Regarding a situation where the taxpayer was hired temporarily to help address a temporary work backlog at a remote work site but then was retained once it became clear that another worker had definitively left the work site, the Directorate stated that the determination as to whether a work engagement is temporary generally must be made at its commencement based on the following factors:
- the nature of the duties to be performed by the employee (certain types of work are, by their nature, short term engagements, such as repair work or trades which are involved only during a certain phase of a project);
- the overall time estimated for a project, or a particular phase of a project, on which the employee is engaged to perform duties; and
- the agreed period of time for which the employee was engaged according to the employment contract or other terms of the engagement.
Consideration should also be given, inter alia, to the possibility that the employment contract may be renewed and evidence of an intention to work there temporarily or otherwise.
As indicated in the Bulletin, should these factors change after employment commences, it may be necessary to redetermine whether the duties undertaken by the employee are considered to be of a temporary nature for the purposes of the special work site exclusion.
In relation, to the particular situation, the Directorate indicated that the work engagement ceased to be temporary at a redacted juncture.