#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
On April 3, 2025, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (“DOL”) filed proposed new rules codifying its interpretation of the statutory ABC test to determine whether an individual is considered an...more
Last month, the most significant legal development in the area of independent contractor (IC) compliance and misclassification was on Capitol Hill. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a Senate Republican who chairs the Senate Health,...more
The New Jersey Department of Labor and Industry (the Department) announced on April 28, 2025, that it was filing a notice of a proposed regulation addressing the test for independent contractor (IC) status under New Jersey...more
The most significant development last month in the law of independent contractors was not one of the four cases we summarize below but rather a bill passed by the New York Senate. ...more
Few federal regulations over the past five years have produced more needless concern by stakeholders than the independent contractor rules under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) issued by the different...more
Governor Tim Walz has signed into law significant changes to Minnesota’s independent contractor and employment laws. Effective July 1, all employers, as well as their owners, risk significantly increased penalties for...more
Despite previously vetoing the legislation, Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Freelance Isn’t Free Act (the “Act”) into law on November 22, 2023. The Act is similar to New York City’s law bearing the same name, which has been...more
There is a general trend in the country to narrow the scope of who can be an independent contractor and to provide such individuals more “rights” concerning their employment, or engagement. More States are passing laws...more
For employers, the use of independent contractors to assist in business operations is an important option. Contractors typically provide flexibility and cost savings as they don’t receive overtime pay or employee...more
Thanks to powerful lobbying, last week the House of Representatives introduced a new bipartisan bill, the Worker Flexibility and Choice Act (the “Act”). This bill provides for a new classification of workers in between...more
California employers will be pleased to learn that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a retail store reasonably believed that a freelance model who worked in irregular one- or two-day periods was not an...more
On July 8, 2021, N.J. Governor Phil Murphy signed a package of bills expanding the power of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) to enforce state wage, benefit and tax laws, and enhancing penalties for...more
Governor Jim Justice recently signed into law Senate Bill 272, the West Virginia Employment Law Workers Classification Act (the “Act”), which goes into effect on June 9, 2021. The legislation provides standards for...more
The California Supreme Court held on January 14, 2021, that its landmark Dynamex decision, which established a rigid standard under California law for companies to classify workers as independent contractors, and later was...more
On January 14, 2021, the California Supreme Court held that the “ABC Test” for classifying workers as independent contractors applies retroactively. The high court first articulated this standard, which makes it tougher for...more
It was quite a week for the gig economy in California. This is the second of a two-part update; last week we reported on a union- and driver-led California Supreme Court challenge to Proposition 22, the November 2020 voter...more
On January 14, 2021, the California Supreme Court held in Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising Int'l, Inc. that the ABC test for determining worker classification fashioned in its groundbreaking decision, Dynamex v. Superior...more
Since April 2018, when the California Supreme Court issued its Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, 4 Cal. 5th 903 (2018) decision, which radically changed the way in which courts differentiated between an...more
In the spirit of the season—and keeping some semblance of normal—we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this eighth day of the...more
For many years, worker classification has been an ongoing battle in California. The issue of employee vs. independent contractor has spurred many lawsuits statewide, resulted in countless precedent-setting decisions, and led...more
Many independent contractors complained of dire consequences when Assembly Bill 5 (“AB5”) became effective in California on January 1, 2020. Following intense lobbying and public relations campaigns, independent contractors...more
Welcome to #WorkforceWednesday! This week, worker classification and joint employment are in focus, as California amends AB5 and a federal judge rules on joint-employer liability. New AB5 Exemptions in CA (video attached) ...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
Seyfarth Synopsis: Businesses operating in California have had all of eight months to adapt since Assembly Bill 5 (“AB 5”), a landmark piece of legislation governing their relationships with independent contractors, took...more
We have written frequently here about AB5, California’s controversial law that creates an “ABC” test that must be satisfied in order for a worker to be treated as an independent contractor. ...more