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her as a full-time, permanent, appointed, Federal employee as an
industrial hygienist. Petitioner’s employment was subject to
completion of a 1-year probationary period beginning November 11,
1999. Her service for purposes of career tenure and FERS/FSPS
also began November 11, 1999. Petitioner’s service under the
personal service contracts did not apply toward her annual leave
accrual rate or retirement credit as a Federal employee.
Petitioner was not paid for any unused accrued sick leave, and
the leave was not carried over as a credit under her direct hire
service.
The relationship created under the personal service
contracts was intended to be a temporary one entered into for a
stated period. It appears that, in November 1999, the State
Department, impressed with petitioner’s performance, decided to
hire her as an employee. The length of petitioner’s employment
is consistent with her status as an independent contractor. Cf.
Lewis v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1993-635 (7-year employment
consistent with employee status). This factor favors petitioner.
8. Method of Payment
Courts consider whether the worker was paid by time,
indicative of an employee, or by the job, indicative of an
independent contractor. Petitioner was paid on the basis of a
40-hour week. She worked 5 days per week, Monday through Friday,
8 hours per day from 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., with a 45-minute
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