#WorkforceWednesday: New AB5 Exemptions, EEOC COVID-19 Updates, Joint-Employer Rule Partially Struck Down - Employment Law This Week®
Episode 13: NYC's New Freelancer Protection Law And The Future Of The On-Demand Economy
Several States and major U.S. Cities, including California, New York City and Seattle, have passed laws aimed at classifying “gig workers” as employees as opposed to independent contractors in recent years. Challenges to...more
Remarkably, Mr. Foxworthy’s name comes up frequently when talking about whether workers have been properly classified as independent contractors. Not because there is anything funny about that issue; there isn’t. And not...more
This week, the Ninth Circuit grapples with a challenge to California’s law for classifying workers as a content-based regulation of speech. The Court holds that plaintiffs’ First Amendment challenge to California’s...more
The U.S. Department of Labor yesterday announced a Proposed Rule on the test to determine whether a worker should be classified as an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The DOL will...more
Assembly Bill 5 regulates economic activity and not speech, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held, affirming dismissal of a suit brought by freelance writers and photographers challenging the...more
The retroactive application of Dynamex may permit a Grubhub driver’s suit alleging he was misclassified as an independent contractor, according to a new decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit....more
On May 6, 2021, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) withdrew proposed rules set by the Trump Administration, which were originally intended to revise the test for classifying workers as independent contractors at the...more
In a rare victory for employers, a California Court of Appeal in Wilson v. The La Jolla Group, 2021 WL 940283 (3/12/2021) affirmed the trial court’s denial of class certification of independent contractors’ wage and hour...more
Employers may be disappointed to learn that the Department of Labor’s recently issued rule clarifying the definition of “independent contractor” will likely no longer go into effect on March 8th, 2021. On January 20th, the...more
The California Supreme Court held on January 14, 2021, that its landmark Dynamex decision, which established a rigid standard under California law for companies to classify workers as independent contractors, and later was...more
On January 14, 2021, the California Supreme Court held that the “ABC Test” for classifying workers as independent contractors applies retroactively. The high court first articulated this standard, which makes it tougher for...more
It was quite a week for the gig economy in California. This is the second of a two-part update; last week we reported on a union- and driver-led California Supreme Court challenge to Proposition 22, the November 2020 voter...more
On January 14, 2021, the California Supreme Court held in Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising Int'l, Inc. that the ABC test for determining worker classification fashioned in its groundbreaking decision, Dynamex v. Superior...more
Since April 2018, when the California Supreme Court issued its Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, 4 Cal. 5th 903 (2018) decision, which radically changed the way in which courts differentiated between an...more
In the spirit of the season—and keeping some semblance of normal—we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this eighth day of the...more
For many years, worker classification has been an ongoing battle in California. The issue of employee vs. independent contractor has spurred many lawsuits statewide, resulted in countless precedent-setting decisions, and led...more
Last week, California voters passed several ballot measures impacting businesses on both the state and local levels. Of note are California’s Proposition 22 – which considers app-based drivers for rideshare and delivery...more
On Election Day 2020, California voters approved Proposition 22 which allows some gig economy companies to continue to classify drivers as independent contractors. These app-based drivers also will be guaranteed minimum...more
Many independent contractors complained of dire consequences when Assembly Bill 5 (“AB5”) became effective in California on January 1, 2020. Following intense lobbying and public relations campaigns, independent contractors...more
Welcome to #WorkforceWednesday! This week, worker classification and joint employment are in focus, as California amends AB5 and a federal judge rules on joint-employer liability. New AB5 Exemptions in CA (video attached) ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Businesses operating in California have had all of eight months to adapt since Assembly Bill 5, a landmark piece of legislation governing their relationships with independent contractors, took effect on...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Businesses operating in California have had all of eight months to adapt since Assembly Bill 5 (“AB 5”), a landmark piece of legislation governing their relationships with independent contractors, took...more
We have written frequently here about AB5, California’s controversial law that creates an “ABC” test that must be satisfied in order for a worker to be treated as an independent contractor. ...more
On August 31, 2020, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 2257. If signed by Governor Newsom, AB 2257 would exempt several categories of workers from the stringent requirements of the ABC Test under Assembly Bill 5...more
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