, or the prohibited-services policy; for conduct that endangers users; for fraud or manipulation of bookings, ratings, or promotions; or for sustained ratings below published minimums. You may stop using the Platform and close your account at any time, for any reason, without penalty.
You keep ownership of your listings, photos, and profile content, and grant HiveU a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, display, reproduce, and distribute it to operate and promote the Platform. Ownership of anything you create for a Customer — a design, a photograph, a document — is between you and that Customer; HiveU claims no ownership. The Platform, its software, and the HiveU name, logo, hexagon and bee marks, and trade dress belong to HiveU. You may truthfully say you offer services on HiveU and use HiveU-supplied marketing materials as provided, without modification. You may not alter, recolor, or redraw the logo; create your own HiveU-branded materials without our prior written permission; use our marks in a way suggesting employment, sponsorship, or endorsement; or register any confusingly similar name, mark, domain, or handle.
If HiveU gives you non-public information — unreleased features, internal metrics, fraud rules, pricing plans — keep it confidential and use it only for your work on the Platform. This obligation survives for two years after your account closes. It does not cover information that is or becomes public through no fault of yours.
Once platform fees are in effect, you agree not to solicit or arrange bookings off-platform with Customers you first met through HiveU, for the purpose of avoiding fees, for 24 months after your last Platform booking with that Customer. This does not restrict your right to work for anyone else, to advertise independently, or to serve clients you found on your own.
You will indemnify and hold harmless HiveU and its members, officers, and agents from any claim, loss, liability, damage, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from the services you perform, your breach of this Agreement or any law, your own tax obligations, or your infringement of any third party's rights.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, HiveU is not liable to you for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost earnings or lost business opportunity. HiveU's total aggregate liability to you will not exceed the greater of $100 or the total platform fees you paid HiveU in the six months before the event giving rise to the claim.
This Agreement begins when you accept it and continues until either party ends it. Either party may terminate at any time, for any reason, with or without notice. Termination doesn't affect bookings you've already accepted — complete them or cancel per policy — or amounts already owed. Sections 5 (tax provisions), 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12 survive.
HiveU may modify this Agreement on notice by email or in-app notice at least 30 days before it takes effect, except that changes introducing or increasing fees follow the 30-day notice in Section 4.2. Continuing to use the Platform after the effective date means acceptance. If you don't accept, stop using the Platform and close your account.
Governed by Colorado law. Dispute resolution follows the Terms of Service. If a provision is unenforceable the rest stands. You may not assign this Agreement; HiveU may assign it in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. This Agreement plus the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and published policies is the entire agreement between us.
By checking the box and creating a Helper profile, you confirm that you have read and agree to this Agreement, that you are at least 18 and a currently enrolled student, and that you are entering into this Agreement as an independent contractor operating your own business.