Existing law prescribes comprehensive requirements relating to minimum wages, overtime compensation, and standards for working conditions for the protection of employees applicable to an employment relationship. Existing law makes it unlawful for any person or employer to willfully misclassify an individual as an independent contractor. This bill would authorize an organization that is a digital marketplace, as defined, to contribute to a marketplace contractor benefit plan established to provide certain employment benefits to marketplace contractors, as defined, who use the digital marketplace. Under the bill, the digital marketplace would make the election by providing written notice of the election and paying no more than a $500 administrative fee to the Employment Development Department. The bill would require the department to use the revenues, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the administration of marketplace contractor benefit plans. The bill would require a participating digital marketplace, as defined, to enter into a written plan agreement with a plan administrator to establish and maintain a benefit plan to provide benefits to the contractors who use the digital marketplace, as prescribed. The bill would require a digital marketplace that elects to contribute to a benefit plan to contribute an unspecified minimum percentage of the contractor fee for each transaction and would authorize a benefit plan to require a contractor to earn a minimum amount of contractor fees. The bill would provide for plan withdrawal penalties, which would be required to be remitted to the department and used by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to administer the bill or for any other purpose authorized by existing law governing employment. The bill would require, for purposes of all provisions of state and local laws that govern employment, that a marketplace contractor that offers services through a digital marketplace be treated as an independent contractor of the digital marketplace. The bill would require participating digital marketplaces to establish a procedure for representatives of the marketplace contractors to meet at least 4 times per year with representatives of the participating digital marketplaces to discuss issues relating to the operation of the participating marketplace. The bill would authorize a participating digital marketplace to provide education and training to marketplace contractors that use the digital marketplace on specific subject matters. The bill would declare that its provisions address a matter of statewide concern and would prohibit a county, municipality, or other political subdivision from enacting or enforcing any law, ordinance, or rule inconsistent with the bill's provisions. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) defines and provides administrative and civil remedies for specified unlawful discriminatory practices, including various unlawful employment practices. This bill would make it an unlawful employment practice subject to FEHA for a digital marketplace to discriminate against any individual because of age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, military status, sex, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, familial status, or marital status, in receiving, classifying, disposing, or otherwise acting upon applications to participate with the digital marketplace as a marketplace contractor. The bill would define "digital marketplace" and "marketplace contractor" for purposes of FEHA.
Sponsored bills
This measure would designate March 2018 as Irish American Heritage Month in honor of the multitude of contributions that Irish Americans have made to the country and state.
This measure would recognize the month of March as the 50th anniversary of the Chicano Student Walkouts and would encourage all Californians to join in commemorating this historic event.
This measure proclaims March 19 as California Celebrating Women in Public Office Day.
This measure would proclaim March 5, 2018, to March 9, 2018, inclusive, as School Breakfast Week.
This measure would recognize Nowrūz, the Persian New Year celebration.
This measure would resolve that the Legislature is proud to join the Girl Scouts of the USA in recognizing their 106th Anniversary.
This measure would declare the Legislature's support for the creation of a California Institute for Aerospace in southern California's Antelope Valley.
This measure would proclaim March 18 to March 24, 2018, as California Down Syndrome Awareness Week and March 21, 2018, as California Down Syndrome Day, and would encourage all Californians to support and participate in related activities.
This bill would designate March 2018 as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in California.