Pinpointing an employees date of hire

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?

When the employee was an independent contractor, she was just that. But in making that declaration, Im assuming you made no promise of employment at the end of her contractual assignment and there was no other circumstance that might change the analysis. She then would have become an employee the day she began working as an in-house staffing coordinator, even if the employment relationship began with a temporary or probational period. Under the scenario youve presented, the employees date of hire is December 11, 2018.

Eric Loman is an attorney with Jackson Loman Stanford & Downey, PC, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. You can reach him at eric@jacksonlomanlaw.com.