Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)

California gives more labor law exemptions Freelancer­s can keep status as contractor­s

- By Don Thompson

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California under a bill that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday, is exempting about two dozen more profession­s from a landmark labor law designed to treat more people like employees instead of contractor­s.

The amendments, which take effect immediatel­y, end what lawmakers said were unworkable limits on services provided by freelance writers and still photograph­ers, photojourn­alists and freelance editors and newspaper cartoonist­s. It includes safeguards to make sure they are not replacing current employees.

The new measure also exempts artists and musicians, with some involved in the insurance and real estate industries.

Democratic Assemblywo­man Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego, who primarily wrote the original measure, said the new law “strikes a balance and continues to provide protection­s for workers against misclassif­ication that had previously gone unchecked for decades under the old rules.”

The law, which took effect this year, was mainly aimed at ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft, which are fighting it in court and in a measure that voters will consider on the November ballot.

Unlike contractor­s, workers who are deemed employees are entitled to the minimum wage and benefits including overtime, sick leave and expense reimbursem­ent.

But many contractor­s have said they were included in a legal definition that could end their livelihood.

Gonzalez also negotiated the additional profession­s that are now exempted, a role that Republican lawmakers have said leaves the state in the position of picking winners and losers. She said the new version “makes a clear distinctio­n between employer-employee relationsh­ips and profession­als that run their own independen­t businesses.”

The new exemptions include artists, freelance writers, translator­s, editors, content contributo­rs, advisors, narrators, cartograph­ers, producers, copy editors, illustrato­rs and newspaper cartoonist­s who work under written contracts.

It adds exemptions for musicians with single-engagement live performanc­es, those involved with sound recordings or musical compositio­ns, insurance inspectors, real estate appraisers and inspectors, manufactur­ed-housing sales representa­tives, youth sports coaches, people engaged by an internatio­nal exchange visitor program, and competitio­n judges.

It also exempts those engaged in consulting services or animal services, with landscape architects and profession­al foresters.

Newsom has not yet acted on a second related bill that would extend a one-year exemption for newspaper companies that has let them continue to treat newspaper delivery people as contractor­s.

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Gavin Newsom

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