California’s AB 5 has taken another life: The new law has now killed off the 40-year old Lake Tahoe Music Festival.
This legislative session, the Virginia State Legislature has taken up numerous pieces of legislation dealing with worker classification, in other words, when a worker should be considered an employee or an independent contractor.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed an Amicus Brief to urge the U.S. District Court, Central District of California to grant Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction and enjoin defendants from enforcing AB 5 against them, or otherwise causing it to be enforced against them, pending final judgment.
California's AB5 law relies on three questions, originally written in the 1930s, to determine the legality of an independent contractor. Those questions are the basis for proposed legislation that could have a profound effect on the gig economy. A.)The person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact; and B.) The person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business; and C.) The person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed.
As seen on Forbes.com. California's AB-5 has made it more difficult for women like Aimee Benavides to maintain her flexible work schedule and meet the needs of her family.
A New Jersey bill aimed at cracking down on misclassifying independent contractors could instead be "career and culture killing."
Some lawmakers and regulators are pursuing policies harmful to the gig economy, workers, and consumers, but they could adderss concerns around gig workers while preserving the gig model itself. If we want to preserve what is good about the gig economy, we have to fashion regulatory solutions for the twenty-first century. We cannot continue to rely on existing employment models alone.
Laws designed to protect workers from California to New Jersey are making it impossible for others to work within the confines of the law.
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Weekly insights and analysis from the intersection of government and business.
Letter Supporting West Virginia SB 528
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports Senate Bill 528, the “Uniform Worker Classification Act.”