Worker status: independent contractors.

Existing law requires a 3-part test, commonly known as the "ABC" test, to determine if workers are employees or independent contractors. Existing law establishes that, for purposes of the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission, a person providing labor or services for remuneration is considered an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the hiring entity demonstrates that the person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, the person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business, and the person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business. Existing law charges the Labor Commissioner with the enforcement of labor laws, including worker classification. Existing law exempts specified occupations and business relationships from the provisions described above. This bill would also exempt persons who perform work on forested landscapes as geologists and geophysicists, land surveyors, contractors, engineers, and persons in the pest control business and who meet certain statutory licensing requirements.