We would like to ensure that you are still receiving content that you find useful – please confirm that you would like to continue to receive ILO newsletters.
02 October 2019
Overview
Takeaway 1 – audit your independent contractor agreements now
Takeaway 2 – pay close attention to exemptions
Takeaway 3 – joint employer test remains
On 18 September 2019, after months of speculation, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 5 into law, making it more difficult for California businesses to classify workers as independent contractors. AB 5 codifies and expands the California Supreme Court's 2018 holding in Dynamex Operations West v Superior Court of Los Angeles(1) and applies the 'ABC' test to most independent contractor questions under California employment law. The ABC test presumes that a worker is an employee unless the hiring entity can establish that the person:
AB 5 represents a tectonic shift in how businesses classify workers. For years, California businesses relied on the easier to satisfy multifactor test set out in SG Borello & Sons, Inc v Department of Industrial Relations(2) in order to classify workers as independent contractors. However, in 2018 the California Supreme Court held in Dynamex that the more rigorous ABC test should apply to independent contractor questions arising under the California Industrial Wage Commission Wage Orders.
AB 5:
Takeaway 1 – audit your independent contractor agreements now
Now that AB 5 has been signed into law and the retroactivity of the law has been codified, it is critical to audit existing independent contractor arrangements to determine whether an exception may be applied retroactively. Several exemptions, including the professional services and business-to-business exemptions, may now be used to mitigate against future claims. Ensuring proper classification now is also important because misclassification under California law can be costly. Misclassified workers can recover:
In addition, AB 5 gives the California attorney general and certain city attorneys the authority to seek injunctive relief against offending employers to prevent the continued misclassification of employees.
Takeaway 2 – pay close attention to exemptions
Although broad, the exemptions are also limited. Specifically, while several of the exemptions may appear to apply to businesses on their face, the statute is littered with qualifications and hard to satisfy standards. Perhaps more importantly, even if an ABC test exemption applies, independent contractor arrangements will still need to satisfy the Borello test.
Takeaway 3 – joint employer test remains
The ABC test and Dynamex should not apply to joint employer questions of liability, which remain governed by the Supreme Court's decision in Martinez v Combs.(3) AB 5 directs the ABC test to the hiring entity (ie, the direct hiring organisation).
For further information on this topic please contact Robert Cocchia or Peter Stockburger by telephone (+1 619 236 1414) or email (robert.cocchia@dentons.com or peter.stockburger@dentons.com). The Dentons website can be accessed at www.dentons.com.
The materials contained on this website are for general information purposes only and are subject to the disclaimer.
ILO is a premium online legal update service for major companies and law firms worldwide. In-house corporate counsel and other users of legal services, as well as law firm partners, qualify for a free subscription.