On September 18, 2019, California governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a contentious piece of legislation—AB-5 (Links to an external site.) https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB5—that will potentially reclassify millions of independent contractors as employees and dramatically reshape the future of independent workforces in California and beyond.
As its nickname, the “gig worker bill” suggests, much of the discussion around the new law has focused on its effects on the Ubers and Lyfts of the world. But it is actually far, far bigger than that, with the potential to touch nearly all companies in California—and even some outside of California—that use independent contractors.
Your assignment is to review the bill, and answer the following questions (you do not need to use the Case Brief format):
1.AB-5 (Links to an external site.) codifies a decision by the California Supreme Court in a 2018 case. What was that case called?
2.Why do you think the state legislature adopted this new law, i.e., what problem(s) were they trying to “fix”?
3.Which California State Code(s) did AB-5 amend?
4.The law codifies what is now known as the “ABC” test for classifying independent contractors. Describe the 3 prongs of that test.
5.Does the new law provide any exceptions? If yes, name two of these exceptions.
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