In September 2019 the California legislature passed CA-AB5 aka The Gig Worker Bill. In short, according to this recap from the San Francisco Chronicle, AB5:
“...codifies, clarifies and grants exemptions to a 2018 California Supreme Court decision called Dynamex. Both AB5 and Dynamex make it harder for companies to label workers as independent contractors. They use an ‘ABC’ test that says workers are employees if (A) they perform tasks under a company’s control, (B) their work is integral to the company’s business and (C) they do not have independent enterprises in that trade. It takes effect Jan. 1.”(2020)
The intent of this legislation is to protect people working as independent contractors from being taken advantage of. It is based on situations where an independent contractor’s work may match that of an employee but due to their worker status, they are not receiving the same level of pay and benefits as an employee. This is a good thing. The downside, however, is placing limitations on certain classifications of work that causes hardship. For instance, under this new law California-based publications can only allow freelance journalists to write 35 articles for them per year. This is a big hit to a freelance journalist’s income.
According to the MBO Partners State of Independence in America 2019 report, there are “41 million Americans working work as consultants, freelancers, contractors, temporary, or on-call workers.” These workers deserve fair compensation and this legislation serves to right some of those wrongs. We hope that the California legislature – and any other government body seeking to make similar changes – considers that the nature of work itself is changing.
What do you think about this? We’d love to hear from you! Visit us at soloprpro.com or contact us online.
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Episode 109: Good Clients. Bad Behavior.
Episode 108: Mind(set) Over Matter
Episode 107: Free Yourself from the Grind
Episode 106: The Lies They Tell and Other Current PR Topics
Episode 105: Those Who Know, Teach
Episode 104: Once Upon A Time
Episode 103: Summer Time
Episode 102: Here After
Episode 101: Cool in a Crisis
That Solo Life Celebrates 100 Episodes
Episode 99: Partner to Grow
Episode 98: RIP, Outsourced PR?
Episode 97: Read the Room
Episode 96: The Perfect Pitch
Episode 95: PR is Not War
Episode 94: Social Media News
Episode 93: Spend to Scale: How Investing in Your Business Can Help You Grow
Episode 92: How to Get Lucky in Business
Episode 91: A Royal Mess
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