What is AB 5?
Touted as an effort to ensure safeguards for workers, especially independent contractors or gig workers, AB 5 was signed into law by Newsom in 2019 on the heels of a California Supreme Court ruling.
The idea was to apply an “ABC” test to be considered an independent contractor, or otherwise be classified as an employee:
• A: The person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact.
• B: The person performs work that is outside
Rep. Michelle Steel is leading members of California's GOP House delegation in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom with concerns about AB 5's impact.
the usual course of the hiring entity's business.
• C: The person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation or business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed.
“The hollowing out of our middle-class has been 40 years in the making, and the need to create lasting economic security for our workforce demands action,” Newsom said in a
September 2019 letter to the California Assembly. “Assembly Bill 5 is an important step.”
But the law has left some workers, including truckers, concerned about the future of their ability to maintain independence while still working.
Specifically, the California Trucking Association argued the measure would make it more difficult for drivers who own their own trucks and make their own hours to continue.
The Harbor Trucking Association said protesting drivers are concerned AB 5 “will prevent independent owner-operator truck drivers from contracting with other trucking companies for services, essentially paving the way to an employee model.”