In certain circumstances it is difficult to decide whether a person is an employee or an independent contractor . The Internal Revenue Service has provided a 20 factor test in IRS Revenue Ruling 87-41 to help employers make this determination. The employer's right to instruct, not the exercise of that right, is the key. Instruction may be oral or in written procedures or manuals.
Training indicates that the employer wants the services performed in a certain manner.
Integration of services into the business operation occurs when the success or continuation of a business depends to an appreciable degree on the performance of services that are difficult to separate from the business operation. If the employer is interested in who does the job as well as in getting the job done, it indicates that the employer is concerned about the methods used as well as the result of services performed. Such action by an employer generally shows control over people on the job with whom assistants work. Services may be continuing even though they are performed at irregular intervals, on a part-time basis, seasonally, or over a short term. Such a condition bars the worker from allocating time to other work, which is a right of an independent contractor.