ANOTHER LAWSUIT AGAINST GIG ECONOMY SLAM

by Bob Walsh

Regular readers will remember that, effective January 1, the gig economy is essentially dead in the formerly great state of California. This is having massive and possibly unintended consequences.

Already the independent truckers association has filed a suit to stop implementation. Now two additional national groups, representing freelance writers and freelance photographers, who have just been given pink slips if they live in or work from California, have also filed.

The new, AB5, makes it much, much harder to classify employees as contract employees rather than actual regular hourly employees. This makes the "employer" liable for sick leave, workers comp, vacation, medical benefits, social security, etc. Under the new rules if you submit more than 35 items per calendar year, you are an employee.