From the course: Hiring Contract Employees
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Control: The most significant factor
From the course: Hiring Contract Employees
Control: The most significant factor
Now we're going to dive deeper into these various classification factors. We begin with control, because, according to laws and regulations, it's the most important factor. You can tell an independent contractor what job you want to have done and the result you expect, but not when to work on it or how to do it. It's a question of the extent to which the company exercises control over the details of the work being performed. When looking at control, one of the things the IRS and the other agencies will ask is, to what degree has the company provided the work with instructions or training? Do they go through what seems like a typical employee orientation? Do they have to use an employer-managed software program? Do they follow specific employee-related protocols? The IRS distinguishes between providing workers suggestions and instructions. Instructions to a worker are evidence that a worker is an employee. However, the IRS now accepts that suggestions to a worker, which may or may not…