Is the Gig Up?
If you rely on contractors to carry out core functions of your business, it just might be…
If you’re a California business, perhaps you’ve heard or read about AB 5, the Gig Work Bill, that takes effect in California on January 1, 2020.
The emphasis in all the news stories has been big ride-share companies like Uber & Lyft, but the change the law makes to how independent contractors are defined in our state is not limited to these big businesses.
The California bill, known as AB 5, expands a groundbreaking California Supreme Court decision last year known as Dynamex. The ruling and the bill instruct businesses to use the so-called ABC test to figure out whether a worker is an employee. To hire an independent contractor, businesses must prove that the worker a) is free from the company’s control, b) is doing work that isn’t central to the company’s business, and c) has an independent business in that industry. If they don’t meet all three of those conditions, then they have to be classified as employees. {Read the full article here.}
In short, if you rely on contractors to carry out core functions of your business, according to this new law they are not independent contractors but employees.
Yeah, employees. That means payroll. That means payroll taxes. That means a whole other level of issues and learning for you, small business owner.
Come get the straight skinny on what this is all about, and get tips on how to adapt, from two experts in business law and business numbers: Alex King of Archetype Legal & Ariane Trélaün of Do Your Thing.