being paid for services performed is either wages for which a taxpayer receives a W-2 or is considered the conduct of a trade or business for which she would owe SE tax and receive form 1099-NEC.
the question we can't answer is whether she was an employee for which Medicare and Fica taxes would have been taken out of her paycheck and she would have gotten a W-2 or she was properly classified as an Independent Contractor - why she got form 1099-NEC.
see this link for questions that can be used to determine her status. she can file form SS-8 with IRS to determine her status - not required. if you/her conclude that she's an employee the IRS requires her to contact the company to issue a corrected 1099-NEC and a W-2. only if the company refuses can you use form 4852 to report her income as wages. taxes, penalties and interest will be assessed if the IRS determines that she was correctly classified as an Independent Contractor.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-o...
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fss8.pdf
a W-2 is also earned income so no matter which, she can't go on your taxes.
