Worker status: employees and independent contractors.

Existing law, as established in the case of Dynamex Operations W. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 (Dynamex) , creates a presumption that a worker who performs services for a hirer is an employee for purposes of claims for wages and benefits arising under wage orders issued by the Industrial Welfare Commission. 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. This test is commonly known as the "ABC" test. 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 application of these provisions. Existing law instead provides that these exempt relationships are governed by the multifactor test adopted in S. G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341. Existing law provides that the addition of the ABC test to the Labor Code does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, existing law with regard to wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission and violations of the Labor Code relating to wage orders. Existing law also provides that insofar as the application of the above exemptions would relieve an employer from liability, those provisions apply retroactively to existing claims and actions to the maximum extent permitted by law. Existing law provides that, notwithstanding the above retroactivity language, other provisions of this law apply to work performed on or after January 1, 2020. This bill would delete the above language providing that the addition of the ABC test to the Labor Code does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, existing law. The bill would also provide that the holding in Dynamex does not apply to any work performed prior to April 30, 2018.