A California law intended to help gig workers is now leaving truckers in the lurch.
In 2019, the Golden State passed A.B. 5, which went into effect the following year. The bill significantly narrowed the circumstances under which a business could refer to someone as an "independent contractor," codifying a three-part "ABC test" established under the California Supreme Court 2018 decision Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County. As Reason's Billy Binion summarized it at the time, "To prove that their workers are contractors and not employees, companies must show that those workers control their workload, perform work that falls outside of the business's normal scope, and are 'customarily engaged' in the occupation or business." Unless a company can demonstrate those three factors, it must classify those workers as employees, entitled to any rights and privileges thereof.
