Bill Text: CA AB5 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Bill 5 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Worker status: employees and independent contractors.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-09-18 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 296, Statutes of 2019. [AB5 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB5-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 5

Introduced by Assembly Member Gonzalez

December 03, 2018

An act to add Section 2750.3 to the Labor Code, relating to employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 5, as introduced, Gonzalez. Worker status: independent contractors.

Existing law, as established in the case of Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 (Dynamex), creates a presumption that a worker who performs services for a hirer is an employee. Existing law requires a 3-part test, commonly known as the “ABC” test, to establish that a worker is independent contractor.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to include provisions within this bill would codify the decision in the Dynamex case and clarify its application.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles, (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903.

(b) In its decision, the Court cited the harm to misclassified workers who lose significant workplace protections, the unfairness to employers who must compete with companies that misclassify, and the loss to the state of needed revenue from companies that use misclassification to avoid obligations such as payment of payroll taxes, payment of premiums for workers compensation, Social Security, unemployment, and disability insurance.

(c) The misclassification of workers as independent contractors has been a significant factor in the erosion of the middle class and the rise in income inequality.

SEC. 2.

Section 2750.3 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

2750.3.

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to include provisions that would codify the decision of the California Supreme Court in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903, and would clarify the decision’s application in state law.