Answering industry calls for a 21st-century solution to a 21st-century problem, a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers recently introduced a bill in Congress that would create a hybrid job classification for gig economy...more
In an unexpected blow to gig economy companies in California, a state court judge just reversed the will of voters and overturned the law created by ballot measure that ensured that app-based rideshare and delivery drivers...more
8/24/2021
/ Ballot Measures ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employee Definition ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Ridesharing ,
State Constitutions ,
State Labor Laws
We knew it had been coming, but the Biden recently made it official: the Department of Labor announced it wants to rescind the gig economy rule that was originally crafted under President Trump’s tenure and was about to make...more
Just two months after 58% of Californians voted it into effect and not even one month after it became law of the state, a group of workers and a major union have filed suit to overturn the results of Proposition 22, the...more
1/15/2021
/ Ballot Measures ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employee Definition ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Ridesharing ,
SEIU ,
State Constitutions ,
State Labor Laws
If it had been released at some other point in time and under different circumstances, perhaps gig economy businesses would be celebrating the release of a federal rule that makes it easier to classify workers as independent...more
The dust is beginning to settle after California voters overwhelmingly approved a new test for determining whether app-based rideshare and delivery drivers are considered employees or independent contractors, essentially...more
Now that all major media outlets have projected Joe Biden to be our next president, it is natural to begin to wonder what the next four years might look like for the gig economy. Our firm published a detailed assessment about...more
In one of the most closely watched (and most expensive) fronts in the ongoing battle over employment classification of gig workers, California voters appear to have approved Proposition 22, a ballot measure that confirms the...more
11/4/2020
/ Ballot Measures ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Ridesharing ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Rideshare companies in California have now been ordered by an appeals court to reclassify their drivers as employees, threatening to upend the very foundation of the gig economy business model that offers flexibility and...more
In an op-ed appearing in yesterday’s N.Y. Times, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi echoes what we have been saying on this blog for quite some time – that it is time for federal and state lawmakers to tear down the existing...more
A California state court judge just handed a potentially groundbreaking loss to gig economy companies across the state by granting an injunction forcing the two biggest ride-sharing companies in the nation to classify their...more
In a budget deal finalized today and expected to be approved by state lawmakers in a matter of days, the California state legislature has reached an agreement that will see $17.5 million allocated toward enforcement of AB-5...more
San Francisco ratcheted up the pressure on California gig economy companies by not only filing a misclassification lawsuit against DoorDash, but promising that more such litigation was to come against other companies. Upon...more
6/18/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Corporate Counsel ,
DoorDash ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
San Francisco ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unfair Labor Practices
I was able to virtually attend a session of Albany Law School’s 2020 Warren M. Anderson Legislative Seminar Series last week on “The Gig Economy,” bringing together some of the nation’s foremost thought leaders on the subject...more
6/8/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Not so long ago – 2019, to be exact – in a state not so far, far away – California – lawmakers passed the nation’s most controversial misclassification law to sweep as many independent contractors into employee status as...more
Over a million Californians have said they want a chance to vote on the misclassification law that threatens to upend the gig economy as we know it – and that means that their wish will soon be granted. Thanks to a...more
3/4/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Ballot Measures ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Relations ,
Misclassification ,
State Labor Laws
Gig economy company Instacart lost the latest round of its misclassification battle in San Diego Monday, as a California state court judge granted a preliminary injunction forcing it to reclassify its independent contractor...more
My colleague Todd Lyon wrote an excellent piece earlier this week about the House of Representatives passing the PRO Act, essentially a “wish list” for labor advocates seeking to tip the scales back towards unions. One of the...more
2/18/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Relations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Misclassification ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions
A federal court judge today denied a request by several gig economy giants (and a few contractors) to block AB-5, the new misclassification law in California that codifies the ABC test and makes it much more difficult to...more
2/11/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Ballot Measures ,
Contracts Clause ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Relations ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
State Labor Laws
New Jersey businesses will now face an increased slate of potential penalties for misclassification violations thanks to a series of bills just signed into effect by Governor Phil Murphy, but gig economy companies can breathe...more
The federal court that had granted a temporary restraining order on New Year’s Eve blocking California’s misclassification law from taking effect against the trucking industry just extended that ruling by granting a...more
1/17/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Motor Carriers ,
Preemption ,
State Labor Laws ,
TRO ,
Trucking Industry ,
Trucking Regulations
As readers of this blog know, three separate groups have filed lawsuits seeking to block or overturn California’s AB-5, the new law that raises the bar to make it very difficult for businesses to classify workers as...more
1/8/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Motor Carriers ,
Preemption ,
TRO ,
Trucking Industry
A federal judge took a pause from his New Year’s Eve revelries to hand a big victory to California truckers, blocking the state’s new misclassification law from impacting them before the January 1 effective date arrived....more
1/3/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Commerce Clause ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Employee Definition ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Preemption ,
Restraining Orders ,
State Labor Laws ,
Supremacy Clause ,
Trucking Industry
The truck drivers were the first group to take aim at AB5 through a lawsuit, and the freelancers followed suit. Soon before the clock strikes midnight to ring in the new year, two giants of the gig economy fired their own...more
The clock is steadily ticking towards midnight on December 31, and once the illuminated cluster of grapes drops from the Temecula Civic Center clock tower (this is actually a thing) and rings in the new year in California,...more
12/27/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Journalists ,
Misclassification ,
State Labor Laws ,
Writers