California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 5, and the new law will take effect January 1, 2020. As discussed in our September 13 Alert, AB 5 codifies the existing “ABC Test” that was set forth by the California Supreme Court last year in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles to evaluate independent contractors under California’s Wage Orders and applies that same test on a broader scale. The new law will drastically change the independent contractor/employee landscape in California.
Employers are strongly encouraged to review the classification of any independent contractors in California. FordHarrison will be conducting a webinar addressing the impact of the new law. If you have any questions regarding the law, please contact the authors of this Alert, Ross Boughton, rboughton@fordharrison.com, Managing Partner of FordHarrison’s San Francisco office, Jack Schaedel, jschaedel@fordharrison.com, partner in our Los Angeles office or Daniel Lyman, dlyman@fordharrison.com, associate in our San Francisco office. You may also contact the FordHarrison attorney with whom you usually work.