#WorkforceWednesday: New AB5 Exemptions, EEOC COVID-19 Updates, Joint-Employer Rule Partially Struck Down - Employment Law This Week®
Episode 13: NYC's New Freelancer Protection Law And The Future Of The On-Demand Economy
Businesses that rely on freelancers or the “gig economy” have cause for optimism now that the Department of Labor just announced it will no longer enforce a Biden-era final rule that made it harder to classify workers as...more
New state laws impacting employers will be going into effect on January 1, 2025. Below is a non-exhaustive summary of major state laws taking effect January 1, 2025. Employers should be mindful of and continue to follow...more
As we wrap up 2024, here is a review of some of the changes to California employment law that will continue to affect employers in 2025. Legislative Changes...more
A new California law requires written contracts when engaging most solo independent contractors. The written contracts must contain certain types of information....more
California’s 2024 legislative session wrapped up with Governor Gavin Newsom signing significant bills affecting employers’ workplace policies and operations in the state. The new laws below take effect on Jan. 1, 2025....more
It is that time of year again, when California Governor Gavin Newsom considers a number of bills that need to be signed by September 30, 2024, in order to take effect. Several of those bills would impact California employers,...more
Over the closing months of 2023, New York lawmakers at both the state and local levels were busy passing new legislation impacting the workplace. As a result, New York employers should take some time to familiarize themselves...more
Although 2023 perhaps did not see the passage of any laws quite as impactful as 2022—which, as employers will recall, included New York State enacting its own pay transparency law (see here) and novel New York City Council...more
On August 4, 2023, Governor JB Pritzker signed the Freelance Worker Protection Act (FWPA) (HB1122) into law, establishing strict protections for freelance workers. ...more
As the New York State legislative session came to a close, state lawmakers passed a flurry of laws providing protections to workers, ranging from wage protections for freelance workers, prohibitions against absence control...more
During the final days of its most recent legislative session, the New York State Legislature passed a bill (S8369B) that would mandate contractual forms and terms for businesses that use “freelance workers.” Building on New...more
In a rare victory for employers, a California Court of Appeal in Wilson v. The La Jolla Group, 2021 WL 940283 (3/12/2021) affirmed the trial court’s denial of class certification of independent contractors’ wage and hour...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Businesses operating in California have had all of eight months to adapt since Assembly Bill 5, a landmark piece of legislation governing their relationships with independent contractors, took effect on...more
Since its enactment last fall, California’s AB 5—legislation adopting the so-called “ABC test” for purposes of determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or statutory employee—has dominated not only the legal...more
If 2018 was a year of elevator music at the National Labor Relations Board, 2019 was symphony of sound. The Board’s initiatives were varied, high-profile and in the vast majority of cases, the developments were positives for...more
In what has become a trend over the last few years, Governor Cuomo included multiple labor and employment law proposals in the budget that, if approved, would create significant new responsibilities for New York employers,...more
Changes to New York state law that prohibit employer inquiries into the salary history of applicants and employees took effect on January 6, 2020. Recently, the New York Department of Labor released a series of Frequently...more
On Wednesday, January 15, 2020, the California Supreme Court agreed to review a second case raising questions as to the scope and retroactivity of its landmark 2018 Dynamex decision....more
The New Jersey Department of Labor (NJ DOL) billed Uber Technologies, Inc. and a subsidiary $650 million for past-due taxes, interest, and penalties due to an alleged misclassification of its drivers as independent...more
Soon after being elected, New Jersey’s Governor created a task force to end misclassification of independent contractors, and the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOL) began increasing audits and its...more
On November 7th a bill was introduced in the New Jersey legislature that would, like California’s AB 5..., codify a stricter version of the ABC test for determining independent contractor classification. The bill, S4204...,...more
Already a tough place for employers, New Jersey may be about to get even tougher. The Garden State is one of only a handful of states widely using the so-called ABC test, which makes it harder for businesses to classify...more
In the wake of California’s enactment of Assembly Bill (AB) 5—legislation that threatens to reclassify 2 million California independent contractors as “employees” under California labor and employment laws—legal questions...more
Businesses with operations in California have begun to identify options and implement strategies for compliance with Assembly Bill (AB) 5, which imposes the ABC test for identifying whether a worker is an independent...more
On October 13, 2019, New York City enacted Int. 136-A (“Law”), which will extend the employment protections of the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) to freelancers and independent contractors, thereby allowing these...more