On September 10, by a vote of 29–11, the California Senate
passed legislation known as AB 5 – a law codifying the
"ABC test" from the landmark Dynamex v. Superior
Court case, 4. Cal. 5th 903 (2018), to determine whether a
service provider is an independent contractor or employee. On
September 11, the State Assembly passed the legislation by a vote
of 56–15, so it will now go to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Newsom recently expressed support for the legislation and is
expected to sign AB 5 into law. Assuming Newsom signs the law, it
will go into effect on January 1, 2020.
As a refresher, on April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court,
in Dynamex, adopted the ABC test to determine whether an
individual is properly classified as an independent contractor for
purposes of wage and hour law. The ABC test provides that, to
classify a worker as a contractor, the hiring entity must prove
each of the following three factors: (1) the worker is
free of control from the company,
