The distinction is based on the employer's degree of control over a worker, the length of the relationship and a series of other factors.

WSJ: Payroll Audits Put Employers on Edge

And a typical line from the instruction that is given to federal courts -- federal juries all across the land: The law makes absolutely no distinction between the weight or value to be given either to direct or circumstantial evidence, nor is a greater degree of certainty required of circumstantial evidence than of direct evidence.

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