In its 2018 decision in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior
Court of Los Angeles County, the California Supreme Court
upended decades of precedent by setting out a new, stringent,
three-factor test to determine proper worker classification for
purposes of California's wage order rules. Then, this year, the
Ninth Circuit first applied Dynamex retroactively and then
wiped out that ruling and returned the question to the California
Supreme Court. In the meantime, Assembly Bill No. 5, which seeks to
codify the Dynamex test, is before the California Senate.
In light of these developments, employers with workers in
California are increasingly faced with conflicting information
about the practical impact of Dynamex.