Pinpoint hire date to determine seniority, benefits eligibility, avoid misclassifying

Q         One of our employees was originally hired on August 18, 2017, as an independent contractor. She completed her assignment on December 10, 2018, and was brought in as a temporary in-house staffing coordinator the next day. We eventually hired her as a permanent full-time employee on January 5, 2019. What would be considered her official date of hire?

A   Your employee's hire date may inform several aspects of her employment, such as her seniority, eligibility for benefits, and accumulation of benefits. It will depend on what is contained in your policies and any contractual commitments, such as union or employment contracts.

There are also laws that depend on an employee's start date. For example, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires employees to work for a year before they are eligible for leave, so knowing the correct start date is crucial.

In your case, use the date she was hired as a temporary staffing coordinator because she was presumably being paid on a W-2 basis and would likely be considered your “employee” at that time.

A word of caution, however, about her work as an independent contractor. If she was improperly classified as a contractor and was truly acting as your employee, she may be able to argue for an earlier start date. Misclassifying employees as independent contractors is a widespread problem and the source of much litigation, so you should consider consulting with counsel to make sure you aren't misclassifying.