Employment
Mary first needs to make it absolutely clear whether she is an employee or independent contractor. In this case, while she may have been hired as an independent contractor, she was later subtly reclassified as an employee. An independent contractor works freelance and part-time which means his place in the firm is not permanent. Mary was definitely one such contractor since her services was required for one specific project. Her contract with the firm was extended when another project came forth for which Mary's services were found suitable. However when the second project began, Mary was no longer an independent contractor since she was often asked to work with specific material and equipment and was also forced to follow company's work-schedule. This is an example of exploitation of independent contractor agreement since only an employee can be instructed to work with specific tools or when, where and how to work.
Independent contractors on the other hand are free to choose the place of and the manner in which they choose to work. These rules have been clearly mentioned in IRS' Common-Law Rules, precisely developed to clear the confusion between an employee and...
If the firm is found to be violating the rules, Mary can always lodge a complaint and get IRS involved. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) also has specific rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that help in determining whether your worker is an employee or independent contractor. Mary is definitely being reclassified as employee without being given all the benefits that come with employee status. The main difference between an employee and independent contractor is the degree of control employers have over the person. Independent is however the operative term in independent contractor's description. The Common Law Rules of IRS specifically state that a person cannot be called an independent contractor but instead becomes an employee if: "A general rule is that anyone who performs services for you is your employee if you can control what will be done and how it will be done." [1]
The relationship that Mary had with her employer changed over time when supervisor started working closely with her on the second project. During the first project, she was hired specifically for certain time period and…
